"More than 17,000 people were under evacuation orders in Southern California on Tuesday as a wildfire threatened suburban homes. The wind-driven Sandy Fire was reported Monday in the hills above Simi Valley, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles."

"President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to build a statue garden of “American heroes” at a park location along the Potomac River near the Tidal Basin in Washington."

"The Senate on Monday narrowly confirmed Steve Pearce, a former New Mexico congressman with a long history of pushing for federal public land sell-offs, to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management."

"The state of Minnesota has filed a new lawsuit against Maplewood-based 3M, alleging that PFAS from the company’s manufacturing plant in Cottage Grove continue to contaminate groundwater and the Mississippi River."

"A 35-page booklet distributed in a public meeting by the Tennessee Valley Authority about coal ash is filled with “lies” and misleading information, according to coal ash researchers."

"Wherever they turn, residents in and around Santa Fe Springs, California, contend with toxic hazards." "Proposed hazardous waste oversight changes are years behind schedule and fail to account for a community’s health risks from pollution, environmental groups warn."

"The findings highlight inflationary pressures on electricity costs in mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states. “The price impacts on customers have been very large and are not reversible,” the grid market monitor said."

"Emergency department visits for tick bites have surged to the highest level for this time of year since 2017, driven by warmer temperatures that are boosting tick activity especially in the Northeast and Midwest."

"The Merediths were forced to abandon their house after it filled with black goo, reaching gas concentrations at explosive levels. Despite evidence of oil and gas pollution, the state “wanted to act like it would go away,” the family says."

"The Trump administration announced Monday that it will drop some limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water that officials had determined can cause cancer and other serious health problems — angering some key activists who had supported President Trump’s campaign."