3 Things To Know Today

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1 Yosemite National Park Fire Burns More Than 2k Acres

The wildfire in Yosemite National Park has grown more than two-thousand acres overnight. Fire officials say the wildfire is zero-percent contained and has grown more to the south. As a result of the blaze, park officials say that roughly 16-hundred people have evacuated so far for the nearby community of Wawona as well as local campgrounds. While loss of life has been avoided so far, there are deep concerns about more than 500 sequoias trees are threatened by the wildfire, including a three-thousand-year-old tree called the Grizzly Giant. Being used in the effort to protect them? Sprinklers. "They're using a combination of removing fuel around the base of the trees,” says ," Jay Nichols, a spokesperson for the interagency fire response team. “And they're putting in sprinklers to change the humidity around the base of the trees. As for what started the blaze, Garrett Dickman, a Yosemite National Park biologist, says it was a combination of summer temperatures and an abundant fuel source. “There’s a lot of wood on the ground,” Dickman explains. “And that wood is going up in smoke."

2 Steve Bannon Says He’ll Testify Before January 6th Committee

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has reversed course. After months of fighting the subpoena to testify before the House select committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol, he’s in. After having defied a congressional subpoena, on Saturday Bannon notified the Democrat-led panel that he's willing to talk. This, after former President Donald Trump sent a letter waiving executive privilege. As for public or private testimony – Bannon has reportedly said he'd prefer to testify in a public hearing. This comes as Mr. Trump’s former attorney, Pat Cipollone, answered questions behind closed doors on Friday. According to sources, Cipollone spent about eight-hours giving testimony. While he did assert Executive Privilege on a number of points, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the House select committee, says Cipollone provided the panel with "valuable" testimony. Sources say that Cipollone also didn’t contradict the previous answers given by other witnesses.

3 Gas Prices Are Dropping

Gas prices are starting to come down a bit after months of record highs. Triple-A spokesperson Andrew Gross says Americans can expect the trend to continue. The national average is now 26-cents lower than the record set on June 14th of five-01. While 80% of gas stations are now charging less than five dollars a gallon, don’t expect anything significant overnight. That’s because gas station owners already bought their stock at the higher prices – and they don’t want to (nor will they choose to) lose money in the process. At the moment, prices are lowest across the southeast and highest out west. In California – where about 12% of Americans live – the average gallon is still above six bucks.


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