Biden to designate Colorado's Camp Hale a national monument
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to Colorado next week to designate a historic military site as a national monument, delivering on a key priority of Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who is fighting for reelection.
According to three people familiar with the planning, Biden and Bennet are set to appear together at an event Wednesday where the president will officially designate Camp Hale, a World War II-era training site nestled along the Continental Divide, as a national monument.
The move, which Bennet and Colorado's predominantly Democratic congressional delegation have pushed for, will protect the site's historic buildings and wildlife habitats from potential development by energy companies and honor the veterans who trained there decades ago.
Biden has previously expanded existing national monuments, but Camp Hale would be the first entirely new monument designated since he took office. An administration official confirmed the trip. But the three people said officials are still trying to work out the logistics of getting Biden to Camp Hale, which sits at 9,200 feet above sea level in the Colorado high country.
—Los Angeles Times
Republican nominee for Missouri auditor wants to investigate schools, ‘Critical Race Theory’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Republican Scott Fitzpatrick has vowed to audit Missouri school districts if elected as the state’s next auditor. Previous auditors have audited schools to ensure against the waste of taxpayer money, but Fitzpatrick promises to go a step further if he prevails over Democrat Alan Green in the Nov. 8 election.
Fitzpatrick, currently the state’s treasurer, has pledged to use his power as auditor to audit school curriculum and has touted a plan to eradicate certain subject material from school districts.
“I’ll ensure schools are following the law and keeping politically divisive curriculum like Critical Race Theory, and discussions relating to gender or sexual preferences out of the classroom,” Fitzpatrick wrote on his campaign website.
His promise on schools echoes hard-right conservative rhetoric surrounding “Critical Race Theory,” a college-level academic concept that examines the role of institutions in perpetuating racism. The academic theory is not widely taught in Missouri’s K-12 schools, but the phrase has become a shorthand among conservatives for any lesson that delves into systemic racism’s role in U.S. history or politics.
—The Kansas City Star
Federal agents looking at possible tax charges against Hunter Biden, report says
After a multiyear probe, federal agents believe they have assembled a sufficient case for tax crime charges to be filed against Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware will make the call on whether to charge the younger Biden with tax crimes and a false statement connected to a gun purchase, according to the Post.
The Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that investigators in multiple agencies probed whether Biden, 52, had lied on gun purchase paperwork in 2018 and failed to fully report his income.
The U.S. attorney for Delaware is David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump but has remained in his post as the probe into Biden churned on. Weiss’ office declined to comment on the report, as did the FBI. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
—New York Daily News
Nord Stream leaks caused by detonations in sign of sabotage
Detonations caused the recent ruptures of Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines, with the evidence pointing to a deliberate act, according to Swedish investigators.
The completed preliminary investigation has “strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage,” the Swedish Security Service said in a statement on Thursday. Swedish investigators didn’t give any indication of how the detonations occurred or who might be responsible.
Officials are analyzing evidence collected at the site, which is located just outside the country’s territorial waters, to see “whether someone can be served with suspicion and later prosecuted,” Swedish Public Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said.
Two leaks in the pipelines, which cross the Baltic Sea to Germany, were disclosed in Sweden’s exclusive economic area last week. Two other leaks are located in Denmark’s zone, prompting investigations and increased security across the region’s key energy infrastructure.
—Bloomberg News
