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    The director of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 vision for a complete overhaul of the federal government has stepped down after blowback from Donald Trump’s campaign, which has tried to disavow the program created by many of the former president’s allies and former aides. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said Paul Dans’ exit comes after the project “completed exactly what it set out to do.” Roberts, who has emerged as a chief spokesman for the effort, plans to lead Project 2025 going forward. Democrats have made Project 2025 a key election-year cudgel, pointing to the ultraconservative policy blueprint as a glimpse into how extreme another Trump administration could be.

      Vice President Kamala Harris is set to launch a battleground tour next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate, with stops in seven swing states stretching from Pennsylvania to Nevada. The planned tour is the latest sign of the whirlwind pace at which Harris has gone from President Joe Biden's supportive running mate to likely Democratic nominee ready to identify her No. 2 and take on Republican Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Harris says she hasn’t made a decision yet on whom she will select. Pennsylvania Gov.  Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly are among those under consideration.

        Vice President Kamala Harris is the only White House hopeful who has qualified to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democratic National Committee made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday. Although no other major Democrat had indicated any plans to challenge Harris, the DNC’s announcement officially clears the path for the vice president to seek her party’s nomination uncontested, just nine days after her former running-mate, President Joe Biden, dropped out of the race and created a vacancy at the top of the ticket.

        U.S. road safety investigators say they will look into an April crash near Seattle after authorities determined that a Tesla was operating on the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system when it hit and killed a motorcyclist. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is gathering information on the crash from law enforcement officers and Tesla. Investigators from the Washington State Patrol determined that the system was in use after downloading information from the event-data recorder on the 2022 Tesla Model S involved in the crash. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is staking much of Tesla’s future on development of self-driving software. Tesla did not answer messages seeking comment.

        Thousands of illegal marijuana shops have flourished in New York under lax enforcement, but new rules are allowing officials to quickly padlock doors. The state legalized recreational use of the drug in 2021, but for several years law enforcement couldn’t close illegal pot shops without a protracted legal battle. Officials tried expanding inspection powers and sending letters to landlords, but most stores stayed open. The new rules passed earlier this year allow the sheriff’s department to keep stores padlocked in most cases during appeals. Licensed sellers say they’re seeing big sales increases as illegal shops close around them, but the estimated 2,000 illegal shops in New York City still dwarf the 150 legally opened statewide.

        U.S. arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico during July have plummeted to a new low for Joe Biden’s presidency, raising prospects a temporary ban on asylum may be lifted soon. The Border Patrol is expected to arrest migrants 57,000 times during the month, down 30% from June and the lowest tally since September 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic slowed movement across borders. Two Customs and Border Protection officials provided numbers to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the numbers hadn't been publicly disclosed. San Diego was the busiest corridor for illegal crossings in July.

        A person has been killed in a wildfire burning in the Colorado foothills as several blazes are torching large areas around the western United States. The blaze is one of several burning along the state's heavily-populated Front Range. Authorities said Wednesday that the body was found at one of five homes that burned in a fire near Lyons, Colorado. A second fire burning southwest of Denver has triggered evacuation orders for 575 homes. Around the U.S., nearly 28,000 firefighters are battling large fires that have burned almost 7,000 square miles of land to date this year.

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        Ahead of two upcoming court dates – one involving the temporary restraining order that Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos obtained against Treasury Wine Estates executive Debra Dommen and one involving the supervisor’s family law case – here’s a rundown of what’s known, what’s not, and what’s next. 

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