Wildfires forced approximately 500,000 people to evacuate parts of northwest Oregon and destroyed the town of Berry Creek, California, killing at least 10 people. The North Complex Fire has quickly become the deadliest blaze in California this year and the death toll is expected to increase because 16 people are missing and four have been hospitalized with serious burns. Oregon's evacuation order affects more than 10% of the 4.2 million people in the state. Two of the largest fires there are growing rapidly and could merge soon. Some firefighters were asked to take "a tactical pause" due to the ferocity of the flames.

More:

• The North Complex Fire has destroyed more than 2,000 homes and other buildings northeast of San Francisco.
• It was started by a barrage of lightning strikes that hit northern California in mid-August.
• Firefighters were making good progress against the blaze until gusty winds stoked the flames earlier this week, allowing the fire to increase to six times its previous size.
• Separately, the lighting strikes started a collection of 37 fires north of Sacramento known as the August Complex Fire, which has so far destroyed 471,185 acres, becoming the largest fire in the state's history. 
• Experts say that climate change is responsible for heatwaves and severe dryness that are making wildfires more likely and destructive in western states.
• Wildfires have destroyed almost 3.1 million acres in California, 900,000 acres in Oregon, and 600,000 acres in Washington state.
• USA Today has put together a visualization that details the scope of the damage.

Western Europe is struggling to contain coronavirus again and is currently registering more daily confirmed cases than the U.S. The 27 EU members, plus the U.K., Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, registered 27,233 new cases on Wednesday, about 1,000 more than the U.S. On Thursday, France recorded almost 10,000 cases, Spain 4,137, and Italy 1,600. 

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• COVID-19 is not killing as many people as during the spring, in part because many of those contracting the virus are younger and because treatments have improved. Europe recorded 252 deaths on Wednesday but thousands were dying on a daily basis in April.
• In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases has decreased from a peak of 75,821 on July 17 to 36,080 cases on Thursday.
• The U.S. has the world's highest death toll and more confirmed cases than any other country. According to Worldometer, the U.S. ranks 11th in the world in terms of deaths per million people. Brazil, the U.K., and Spain have all seen more deaths as a proportion of the total population.
• Comparing the EU with the U.S. is difficult. The EU has a population of about 450 million, versus 330 million for the U.S.
• Testing is increasing in Europe, but CDC data indicates that the number of daily conducted tests in the U.S. has decreased slightly in recent weeks.

The Colombian capital, Bogotá, has been rocked by protests that have left at least eight people dead and 400 injured – including 66 with bullet wounds. The protests were sparked by a video in which two police officers can be seen repeatedly shocking a man pinned to the ground with a stun gun. The victim, Javier Ordoñez, can be heard telling the officers "Please, no more" repeatedly while passers-by plead with the police to stop hurting him. Authorities said that police arrested 70 people during Wednesday's protests and that 46 streets had been "totally destroyed."

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• Police said that Ordoñez was part of a group of people who had become disorderly after excessive drinking. 
• A man who claims to be an eye-witness told local radio that Ordoñez was not involved in an argument before being tasered.
• President Iván Duque condemned the killing of protesters but said they are isolated incidents. He described the country's security forces as "heroic" and "hard-working."

GOOD NEWS: A 62-year-old ball python has become the oldest snake to lay eggs in captivity and has done it even though she has not come into contact with a male python for at least two decades. "She’d definitely be the oldest snake we know of in history" to lay eggs, said Mark Wanner, a zoological manager of herpetology at St. Louis Zoo. Three eggs should hatch in about a month, two have been used for genetic samples, and the remaining two did not survive. The samples will show if the snake reproduced asexually – which is unusual, but possible.

Microsoft said that the Russian hackers that tried to disrupt the 2016 election are launching sophisticated attacks against both Republicans and Democrats. Microsoft notes that there are three main groups of hackers from different countries targeting candidates, campaign staffers, and party advisers:

• Strontium, from Russia, has attacked more than 200 organizations, including the Trump and Biden campaigns, as well as think tanks and political groups in the U.K. and Germany. According to the Mueller report, Strontium launched attacks against the Democratic party ahead of the 2016 election. Microsoft said, this time, Strontium is using more sophisticated techniques, such as brute force attacks and password spray, which allow the hackers to automate part of their operations.
• Zirconium, from China, has attacked people associated with Biden's campaign, as well as prominent leaders in the international affairs community. It has launched thousands of attacks over the past three months.
• Phosphorus, from Iran, has targeted people linked to President Trump's re-election campaign, as well as administration officials.

An appellate court in Texas blocked an attempt by the Democratic party to expand mail-in voting rights in the Lone Star State. Voters over 65 qualify for mail-in voting in Texas, but anyone younger can only vote by mail if they are away from the country, disabled or ill, or in jail but entitled to vote. A lower court previously sided with the Democratic party, which argues that the same mail-in voting rights should be granted to all Texans, regardless of their age.

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• Democrats say the rule violates the 26th Amendment, which states that voting rights should not be denied on account of age. 
• But a panel of appellate judges said that "conferring a privilege" to voters aged 65 and older does not alone violate the 26th Amendment.
• Democrats say they will challenge the decision at a lower court that still has to hear arguments pertaining to the case.
• It is unclear if the issue will be resolved before the election, since the deadline to request a mail-in ballot in Texas is Oct. 23.

Four Houston police officers who shot an incapacitated man 21 times in April have been fired from the force. The officers responded to calls about a man who was running through highway traffic. When they arrived, they found Nicolas Chavez, 27, holding a metal object and acting erratically. Over the course of 15 minutes, they subdued Chavez by firing multiple Taser cartridges, bean bags, and three gunshots at him. They then fired 21 rounds at Chavez. 

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• Police Chief Art Acevedo said the officers did what was expected of them when they subdued Chavez. However, he said that firing a barrage of bullets to an incapacitated suspect is "not objectively reasonable."
• The police union condemned the decision to terminate the officers. Joe Gamaldi, head of the Houston Police Officers' Union, said that it was "clear" that the officers did not want to shoot Chavez and "did everything in their power not to."
• The union said that Chavez was to blame. Another union official described the shooting as a "suicide by cop."
• Chavez's relatives said he was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time. Toxicology tests found methamphetamine, amphetamine, and ethanol in Chavez's system.

Portland, Oregon, has banned city agencies and private entities such as restaurants from using facial recognition, making it the most stringent ban on the technology in the U.S. The first part of the law, which took effect immediately, bars city agencies from using the technology, with some exceptions for smartphones and other personal verification. The second part, which takes effect Jan. 1, makes it illegal for private entities to use the software to identify people in places of public accommodation, like stores and banks.

More:

• Mayor Ted Wheeler voiced concerns that the technology would be used to monitor protesters. He joined the other City Council members, who voted unanimously for the ban.
• The ban on private entities is stricter than facial recognition laws already passed in Boston, San Francisco, and other cities. Wheeler called it "the first of its kind of legislation in the nation."
• The ordinance specifically states that facial recognition has been documented to have "an unacceptable gender and racial bias."
• In December, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released a study showing that most facial recognition systems have "demographic differentials" and lower accuracy for certain ages, genders, and races. 

This story first appeared in Inside AI. 

QUICK HITS

• Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined an event to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
• Victoria Azarenka and Naomi Osaka will play the U.S. Open final on Saturday. Azarenka beat Serena Williams in a match that ended after Williams injured her left Achilles’ tendon, and Osaka defeated Jennifer Brady in a tight game on Thursday night.
• NBC said that the next season of "Saturday Night Live" will be shot at the network’s Rockefeller Center, in Manhattan. At the peak of the pandemic, NBC aired three "SNL" shows that cast members recorded from their homes. The first episode of the 46th season will air on Oct. 3.
• Conga tapped into insights from tech-forward business leaders in order to create this fact-packed report: The State of Digital Document Transformation.*

*This is sponsored content. 

This story first appeared in Thursday's premium edition of Inside Media. Enjoy exclusive content with a free 14-day trial.

ANALYSIS: Should Bob Woodward Have Told Us What Trump Said in March?

The big news of Wednesday – which will almost certainly be forgotten once we discover whatever becomes the big news of today – is that President Trump admitted to deliberately downplaying the severity of the coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic. In an interview with Bob Woodward in February, Trump said that the virus was airborne and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus." But publicly, Trump said the virus would disappear by April and told Fox News "we've never closed down the country for the flu."

In March, after most Americans were already self-quarantining, he told Woodward he "still [liked] playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." Trump appeared to confirm that rationale Wednesday. When asked if he downplayed the severity of COVID-19 "in order to reduce panic," he replied, "perhaps that's so."

But, I'm not here to cast aspersions on Trump. Plenty in the press are already doing that and, if polls are to be believed, about 53% of you will harangue him, and 43% will find an excuse for him. That's just how it is. This piece today is about Bob Woodward, and what journalistic or moral duty he may have had to release these astounding comments months ago. Would it have saved lives? Would it have been ignored? If it's possible that Woodward's knowledge could have made a difference in America's handling of the pandemic, was it ethical for him to hold on to these comments to help sell his new book six months later?

The journalistic community is decidedly split on this. ProPublica reporter Jessica Huseman asked if revelations from Woodward would have made some of Trump's supporters take the virus more seriously in March and April.

The Gambit editor and former Buzzfeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton tweeted: "If there was any chance [releasing the tapes] could save a single life, he was obligated to do so."

Data has shown that states with stronger support for Trump socially distanced less in the early months of the pandemic. Perhaps if Trump's comments to Woodward had become public, this gap would have diminished. Of course, the caseload and death toll from COVID-19 was also greater in big cities (typically Democrat-heavy) in March, April, and May. More rural, Republican-heavy areas didn't get hit hard by the virus until later in the summer, so this gap may not have mattered much in the long run.

Other journalists leaped to Woodward's defense. NYT reporter Nick Confessore said he couldn't remember any other time a reporter was critiqued for holding onto a scoop for a publication date.

WaPo media critic Erik Wemple interviewed Woodward following the release of the comments Wednesday. Woodward defended himself, arguing that the revelations would not have saved lives and that he would have gone public "if anything he gathered was a legitimate public health issue." Woodward insisted his goal was to gather information which he would report in time for the November election.

Woodward did tell WaPo media columnist Margaret Sullivan, however, that he had no formal embargo agreement with the White House, and that he was free to release recordings of the interviews at any time. He says waiting to publish all his findings in a book would "provide a fuller context than could occur in a news story."

To me, the factors that bolster Woodward's argument the most are:

• Back in February, we really didn't know how bad the pandemic would be, and it was unclear where Trump was getting his information, and
• Was a news story from a journalist, even one as legendary as Woodward, going to reasonably change public opinion or encourage significantly different actions?

I'm inclined to think that the last six months would have played out exactly the way they did even if Woodward sent the recordings to every newsroom in America. For those February recordings, when so much was unknown, it's possible to give Woodward a pass. It's not as easy to do that, however, for the March recordings. Trump told Woodward he still wanted to downplay the virus after much of the country had taken to their homes, after the NBA season had shut down, and after the deadliness and infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2 was incredibly apparent. This feels like something that should have been revealed to the public, book or no book, election or no election.

As Sullivan argues in her column, "the chance — even if it's a slim chance — that those revelations could have saved lives is a powerful argument against waiting this long."

-Jonathan

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