(The Center Square) – Persistent dry and windy conditions, along with downed trees from Hurricane Helene six months ago, remain troublesome for wildfires in the Carolinas.

The Table Rock Fire, largest of several, has crossed from Pickens County in South Carolina to Transylvania County in North Carolina.

In an update from the South Carolina Forestry Commission on Thursday evening, the Tabe Rock fire grew significantly during the day and the Persimmon Ridge fire only modestly. The Table Rock fire is estimated 8,679 acres and the Persimmon Ridge fire 1,992 acres.

Three counties are home to four other significant size fires in the Tarheel State: Deep Woods and Black Cove in Polk County, Alarka in Swain County, and Rattlesnake Branch in Haywood County.

“Excessive storm debris and timber damage from Hurricane Helene has created many challenges for firefighting efforts,” a release from the North Carolina Forest Service said Friday morning. “One factor is the loss of tree canopy. More ground cover is receiving direct sunlight, accelerating the rate in which fuels dry out.”

The Black Cove fire that originated March 19 is 3,288 acres in size and 17% contained, the Forest Service says. It is approximately 2 miles northeast of Saluda in the Green River Gorge.

The Deep Woods fire, also a March 19 start, is 3,373 acres in size and 30% contained, the Forest Service says. It is about 5 miles northwest of Columbus in the Green River Gorge and the adjacent Holbert Cove community.

The Fish Hook fire that began March 20 is 199 acres in size and 95% contained, the Forest Service says. This fire is about 5 miles northwest of Mill Spring near Lake Adger.

Other fires of size are burning near Sylva and Leicester.

Burning bans are in effect throughout North and South Carolina.

(The Center Square) – Arizona’s elected leaders are honoring the life of the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva.

The 77-year-old Arizona Democrat died this month after a battle with cancer. 

Gov. Katie Hobbs has set July 15 and Sept. 23 respectively for special primary and general elections to fill Grijalva’s seat representing Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, which lies along the border with Mexico. This week Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, announced he decided against running for the position.

A funeral Mass honoring Grijalva was celebrated Wednesday at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson. It was followed by a celebration of life with friends and family.

Grijalva served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than two decades in a political career that spanned more than 50 years.

In a press release, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, called Grijalva a “man of compassion and conviction,” adding the longtime public servant was driven to do the right thing for the people of southern Arizona.

“As the son of immigrants, he knew firsthand what it meant to fight for better healthcare, labor protections, education and economic opportunity for everyone,” said Kelly. “He was a champion to those who have been left out of the conversation, and he leaves a legacy of making sure everyone had a voice in the Halls of Congress.”

Kelly also praised Grijalva for his work on the House Natural Resources Committee to fight man-made climate change, preserve public lands and protect water resources for not only Arizona but the southwestern United States.

Arizona House Democrats called Grijalva “the quintessential Arizona story.” Like Kelly, House Democrats pointed to Grijalva being the son of immigrants.

“In a single generation he transformed himself into one of our state’s most outspoken, impactful and longest-serving leaders,” said the leadership team in a press release. “He succeeded through education, determination, and his inexhaustible drive to help and serve communities in need, and he showed countless others how to do it as well.”

On the local level, Maricopa County District 5 Supervisor Steve Gallardo called Grijalva a friend and mentor who will also be remembered for his time as a community organizer, a board member of the Tucson Unified School District and a supervisor for Pima County.

“My heart goes out to his family, friends, and the people of Southern Arizona who will no doubt miss his caring spirit and activism,” said Gallardo.

Grijalva was a graduate of Sunnyside High School and the University of Arizona, where he later served as an assistant dean of Hispanic student affairs.

(The Center Square) – California’s $35 billion high speed rail project for its sparsely populated Central Valley requires at least a $7 billion bailout to be done by 2033.

The Trump administration is investigating federal funding of the project, and a bill in Congress could end further federal funding for the project entirely.

“There is a funding gap of roughly $7 billion for completing the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment,” wrote the state-funded Legislative Analyst’s Office. “Other factors could drive growth in the project’s funding gap, including: (1) potential loss of federal funds, such as those that have not yet been obligated; (2) inflation and other construction cost increases; (3) uncertainty related to assumed future [state Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund] revenues.”

The LAO also noted the California High Speed Rail Authority Office of the Inspector General said, “HSRA needs to secure funds to meet most of its identified funding gap before June 2026 to avoid negative impacts on the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment schedule.”

The Trump administration’s Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy cited the new shortfall in a X post highlighting the status of the state’s long-delayed Los Angeles to San Francisco train, which was approved by voters in 2008 at a cost of $33 billion.

Duffy said that of $15 billion spent on the project thus far, $2.5 billion was from federal funding and that $4 billion in “unspent federal money is under review.” He also said “zero high-speed track” has been laid and that the total cost for the LA-SF line “has soared to over $100B with no expected completion date.” 

He said he will “continue to investigate this project to determine how exactly federal dollars have been used and whether federal support should continue.”

Should a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-California, pass, the project would not be eligible for future federal funding. 

“The CA High-Speed Rail disaster has somehow gotten even worse,” said Kiley. “I’ve introduced legislation to cut off all federal funding and end the project for good.”

On his nationally syndicated iHeartRadio podcast “This is Gavin Newsom,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom was challenged by a guest, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, about the state’s delays and cost overruns building the project.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got these constraints that are well established and existing constraints,” responded Newsom, who hosts the podcast. “There’s not a high-speed rail system that doesn’t have some popularity and success. Most are wildly popular. It’s an experience no one has had in the United States of America. At least we’re out there daring.”

At the state level, Republican lawmakers have responded to the lack of a plan on how to fund the rest of the first leg of the project by proposing a bill to require HSRA to provide such a plan.

The bill, AB 377, unanimously passed the Assembly Transportation Committee with full bipartisan support and now heads to the Appropriations Committee.

“Without a clear financial roadmap, the project risks leaving Fresno with an incomplete, unusable infrastructure — a modern-day Stonehenge,” said bill author Assemblyman David Tangipa, R-Fresno, through whose district the train would run. “By statutorily requiring a funding plan, AB 377 forces accountability before more taxpayer money is wasted on government mismanagement.”