Sacramento
Watchdog firing challenged: Republicans in Congress this week questioned the White House’s firing of an ethics watchdog who in 2007 investigated Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and an Obama ally. Gerald Walpin, 78, inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, had investigated Johnson’s use of federal community-development funds, ultimately referring his findings to the Bush Justice Department for criminal investigation. But the Justice Department in 2008 declined to prosecute Johnson. This week, the board of CNCS, which disburses federal funds to faith-based organizations, said it had asked the Obama administration to terminate Walpin, describing him as “confused, disoriented, and unable to answer questions.” Walpin, who was fired in May, countered that he was dismissed for “doing my job.”
Honolulu
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Missile threat: In response to North Korea’s threat to launch a missile toward Hawaii, the U.S. this week deployed ground-based missile interceptors and a floating radar to protect the islands. Defense Department officials said they doubted that North Korea’s missiles could remain aloft across 4,500 miles of ocean to Hawaii, but they were reinforcing the island’s defenses as a precaution. Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have heightened in recent months, with North Korea threatening this week to wipe America off the map “once and for all.” Hawaii residents seem to be taking the saber rattling in stride. “What can you do?” said Gerald Aikau, a commercial painter in Honolulu. “You are going to go sometime, whether it’s on a wave or a missile.”
Tooele, Utah
A plague of grasshoppers: A massive army of grasshoppers descended upon central Utah, where the pests will likely cause trouble for the next few years, authorities say. “We haven’t opened our front door for a week,” said Jennifer Atherley of Tooele, because thousands of grasshoppers are massed in her entryway. One official report recorded up to 2,000 clear-winged grasshoppers swarming over a single square foot of ground. Infestations by the grasshoppers, which hatch every seven years, can last up to three years, state wildlife officials say. The invasion has led to an unusual sight in the landlocked state: Thousands of seagulls have flocked to the area to feed on the bugs.
Springfield, Mo.
Neo-Nazis foiled: State authorities have turned the tables on a neo-Nazi group that had “adopted” a stretch of highway by renaming the road for a Jewish theologian and civil-rights activist. The National Socialist Movement, whose members advocate forcibly deporting nonwhites, volunteered last year to clean up a half-mile stretch of Route 160. The state reluctantly erected a sign noting the group’s sponsorship. But the state has now posted another sign nearby, renaming the highway in honor of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who fled to the U.S. from Nazi Germany and later marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “I think it’s childish,” grumbled National Socialist Cynthia Keene. “If they want to have Nazis out there stomping on a Jewish-named highway, that’s their choice.”
Washington, D.C.
Fatal train crash: At least nine people were killed and 70 injured this week when two Metro trains collided. Authorities say that a train on the Washington Metro’s Red Line was stopped between stations when a second train rear-ended it, jumping over the stationary train as flooring was sheared off. Passengers said they had no warning a collision was imminent. “It was like we hit a concrete wall,” said Jasmine Garsd, who had been aboard the moving train. Federal authorities said the city’s transit agency had ignored recommendations to replace its train cars with more crash-resistant models. Investigators suspect the moving train’s automated brakes may have failed.
Columbia, S.C.
Governor admits infidelity: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford this week explained his mysterious five-day absence from the state, acknowledging that he had been in Argentina, where he was “unfaithful to my wife.” In a news conference, Sanford apologized to family, friends, and the people of the state. He said he had traveled to Buenos Aires to be with “a dear, dear friend.” His staff had previously claimed that the Republican governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, while his wife had maintained he was off writing. Sanford, who has been considered a potential presidential candidate in 2012, said he would resign as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and begin talks with his family and constituents about “where we go from here.”
