Southern California preparing for 'hotter, drier' wildfire season amid workforce shortages
CNN
As the extended drought has left vegetation dry, brittle and ripe for burning, fire officials in Southern California are bracing for another challenging summer and fall of wildfires amid a shortage of firefighting crews and increased workloads.
"We're expecting a hotter, drier summer this year leading into the fall when we have our wind-driven fires here in Southern California," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby, adding that more than 90% of wildfires are caused by humans.
Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.
Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality and people who have served on his US Secret Service detail to run the agency that has been plagued by its failure to preempt two alleged assassination attempts on Trump this summer, sources familiar with the president-elect’s thinking tell CNN.