Today’s edition of quick hits:
* California: “The deadly wildfires that have ravaged Northern California, killing at least 21 people, caught many residents by surprise, sweeping into their neighborhoods after they had gone to bed and leaving them precious few minutes to escape.”
* It has been three weeks “since Hurricane Maria savaged Puerto Rico, and life in the capital city of San Juan inches toward something that remotely resembles a new, uncomfortable form of normalcy…. But much of the rest of the island lies in the chokehold of a turgid, frustrating and perilous slog toward recovery.”
* The Boy Scouts of America “announced on Wednesday that girls will soon be allowed to become Cub Scouts and to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, the organization’s highest honor.”
* Late yesterday, the Supreme Court “dismissed one of the challenges to a now-expired version of President Trump’s travel ban, and the legal battle over his latest efforts to ban some immigrants will need to start anew.”
* Trump-Russia: “Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, informed the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that he will not be cooperating with any requests to appear before the panel for its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and would plead the Fifth, according to a source familiar with the matter.” * Seems like the sensible decision: “The Salt Lake City Police Department has fired an officer who handcuffed and roughly detained a nurse for refusing to allow him to draw blood from a sedated patient.” * This was no doubt intended to be funny, but it was an odd moment: “President Donald Trump ribbed Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle at a White House reception honoring the Stanley Cup champions, calling him a ‘great negotiator’ and saying ‘Ron, how about negotiating some of our horrible trade deals?’” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
