Multiple wildfires burn across Virginia
LURAY, Va-- Crews were battling scores of wildfires Thursday around Virginia, including a fire affecting hundreds of acres at Shenandoah National Park, amid an elevated fire risk, officials said.
More than 100 new fires popped up Wednesday amid gusty winds and low relative humidity, affecting more than 2½ square miles across the state, many of them in the central part of the state, Virginia Department of Forestry spokesperson Cory Swift said by telephone.
Shenandoah County officials announced Thursday that five homes were lost due to a fire northwest of Strasburg.
At least 16 fires were contained and hundreds of firefighters worked overnight to contain the others, Swift said. Amid high winds, officials were seeing some downed powerlines causing fires, he said.
A fire that started on private land in the Luray area of Page County spread very quickly into Shenandoah National Park, reaching about 450 acres by Thursday morning, park spokesperson Claire Comer said by telephone. The majority of the fire is inside the 200,000-acre park and is about 10% contained, she said.
Page County and Louisa County officials declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening.
Wildfires were also reported Wednesday in neighboring Maryland and West Virginia.
Crews contained a 60-acre fire in a wooded area in Barnesville, Md., that was believed to have been started by a downed power line, county Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer said on social media. Another fire that broke out in a wooded area in Silver Spring on Wednesday night was visible from the Capital Beltway, he said.
In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency Thursday in the northeastern counties of Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, and Pendleton. In Hardy County, an undetermined number of structures have burned from wind-whipped flames, according to a Facebook post from the Bruceton Brandonville Volunteer Fire Department.
House GOP sues to have lawyers testify
House Republicans filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to force two Justice Department lawyers to testify about the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden as part of the chamber's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee wants the court to order two rank-and-file Justice Department tax division attorneys to comply with subpoenas demanding that they answer questions about Hunter Biden. The lawsuit -- filed in Washington's federal court -- says their failure to testify is impeding the Committee's inquiry into claims that the Justice Department mishandled and "slow walked" the investigation into the president's son.
The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit. But the department has previously said it has already taken "extraordinary steps" to answer concerns about the probe.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, the Justice Department's head of congressional affairs, said in the letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan forcing witnesses to answer questions related to ongoing investigations or prosecutions would also pose "serious risks to the integrity" of the probe and the fairness of ongoing court proceedings.
Outage hits state driver's license offices
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A nationwide technology problem briefly interrupted services Thursday at state offices that handle driver's licenses, officials said.
The outage, which lasted from approximately 8:50 to 11:30 a.m., was "due to a loss in cloud connectivity," the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators said.
"This prevented a number of motor vehicle agencies from issuing driver licenses and vehicle titles during the outage," the group said in a written statement.
The association, based in Arlington, Va., maintains a national computer network to allow the exchange of driver's license information, including driver records.
The cause of the outage was being investigated.
Police officers sentenced for torture
JACKSON, Miss. -- A federal judge Thursday finished handing down prison terms of about 10 to 40 years to six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing two Black men in an hourslong attack.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called the culprits' actions "egregious" and gave sentences near the top of federal guidelines to five of the six men who attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023.
Brett McAlpin, 53, who was the fourth highest-ranking officer in the Rankin County sheriff's office, received Thursday a sentence of about 27 years. Joshua Hartfield, 32, a former Richland police officer, was given a 10-year sentence Thursday.
Lee sentenced Dedmon, 29, to 40 years and Daniel Opdyke, 28, to 17½ years Wednesday. He gave about 20 years to Hunter Elward, 31, and 17½ years to Jeffrey Middleton, 46, Tuesday.
Civil lead counsel Malik Shabazz (left) raises the hand of co-counsel Trent Walker as they celebrate on Thursday the federal sentencing of former Richland, Miss., police officer Joshua Hartfield to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the racially motivated, violent torture of Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, at the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss. (AP/Rogelio V. Solis)