Wildfire's threat growing in California
BRIDGEPORT, Calif. -- A Sierra Nevada wildfire destroyed four structures and was a threat to more than 500 homes and other buildings, California authorities said Wednesday.
The Rices Fire grew to 769 acres near the Yuba River in Nevada County and there was no containment, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The small communities of Birchville, Sweetland, French Corral, Bridgeport, Rices Crossing and the Buttermilk area were under evacuation orders, Cal Fire said.
The agency did not specify the types of structures destroyed but noted that damage assessment was underway in the burn area.
The fire broke out Tuesday and made wind-driven runs through critically dry vegetation and drought-stressed trees. Firefighters fought the blaze on the ground and from the air, with drops of water and fire retardant.
Authorities said the fire began with a burning building and the flames spread to vegetation.
On the central coast, the 325-acre Camino Fire in San Luis Obispo County was 30% contained and no structures were threatened, Cal Fire said. Investigators determined it was ignited by a vehicle's catalytic converter.
Panel summons ex-counsel Cipollone
WASHINGTON -- The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot issued a subpoena Wednesday to former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who is said to have stridently warned against former President Donald Trump's efforts to try to overturn his election loss.
It's the first public step the committee has taken since receiving the public testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, the former junior aide who accused Trump of knowing his supporters were armed on Jan. 6 and demanding that he be taken to the U.S. Capitol that day.
Cipollone, who was Trump's top White House lawyer, is said to have raised concerns about the former president's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and at one point threatened to resign.
Cipollone has been placed in key moments after the election by Hutchinson as well as by former Justice Department lawyers who appeared for a hearing the week before.
Hutchinson said Cipollone warned prior to Jan. 6 that there would be "serious legal concerns" if Trump went to the Capitol with the protesters expected to rally outside.
The morning of Jan. 6, she testified, Cipollone restated his concerns that if Trump did go to the Capitol to try to intervene in the certification of the election, "we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable."
Floridian guilty of Capitol riot charges
WASHINGTON -- A Florida man has pleaded guilty to three felony charges related to the insurrection and storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
Mitchell Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Fla., pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia to civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. He faces up to 45 years in prison at his October sentencing.
According to the criminal complaint, Gardner was part of a mob just outside the lower west terrace tunnel of Congress and used a pepper spray device against officers in the tunnel area. The contents hit one officer directly in the face shield and splattered onto two other officers, officials said.
Gardner also urged other rioters to use a ladder to break into a window, prosecutors said. When the ladder was not used, Gardner stood on a window ledge outside a Senate terrace room and damaged the window with the pepper spray device, they said.
While inside the Capitol, Gardner waved to other rioters to come closer or into the building, officials said. He also handed another rioter what looked to be a table or desk leg, and that object was used to assault police officers, prosecutors said.
Carbon monoxide kills 3 U.S. tourists
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Carbon monoxide poisoning killed three U.S. tourists found dead at a resort in the Bahamas in May, police announced Tuesday.
Authorities did not provide details, saying the deaths were still under investigation.
The victims had been identified as Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65, from Tennessee; and Vincent Chiarella, 64, from Florida.
Chiarella's wife, Donnis Chiarella, 65, was found alive and airlifted to New Providence for treatment, then transferred to a hospital in Florida. Her condition was not immediately known.
The couples were staying in separate villas next to each other in the same building at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on the island of Exuma. It was not clear if the villas had functioning carbon monoxide detectors.
Police have said all four went to a doctor the night before their bodies were discovered and complained of feeling ill.
Sandals has said the deaths were "in no way linked to the resort's air conditioning system, food and beverage service, landscaping services or foul play."
The source of the carbon monoxide was unknown.