BREAKING: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday expanded an emergency declaration issued earlier this week for the Elk Fire to include the Lee Fire, which has merged with the nearby Grease Fire near Meeker and grown from 13,000 to almost 23,000 acres overnight.

The sheriff's office there said the fires have "exceeded local capacity," according to the Governor's Office, and has requested assistance from the state.

More: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-governor-polis-expands-emergency-declaration-lee-fire/

Utah: Shots were fired in a West Jordan neighborhood on Wednesday as a unit of the Utah County Sheriff's Office attempted to apprehend a suspect, leading to a large police presence in the area.

A West Jordan police spokesperson said the Major Crimes Task Force with the sheriff's office was conducting an investigation that led them to the area. As an attempt was made to take the unidentified suspect into custody, an altercation began, and shots were fired by task force members near 7800 South and Redwood Road.

The suspect was hit with the gunfire and transported to the hospital in stable condition, while one officer with the task force was treated on the scene for unspecified injuries.

Please join us in sending prayers and, or positive thoughts for the officer's recovery.🙏🏻

More: https://www.fox13now.com/news/crime/police-responding-to-shots-fired-call-on-redwood-road-in-west-jordan

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy, who has been overseeing the case for years, has been explicit in his adamance that Hoggle would face justice despite the speedbumps presented by various competency hearings.

Read more: https://lawenforcementtoday.com/maryland-mother-indicted-for-murder-over-2014-disappearance-of-her-children

The Atlantic Basin seems to be waking up a bit with a couple of areas of interest that we'll need to keep our eyes on. Meanwhile, excessive heat is building in the southern US with strong to severe storms across the Dakotas over the next couple of nights.

Praedictix Weather

The Adams County Fire Rescue, Colorado, sadly announced the death of former board member Anthony Spano.

He first served as a board member for the Southwest Adams County Fire Department, and continued his service on the board following the merger with the North Washington Fire Protection District.

Rest Easy Brother. Prayers for his family of red and blood.🙏🏻

Texas: Day 3 with no quorum. We spoke to the few Texas House Democrats who stayed in Austin to fight the redistricting effort, while over 50 others fled to blue states.

Brooke Taylor

Sen. Adam Schiff being under investigation for alleged mortgage fraud comes after Schiff and his "fellow Democrats decided to go crazy rogue and take a shot at the King," says Carl Higbie.

In the days since McGann's arrest, and our previous report of this incident, more information about his background and life has emerged.

Read more: https://lawenforcementtoday.com/arkansas-what-we-know-about-the-teacher-who-allegedly-killed-couple-at-devils-den

*NEWS INTERRUPTION*

Commander Op Gregory K. Bovino on raids taking place in Southern California during the judge’s restraining order:

“We won’t be deterred, whether it’s a temporary restraining order or anything else, we’re actually going to go harder”.

There is a mass exodus going on in Los Angeles.

Businesses are leaving due to high regulation and unhealthy environments. Drug use and homelessness have taken over the streets. Block after block, business fronts are all closed down.

WATCH: Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the anti-Semitic protests that have rocked Columbia University, says "we" couldn't have avoided Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre.

"It felt frightening that we had to reach this moment in the Palestinian struggle," he said. "We couldn't avoid such a moment."

Later on, Khalil said the attack had to happen "to break the cycle," given that a "Saudi-Israel deal" was "very imminent."

Washington Free Beacon

BREAKING: Beyoncé diagnosed with Michael Jackson Syndrome.

Ken Paxton: "We don't need to get every lawmaker back, but once we get enough back for a quorum, we can tell you, then you'll see the other ones follow."

Officer Jason Blake with the McComb Police Department Mississippi was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon.

He was off-duty at the time of the incident.

In addition to Officer Blake, another person was killed, and a third was injured. The injured person was taken to the hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

https://www.wjtv.com/news/local-news/mccomb-police-officer-killed-in-shooting

Sending our thoughts and prayers to Jason’s family, friends and colleagues. Rest Easy Brother. Prayers for his family of blue and blood.🙏🏻

Assistant Director in Charge Davis shares just some stories over the month of July, including arrests of dangerous fugitives, the arrest of an alleged romance scammer, an engineer convicted of stealing secrets, a life sentence for a child molester & sadly, honoring our fallen.

FBI Los Angeles

A Virginia Beach police officer and a driver are injured after a crash on Sunday night.

Police say the officer's vehicle struck another at the intersection of North Birdneck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard.

The driver of the other vehicle was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The officer was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Please join us in sending prayers and, or positive thoughts for their recovery.🙏🏻

Read more: https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/virginia-beach/virginia-beach-officer-crash-vb-boulevard-birdneck-rd/291-543da92c-fa82-4f1e-8694-9432d3171a71