Colorado wildfire forces evacuation orders for 19,000 people:
Smoke billowed from a wildfire Saturday, March 26, 2022 in Marshall, Colo. a few miles south of Boulder, Colo. (Associated Press)
Authorities issued an evacuation order for 19,400 people on Saturday in response to a fast-moving Colorado wildfire in rolling hills south of the college town of Boulder. The blaze started around 2:00 PM and burned protected wildland near the National Center for Atmospheric Research. While still early in the day the fire grew to 122 acres with no containment. Evacuation orders have been given to 8,000 homes and 7,000 other structures with overnight shelters being opened for their use. Winds and temperatures have died down, though authorities expect to be dealing with the fire for several days due to heavy fuels.
U.S. Representative Fortenberry, found guilty of lying, to resign:
Jeff Fortenberry, (R-NE) speaks during testimony by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a hearing on the State Department's budget request for 2020 in Washington, U.S. March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott/File Photo
Republican U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who has represented his district in Nebraska since 2005, said on Saturday that he will be retiring from Congress. This follows his conviction of lying to FBI investigators about illegal contributions to his 2016 re-election campaign. The jury found Fortenberry guilty of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts, along with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators. Prosecutors had accused Fortenberry of lying to investigators during two interviews in 2019 about $30,000 in campaign contributions he received in 2016 from Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury. This breaks US Federal law, which prohibits foreign nationals from donating to federal election campaigns. Fortenberry's lawyers said that his memory of the event was faulty due to being caught off guard by the unexpected FBI interview request and that he had no intention of misleading federal agents. The three felony charges each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 28 before U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld in Los Angeles.
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Key moments as Biden's Supreme Court pick quizzed:
Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Getty Images)
In a Senate Panel earlier this week Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nomination to the Supreme Court, took questions on her career and record. Several Republicans brought Jackson’s judicial philosophy into question by accusing her of being an “activist judge” imposing her preferred view on the bench to which she responded by saying that, "I am trying in every case to stay in my lane.” Some lawmakers raised concern about her providing “free legal service” to help terrorists get out of Guantanamo Bay, though she was assigned the case as a Public Defender rather than choosing to represent them. Her response to this was that ignoring the protections in the Constitution "would let the terrorists win." Jackson was asked about increasing the number of Justices on the Supreme Court but deflected the question as being a policy question for Congress. When accused by some Republicans as being “soft on crime”, she suggested having family members in law enforcement meant, “Crime and the need for law enforcement are not abstract concepts or political slogans to me.”
Sources:
Colorado wildfire forces evacuation orders for 19,000 people | Star Tribune
US Representative Fortenberry, found guilty of lying, to resign | Reuters
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Key moments as Biden's Supreme Court pick quizzed - BBC News