Concow, Calif.
Wildfires rage on: Weary firefighters battling almost 1,800 wildfires in Northern California for the past two weeks were struggling this week to contain a dangerous new blaze. A fire near Concow, 90 miles north of Sacramento, has already burned almost 10,000 acres and was threatening 2,000 houses and other structures; some 5,000 residents were ordered to evacuate. Elsewhere, firefighters beat back flames threatening the historic town of Big Sur. At the town’s famed Nepenthe restaurant, manager Tom Birmingham defied an evacuation order and swept ash and live embers from the restaurant’s deck. “It felt good to take it back from the fire,” he said. The fires have burned more than 600,000 acres and destroyed at least 40 homes; one firefighter has died.
Washington, D.C.
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Condit suit fails: A federal judge this week threw out former California Rep. Gary Condit’s defamation lawsuit against author Dominick Dunne, who suggested during a television interview that Condit knew more than he was revealing about the disappearance and murder of 22-year-old Chandra Levy. Levy was an intern in Condit’s office whose disappearance in 2001 was the subject of fevered national attention. Her mutilated body was found a year later in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. Judge Peter Leisure ruled that Dunne’s comments, delivered on CNN’s Larry King Live, were protected by the First Amendment. Condit, who left Congress in 2003, has filed several suits against reporters and news organizations, but none has made it to trial. Levy’s murder has never been solved and police have not identified any suspects.
New York City
WTC rebuilding falters: The $16 billion rebuilding project at the site of New York City’s World Trade Center, destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, is hopelessly over budget and behind schedule, the project’s top manager admitted last week. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site and is overseeing reconstruction, also said that the centerpiece of the project, the Freedom Tower, would not be finished by Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attack and its previously scheduled opening date. The adjacent 9/11 memorial won’t be ready either, said Chris Ward, the Port Authority’s new director. The project has suffered repeated delays and revisions since it was originally conceived.
Miami
Baffling arms deal: Federal officials this week were investigating how a 22-year-old arms dealer managed to sell the Pentagon $10 million in Cold War–era Chinese munitions, despite being suspected of illegal arms trafficking. Efraim Diveroli, president of a company called AEY Inc., was awarded a Pentagon contract to supply ammunition to the Afghan army. Investigators now allege that AEY bought the ammunition from Albania, which purchased it decades ago from China. The contract was issued even though AEY was on a State Department watch list. A Pentagon official said the Defense Department does not typically consult with State before issuing contracts. Diveroli pleaded not guilty last week in Miami to violating a federal law barring the sale of Chinese-made arms.
Randolph, Vt.
Deadly sex-ring plot: Searchers last week discovered the body of missing 12-year-old Vermont girl Brooke Bennett, and her uncle now faces federal charges of abducting her and trying to force her into a child-sex ring. Federal prosecutors allege that Bennett’s uncle, Michael Jacques, sent her e-mails under a fictitious name as part of the abduction plot. Jacques, 42, allegedly tricked his niece into thinking she was going to a party, but took her to his home instead. Her body was later discovered in a nearby shallow grave. No charges were immediately filed in connection with her death, but under a new federal law relating to child abductions, Jacques could face the death penalty if convicted in a kidnapping that resulted in a death.
Richmond, Va.
Webb says no thanks: Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, thought to be on the shortlist of possible running mates for Democrat Barack Obama, this week took himself out of the running for the post. The unexpected announcement came after Obama representatives contacted Webb to seek background information for their vetting process. Webb, a Vietnam veteran who served as Navy secretary during the Reagan administration, was touted for his national-security credentials. But Webb said flatly that “under no circumstances” would he consider the nomination. One Democrat said that Webb, who was elected to the Senate in 2006 after a bruising campaign against incumbent Sen. George Allen, was in no hurry to return to the campaign trail.
