North Cascades National Park campgrounds to open
The North Cascades National Park Service Complex is putting out the welcome mat at its campgrounds.
Following guidance from numerous government agencies, the park is increasing recreational access to include overnight use.
Beginning Friday, the North Cascades National Park Service Complex will reopen campgrounds, its Wilderness Information Center and allow for backcountry overnight stays.
Opening will be the Goodell Creek, Newhalem Creek, Gorge Lake, Colonial Creek and Hozomeen campgrounds.
Group campsites at Goodell Creek, Colonial Creek and Newhalem Creek campgrounds will remain closed.
Stehekin marina and public docks will also open Friday, joining all previously opened boat docks.
Though trails used for backcountry stays are open, many have not yet been assessed or cleared. Downed trees, washouts and other hazards may be encountered, and access to the Sourdough Mountain Trail and Diablo/Ross dams may be restricted through Seattle City Light managed areas.
The National Park Service will continue to work with federal, state and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and use a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis.
Day use reopened at the North Cascades National Park Service Complex during the previous phase.
— Skagit Valley Herald
Re-election drove Trump’s foreign policy, Bolton says in book
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton paints an unflattering picture of Donald Trump in his forthcoming memoir, writing that the president’s foreign policy choices were driven primarily by political considerations.
In the book set to be released on June 23, Bolton will detail chaos in the White House and offer a behind-the-scenes look at issues related to China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, as well as European allies, according to publisher Simon & Schuster Inc. The White House has sought to block the book, citing an ongoing review for classified material.
“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by re-election calculations,” Bolton writes in the book, titled “The Room Where It Happened,” the publisher said in a release.
The former top security aide, who was ousted last September, will argue the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry was too narrow and should have focused on more than Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. Simon & Schuster promised Bolton will offer details on other similar moves by Trump across the full range of his foreign policy and the national security adviser’s efforts to stop them.
Bolton declined to testify in the House’s impeachment probe, and instead deferred to the federal courts if a subpoena would be legally valid. House Democrats did not issue a subpoena, saying a lengthy legal battle would unnecessarily prolong the impeachment process.
Bolton said during a February speech at Vanderbilt University he did not regret his refusal to testify because it “would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome.”
“I sleep at night because I have followed my conscience,” he said, according to USA Today.
Bolton’s attorney, Charles Cooper, pledged earlier this week the book would be released on June 23 and accused the White House of using the pre-publication review process to try and stonewall.
The White House did not comment on Cooper’s accusations.
— Bloomberg News
Amazon considers pulling ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ from video service
SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. is considering pulling the television show “The Dukes of Hazzard” from its video-streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter, part of a broader review of content for potentially offensive material.
The TV series that aired on CBS in the 1970s and ’80s featured a car emblazoned with the Confederate flag and dubbed the General Lee jumping over gulches in high-speed police chases. Streaming-video services are reviewing their programming for controversial material in the wake of protests against police brutality and racism. HBO Max pulled “Gone With the Wind” this week so it could add explanations about racist depictions in the 1939 film. Other entertainment brands are also taking note —NASCAR earlier this week banned Confederate flags from being displayed on cars.
“The Dukes of Hazzard” appears on Amazon’s ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV and is available to purchase on Amazon Prime. News site Vulture.com reported earlier on Amazon’s reconsideration of streaming the TV series.
— Bloomberg News
Trump campaign asks supporters to waive COVID-19 liability to attend his rally in Tulsa
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Supporters of President Donald Trump are being asked to immunize his campaign from COVID-19 liability claims if they want to attend his next campaign rally.
“By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present,” the online registration form for the public says. “By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”
The BOK Center is the large indoor arena in Tulsa, Okla., that will be the site of the June 19 Trump reelection campaign rally, the first for the president since the coronavirus pandemic has dominated the public’s attention. ASM Global manages the venue.
The White House and congressional Republicans are focusing on including limitations on liability for coronavirus-related claims in any economic aid package. It was not immediately clear how that might apply to political campaigns.
As the media advisory for the campaign rally was reaching inboxes Thursday, Surgeon General Jerome Adams was appearing at a roundtable discussion with Trump and other senior administration officials in Dallas.
Adams, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, was continuing to urge limiting interactions with strangers. Coronavirus case counts continue to rise in many states, including Texas.
Adams spoke about the progress on vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19, but he said the crisis is not over.
“As we reopen, the basic public health recommendations we’ve emphasized remain important,” Adams said. “We flattened the curve, but that doesn’t mean that COVID has gone away, that it’s any less contagious, that it’s any less deadly to vulnerable communities.”
“The more we can keep distance between people, especially people we don’t know, the harder it is for this virus to transmit,” Adams said.
— CQ-Roll Call
Biden takes on Facebook, saying it failed to stop disinformation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Biden lashed out at Facebook Inc on Thursday, saying the social media company has failed to stop the spread of disinformation and circulating an open letter for supporters to demand the company change its policies.
“With fewer than five months until the 2020 election, real changes to Facebook’s policies for their platform and how they enforce them are necessary to protect against a repeat of the role that disinformation played in the 2016 election and that continues to threaten our democracy today. We are urging our supporters to make their voices heard in this call for change,” Bill Russo, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
The Biden campaign says the Democrat wants Facebook to promote trustworthy sources of information instead of unverified posts, quickly remove viral misinformation, prevent political candidates from spreading inaccurate information and universally enforce rules about voter suppression, specifically calling out President Donald Trump.
The effort by the Biden campaign comes after Facebook refused to take action on a post from Trump that other social media platforms, including Twitter, slapped a warning on. Twitter flagged and hid Trump’s tweet that in part said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” saying it violated the company’s policy on “glorifying violence.”
Facebook responded by saying that elected officials should set rules they can follow.
“Just as they have done with broadcast networks —where the U.S. government prohibits rejecting politicians’ campaign ads —the people’s elected representatives should set the rules, and we will follow them. There is an election coming in November and we will protect political speech, even when we strongly disagree with it,” the company said in an unsigned statement.
— Bloomberg News
