Fourth of July fireworks to return to Mount Rushmore despite wildfire risk

After a five-year hiatus, Fourth of July fireworks will return to Mount Rushmore this summer despite wildfire concerns.

The National Park ServiceannouncedMonday that the Independence Day celebration is returning to the historic presidential landmark in South Dakota to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country's founding. Officials said the event will be held on July 3rd and tickets will be made available through a public lottery early next month.

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"In partnership with the State of South Dakota, we are excited to reinstate a spectacular fireworks show as the highlight of Mount Rushmore's Independence Day commemoration," said Dr. Jenifer Chatfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. "We invite the public to enjoy the show and reflect on our nation's remarkable journey and the great patriotic leaders who established, preserved and expanded our country's destiny."

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Fourth of July firework displays had been held at Mt. Rushmore most years starting in the late 1990s. In 2010, however, the event was suspended due to various concerns, including wildfire risk and environmental concerns.

Then in 2020, during President Donald Trump's first term in office, then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem successfully lobbied to bring the Independence Day celebration event back to Mt. Rushmore following a decade-long hiatus. A year later, the event was again canceled when the Biden administration denied permits for fireworks, citing the same wildfire and environmental concerns.

RELATED STORY |Record snow drought in Western US raises concern for a spring of water shortages and wildfires

Meanwhile, Monday's announcement from the National Park Service made no mention of any planned fire prevention measures for this year's event even as drought grips much of the region.According to the National Drought Mitigation Center,Pennington County, South Dakota — which includes Mt. Rushmore — is currently facing "severe drought" conditions. Many western states are also experiencing some of their lowest snowpack in decades, which is depleting future water supplies and setting the stage for what could be a busy wildfire season.

byGreen Magazine

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11:42:00 AM

Fourth of July fireworks to return to Mount Rushmore despite wildfire risk

After a five-year hiatus, Fourth of July fireworks will return to Mount Rushmore this summer despite wildfire concerns. ...

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Prewar US intel assessment found intervention in Iran wasn't likely to change leadership

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. intelligence assessment completed shortly before the United States and Israel launcheda war in Iranhad determined that American military intervention wasnot likely to lead to regime changein the Islamic Republic, according to two people familiar with the finding.

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The National Intelligence Council's assessment in February concluded that neither limited airstrikes nor a larger, prolonged military campaign would be likely to result in a new government taking over in Iran, even if the current leadership was killed, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the classified report.

The determination undercuts the administration's assertion that it can complete its objectives in Iran relatively quickly, perhaps in a matter of weeks. The administration has asserted that it was not seeking regime change in Iran, even as the strikes have taken out many figures in the Iranian leadership and President Donald Trump considers whomhe would like to see lead the country.

The intelligence assessment concluded that no one powerful or unified opposition coalition was poised to take over in Iran if the leadership was killed, according to the people familiar with the report. It determined that Iran's establishment would attempt to preserve continuity of power if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, the people said.

In line with the assessment's findings, Iran's leading clerics on Sunday chose a new supreme leader,Mojtaba Khamenei,to succeed his father, who was killed in the war's opening salvo. The son is believed to hold views that are even more hardline than his father, and his selection is a strong sign of resistance from Iran's leadership and an indication the government won't step aside quickly.

The details of the assessment were reported earlier by The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Trump and other top administration leaders have givendifferent justifications for the strikesthat began on Feb. 28, saying they were necessary to set back Iran's nuclear weapons program or to preempt an Iranian ballistic missile attack. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the waris not aimed at regime change, Trump has said it'ssomething he wants to see.

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A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the assessment on Monday and referred questions to the White House. Director Tulsi Gabbardfired the council's acting chairpersonlast year after therelease of a declassified NIC memothat contradicted statements the Trump administration has used to justifydeporting Venezuelan immigrants.

Trump, dating back to his first term, has been deeply skeptical of the U.S. intelligence community and has frequently dismissed its findings as politically motivated or part of a "deep state" effort to undermine his presidency.

Richard Goldberg, director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction at the National Security Council during Trump's first term, noted that there's also a measure of skepticism toward the intelligence community because of some of its big misses in recent years.

U.S. intelligence agencies widely failed to predict the rapid collapse of the Afghan government to the Taliban that transpired in 2021, with most assessments suggesting a much slower takeover. And in the lead-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the ODNI, the Defense Department and the CIA wrongly estimated that Kyiv would quickly fall to a bigger and better equipped Russian military.

Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank, said an intelligence assessment is "almost like an op-ed from the intelligence community."

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Doral, Florida, and David Klepper in Washington contributed to this report.

byGreen Magazine

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11:42:00 AM

Prewar US intel assessment found intervention in Iran wasn't likely to change leadership

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. intelligence assessment completed shortly before the United States and Israel launcheda war in I...

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Ex-Prince Andrew’s Former Assistant Agrees to Speak to Police amid Claim She Signed Palace Check for Nude Massage Arranged by Ghislaine Maxwell

Charlotte Manley, ex-Prince Andrew's former assistant, says she is willing to speak with police about her time working for him

NEED TO KNOW

• Manley reportedly signed a check for a massage arranged by Ghislaine Maxwell and accompanied Andrew on trade envoy trips

• Andrew was arrested in February on misconduct allegations tied to Jeffrey Epstein, as scrutiny of his past actions continues to grow

Charlotte Manley, a past assistant for the formerPrince Andrew, has agreed to speak with police in the wake of Andrew's arrest.

The 68-year-old former Royal Navy officer served as a private secretary and treasurer to Andrew from 2001 to 2003, and was also Andrew's assistant private secretary and treasurer since 1996.

Manley toldThe Timesin the U.K., that she'd be willing to speak with police about her time serving King Charles' brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

When theTimesvisited her home to ask about the alleged payment and the accusations against her former employer, Manley declined the opportunity to comment on the accusations against her former employer, saying, "I would rather talk to the police than the press, not that I would have much to tell them."

Manley regularly accompanied Andrew on his international visits while he was serving as the U.K.'s special representative for trade and investment.

Andrew was arrested on Feb. 19 and detained for 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office, linked to allegations that he improperly shared information as a U.K. trade envoy with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

According toThe Times, Manley signed a £75 ($100) check from the Buckingham Palace bank account on Andrew's behalf in 2000 for a massage arranged by Epstein's girlfriendGhislaine Maxwell.

PEOPLE has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

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Maxwell's former masseuseMonique Giannelloni previously sharedthat Manley arranged for her to visit Andrew at the Palace.

"I got to the room and Andrew was stood there in a robe," Giannelloni previously told theDaily Mail. "After saying 'hello', he disappeared to the bathroom and came back in the nude. I averted my eyes, and I was quite embarrassed."

Giannelloni added that despite the initial awkwardness, Andrew was "very nice and very gentlemanly" for the rest of the massage.

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Andrew's conduct has been called into question for more than a decade thanks to sexual-assault allegations made by lateprominent Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre. Andrew has repeatedly denied claims that Giuffre was forced into sexual encounters with him at the age of 17 in the early 2000s. In 2022, the two reached a civil settlement without admission of liability.Giuffre died by suicidein 2025.

As Andrew's fall from grace continues, an MP has now called for an offshore firm linked to the royal to be investigated. The MP is seeking answers on whether the firm helped to fund Andrew's escapades while he served as trade envoy.

According toThe Times, documents revealed that Andrew jointly owned a company called Inverness Asset Management, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2007 and later wrapped in 2019.

Read the original article onPeople

byGreen Magazine

in

11:42:00 AM

Ex-Prince Andrew’s Former Assistant Agrees to Speak to Police amid Claim She Signed Palace Check for Nude Massage Arranged by Ghislaine Maxwell

Charlotte Manley, ex-Prince Andrew's former assistant, says she is willing to speak with police about her time workin...

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QB Malik Willis reportedly agrees to 3-year, $67.5 million deal with Dolphins following announcement of Tua Tagovailoa's release

Free-agent quarterback Malik Willis is reportedly signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

The news comes hours after the teamannounced the impending release of veteran Tua Tagovailoa, who started 76 games for Miami over the past six seasons.

Willis, 26, put his name back on the map last season while filling in for an injured Jordan Love with the Green Bay Packers. Across parts of four games in 2025 (one start), Willis completed 30 of 35 passes (85.7%), threw three touchdowns to zero interceptions, and posted a passer rating of 145.5 and a 93.1 QBR. He also rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

New Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan both came from the Packers organization, so there's already familiarity on both sides. Additionally, defensive coordinator Sean Duggan and passing game coordinator Ryan Downard came from Green Bay.

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Hafley acknowledged that Willis didn't always get an opportunity to show his skills as the scout team quarterback in practice.

"A lot of times he really couldn't do what he does best because if we were playing a dropback guy, and he started scrambling, I'll tell him, 'Hey, you got to stay in the pocket. Stop scrambling. That's not what we're doing today,"Hafley told the Miami Herald. "And then if we were playing a scrambler, he could play his game and do his thing."

"All you can do is do your part, hold guys accountable as well as hold yourself accountable," Willis said on "The Pat McAfee Show" after the signing was reported.

During his two years in Green Bay, Willis was 2-1 as a starting quarterback and appeared in 11 games overall. In those games, Willis completed nearly 79% of his passes for 972 yards on just 89 attempts. Willis had six touchdown passes and was not picked off once. He posted a 134.6 passer rating and 77.3 QBR in those 11 games as a Packer.

A 2022 third-round pick by the Tennessee Titans, Willis appeared in 11 games and started three during his rookie campaign. In his second season with the Titans, Willis only recorded five official pass attempts. Overall, he won one of his three starts and completed 53% of his passes for 350 yards and no touchdowns.

Willis was traded to the Packers for a seventh-round pick before the 2024 season and spent the past two seasons backing up Love. The opportunity presented in Green Bay came along at the right time for Willis, and working with one of the best offensive minds in the NFL under head coach Matt LaFleur is a huge plus.

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QB Malik Willis reportedly agrees to 3-year, $67.5 million deal with Dolphins following announcement of Tua Tagovailoa's release

Free-agent quarterback Malik Willis is reportedly signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, N...

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Florida fires women's basketball coach Kelly Rae Finley after 5 seasons

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida fired women's basketball coach Kelly Rae Finley on Monday with the Gators poised to miss the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.

Finley had one year remaining on a contract that paid her about $700,000 annually. She is entitled to her remaining base salary, $450,000, to be paid over regular installments until April 15, 2027.

The 40-year-old Finley went 93-75 in five seasons in Gainesville, including 30-50 in Southeastern Conference play. She put together one of the program's best collections of talent in recent years, with Liv McGill, Me'Arah O'Neal and Laila Reynolds giving the team three McDonald's All-Americans in its starting lineup.

But the trio was unable to deliver enough wins in one of the country's deepest leagues.

Florida (18-15, 5-11 SEC) lost by 18 points to seventh-ranked Oklahoma in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday. The Gators were outscored 27-7 in the third quarter, the latest game in which they got outplayed in the second half.

"We're the youngest team in the conference, and we showed up every single night to compete, and I would expect nothing else," Finley said after the loss. "We're as good as we've been on both sides of the ball in the last eight years. … If given the opportunity for whatever is next, man, they're going to shine."

Women's basketball is the only program of the 19 on Florida's campus that has never won a conference title. And the next coach will try to reverse the trend at a time when the Gators seem reluctant to funnel as much money as SEC heavyweights LSU and South Carolina into a program that has provided little, if any, return on investment for decades.

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Finley took over a program in disarray in 2021, one reeling from Cam Newbauer's resignation amid allegations he verbally abused players and staff members. The Gators made the NCAA Tournament in Finley's interim season, but her tenure has been mostly downhill since despite an uptick in talent.

Florida looked competent, even competitive, at times. But there was usually a half, a quarter or a stretch in which little went right. And Finley seemingly did little to spark interest in the program; Florida's average home attendance (1,895) ranked last in the SEC by a significant margin this season.

The Gators enjoyed mild success over the years but haven't advanced past the second round of the NCAAs since Carol Ross coached the team in 1998. They tried different paths since: hiring national championship-winning coach Carolyn Peck in 2002 and bringing back alumna Amanda Butler in 2007. Athletic director Scott Stricklin hired Newbauer over Becky Hammon in 2017.

None of them led Florida to national prominence while other women's programs at Florida flourished, including gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

And there has been an opportunity for growth in women's hoops, with traditional SEC powers Georgia and Tennessee giving way in recent years to LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina. The addition of Oklahoma and Texas in 2024 only pushed Florida even further down the league ladder.

Now, the next coach will try to accomplish what Finley failed to do: build a consistent winner in Gainesville.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphereandhere(AP News mobile app). AP women's college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

byGreen Magazine

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Florida fires women's basketball coach Kelly Rae Finley after 5 seasons

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida fired women's basketball coach Kelly Rae Finley on Monday with the Gators poised to ...

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