Human Race: Fauci held in contempt

On Aug. 6, a Senate committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in ­contempt of Congress. The vote came after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during testimony before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29. Chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, the committee is investigating the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Fauci helped lead. Paul announced he would deliver the contempt resolution to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. In a statement, Fauci’s lawyer accused Paul of having a “personal vendetta” against Fauci. The committee also released portions of a diary Fauci kept during the pandemic in which he discussed debating COVID-19’s origins with other scientists and monitored his personal fame.

Former President Joe Biden granted Fauci a preemptive pardon for potential federal crimes committed during the prior 11 years when Fauci held important government roles. Paul argued the pardon nullified Fauci’s Fifth Amendment rights.

On July 29, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a state investigation into Fauci’s actions during the pandemic. Last year, a coalition of 17 Republican state attorneys general announced they were also investigating Fauci. The federal pardon doesn’t cover violations of state law.

Extra! extra!

Three years after interning at The Monticello News, Evan Newton is now its editor, publisher, and owner. The 25-year-old dipped into his savings to keep his hometown paper, which covers Jasper County in central Georgia, locally owned. A mass communications graduate, Newton is the newspaper’s only full-time employee. Most of the bylines are his, but two part-timers and community contributors also assist. Newton’s purchase comes at a time when many local newspapers are disappearing. According to research from Northwestern University, some 5 million Georgians lack access to local reporting, making it the worst state for news deserts in the country. Newton is already considering the ­purchase of other nearby newsrooms. —Kim Henderson

Deadly climb

The family of a woman killed while attempting to summit a mountain in Pakistan confirmed her death on Aug. 1. Along with nine other hikers, San Antonio resident and veteran mountaineer Mallory Geis was climbing Broad Peak, the 12th-highest mountain in the world, when an avalanche struck on July 30. “Mallory was a bright light who was loved deeply by her family and friends,” her family said in a statement. All 10 members of the climbing party died, including renowned hiker Nirmal Purja ,who set a climbing world record in 2019 for summiting all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks. —Bekah Bernhardt

Good catch

First responders are hailing 14-year-old Jory Thomas as a hero after he saved a man from drowning in the Yellowstone River by lassoing and pulling him to shore. The Montana teen was camping with his family on July 5 when he heard cries for help. A raft in the fast-moving current had struck a bridge piling, ejecting four people into the water. Thomas grabbed his 12-foot lariat from a truck, ran along the bank and into waist-deep water, and landed the rope on his first toss around the man clinging to a cooler. Rescue crews arrived as the first-year roper finished hauling the man safely to the riverbank. Thomas said afterward God placed him there to save a life. —Todd Vician

Freak accident

After a hiking accident, David Cifaldi descended Montana’s highest mountain with his own trekking pole impaled under his left arm. Cifaldi and two friends were climbing Granite Peak when Cifaldi slipped and stabbed himself with the 44-inch pole. As a local wound care nurse, Cifaldi estimated the pole had missed any vital organs since the wound wasn’t bleeding profusely. After alerting authorities with a satellite-based Garmin, the group began the 10-mile trek down to the trailhead. Doctors treated Cifaldi at St. Vincent Regional Hospital, where he works. Cifaldi admitted that the high cost of a helicopter evacuation influenced his decision to “self-rescue.” Plus, he said, the wound probably wasn’t as severe as it seemed. “’Tis but a flesh wound,” Cifaldi told his friends. —Bekah Bernhardt

On the mend

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was discharged from a rehab center on Aug. 6, about seven weeks after he was reportedly found unresponsive at home and subsequently hospitalized. In a statement released by his office, McConnell said he planned to continue an ­intensive regimen of physical therapy at home for the foreseeable future. His absence from Washington has complicated Republican votes in the Senate, including on President Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments. McConnell, 84, has held his Senate seat since 1985. In the past few years, he has had a series of medical incidents, including falls and public freeze-ups where he couldn’t finish a sentence. He announced in 2025 that he would not run for reelection this year. —Travis Kircher

Charges dismissed

A federal judge reluctantly dismissed criminal charges against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and seven others related to their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Federal prosecutors made the motion to dismiss, and though he disagreed with it, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said he had no grounds to interfere with their charging authority. Mehta had previously sentenced Rhodes to 18 years in prison for conspiracy, obstruction, and evidence tampering. President Donald Trump commuted that ­sentence at the start of his second term in office. Rhodes received one of the longest sentences of the Jan. 6 defendants. —Christina Grube

Terror court

The Justice Department filed its first case in a never-before used court to deport Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan woman accused of supporting the Islamic State, radicalizing her family members, and backing her son and son-in-law’s Election Day shooting plans in 2024. Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident, lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and appeared for the Alien Terrorist Removal Court’s first-ever hearing on July 30. Congress created the court in 1996, but the government never activated it. The court allows the government to use classified information in deportation proceedings and quickly remove alleged terrorists without pursuing charges in the criminal justice system. —Addie Offereins