Hotel: Gunman shot at crowd seconds after shooting guard

Hotel: Gunman shot at crowd seconds after shooting guard

Even as investigators struggle to unravel the mystery of what motivated a gunman to open fire on a Las Vegas concert crowd, confusion surrounds the sequence of events in the fatal few minutes of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

On Thursday, the hotel where gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from his high-rise hotel suite disputed the official timeline for the Las Vegas massacre and rejected any suggestion hotel officials delayed summoning police for several minutes after the gunman’s initial burst of fire.

It was the latest head-turning change in the investigation that has been frustrating for all involved. Since the Oct. 1 massacre, the timeline of the shooting has changed several times, and police and hotel officials can’t seem to agree on the basics of when the shooting happened.

EPA orders cleanup at Texas toxic site flooded by Harvey

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration has handed a rare victory to environmentalists, ordering two big corporations this week to pay $115 million to clean up a Texas toxic waste site that may have spread dangerous levels of pollution during flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a directive requiring International Paper and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corp., a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., to excavate 212,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the San Jacinto River Waste Pits site.

Pruitt visited the Superfund site outside Houston last month following historic rains and flooding from the storm, meeting with local environmental activists who had campaigned for years for approval of a cleanup plan.

Ryan blasts states that send billions to federal government

WASHINGTON

The top House Republican on Thursday blasted high-tax states that deliver billions to the federal government as he faced a backlash from rank-and-file GOP lawmakers over a sweeping tax-cut proposal.

But beyond the tough rhetoric from Speaker Paul Ryan, disgruntled lawmakers met privately with Republican leaders and reaching for possible compromises to break the impasse. The GOP lawmakers from high-tax states oppose the plan’s proposal to repeal the popular federal deduction for state and local taxes. It’s used in large numbers by residents of their states.

With Republicans splintered, the future of the $6 trillion tax overhaul plan is threatened by the GOP defections.

Mass. on its way to banning bump stock gun devices

BOSTON

Massachusetts is on its way to becoming the first state since the Las Vegas shooting massacre to outlaw devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to mimic fully automatic guns.

The state Senate voted 33-0 Thursday to ban the sale of bump stocks and trigger cranks, attachments that increase the firing rate of a weapon. A day earlier the state House voted 151-3 in favor of a bump-stock ban.

The two versions must be reconciled before a final bill is sent to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who has said he would sign a ban if it reaches his desk.

Associated Press