News Wrap: Man accused of starting California wildfire by pushing burning car into gully

In our news wrap Thursday, California investigators arrested a man for allegedly starting the state’s largest wildfire of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully, the death toll from Hurricane Beryl has risen to at least 36 in Texas and a former Uvalde school police officer pleaded not guilty to charges he failed to take action while 19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting.

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Geoff Bennett: And we start the day’s other headlines in the Western U.S. and Canada, where emergency crews are racing to tame hundreds of wildfires.

Two of the hardest-hit areas are California and Alberta, Canada, while the largest act of fire in the U.S. late Wednesday was in Oregon. But a thunderstorm today brought some relief. In the Canadian Rockies, 25,000 people fled the town of Jasper before a nearby fire tore through the area. Officials are still assessing the damage, but estimate that up to half of the popular tourist destination has been destroyed.

Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta, Canada: Right now, the wildfire is still out of control, and crews are working in dangerous conditions to try and protect critical infrastructure in the town. And to those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper, the magic is not lost and it never will be.

Geoff Bennett: Meantime, prosecutors in Northern California have arrested a man for allegedly starting the state’s largest wildfire of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully. The Park Fire has burned more than 70 square miles near the city of Chico.

The death toll from Hurricane Beryl has risen to at least 36 in the state of Texas. Fort Bend County officials announced nine new fatalities today, saying power outages and heat-related causes were at least partially to blame for some of the deaths. At the peak of the outages, nearly three million Texans were without electricity.

A typhoon slammed into China’s southeastern coast today. Earlier in the week, it hit the Philippines, killing at least 22 people. The storm brewed up rough seas, sinking an oil tanker in Manila Bay and sparking concerns of a potential oil spill. The typhoon then moved on to Taiwan. Three people have died there so far, and at least 380 were injured.

One restaurant owner said the storm had taken everything from her.

Li Li-Chuan, Restaurant Owner (through interpreter): I don’t know how. It’s bad. We have to tear it all down. My mood, I can’t talk about it anymore, because I have a bad heart. I’m going to faint if I go on.

Geoff Bennett: More than 240,000 residents were evacuated from China’s Fujian province ahead of the storm. It’s expected to weaken as it moves inland, but will bring heavy rain over the next few days.

A former Uvalde school police officer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he failed to take action while 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting back in 2022. Adrian Gonzales made his first court appearance today to face 29 counts of abandoning and endangering children. Each charge could carry up to two years in prison.

Gonzales was among the first of nearly 400 officers to arrive on the scene at Robb Elementary School, but then waited for more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter.

California Governor Gavin Newsom today directed state officials to start dismantling thousands of homeless encampments. His executive order is meant to address the tents and makeshift shelters that line California’s streets, freeways and parks. But the measure leaves the actual enforcement of such removals to local officials.

The order is the nation’s most sweeping response to a Supreme Court decision in June that allows cities to enforce bans on sleeping in public.

The U.S. economy grew at a healthy clip last quarter. Commerce Department data out today showed that GDP rose 2.8 percent during the April-to-June period compared to last year. That was better than expected and double the growth we saw in the quarter before.

Separately, weekly jobless claims fell last week by 10,000, which was more than expected. Overall, layoffs remain low by historical standards. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is abroad in Brazil meeting with her G20 counterparts, also noted that inflation keeps inching in the right direction.

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary: Inflation is down significantly from its peak, trending towards the Federal Reserve’s target. Our administration recognizes that prices are still too high for Americans.

Geoff Bennett: Fed officials have signaled that they are prepared to start cutting interest rates as soon as September if inflation keeps trending down.

On Wall Street today, stocks failed to shake off their recent troubles. The Dow Jones industrial average managed a slight gain, adding about 80 points, but the Nasdaq dropped more than 160 points as tech shares continued to struggle. The S&P 500 also ended lower on the day.

And a passing of note. Martin Indyk, the renowned diplomat who spent decades trying to bring peace to the Middle East, has died from complications due to cancer. Indyk served as U.S. ambassador to Israel twice during the Clinton years and later as a special envoy under President Barack Obama.

He pushed for a two-state solution to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. It was a dilemma he described on the “News Hour” a decade ago as existential.

Martin Indyk, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel: The demographic dynamic is such that Israel will sooner, rather than later, have to choose between being a Jewish state because it’ll be a minority of Jews in the area that Israel controls, and being a democratic state. And that’s a choice that Israel should never want to have to make.

Geoff Bennett: Diplomat, author and friend of this program Martin Indyk was 73 years old.