Weird Weather Watch: SoCal, Florida and Minnesota Are Burning

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Griffith Park, a park beloved by Angelenos, is experiencing a major brushfire. Animals from the nearby zoo have been moved indoors and 400 homes were evacuated. So far, only one man has been injured and firefighters expect to have the blaze contained shortly.

There are also major fires covering 130,000 acres along the Florida-Georgia border and 17,000 acres in Minnesota. Florida Department of Forestry documents [PDF] show that wildfires are not uncommon in May, but the present fires are among the biggest in Georgia history. I’ve got a call in to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, but a quick look at their website suggests they are not at all accustomed to major fires, and the current fire is only 5 percent contained.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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