US Domestic News Roundup: Evacuees anxiously follow course of California fire near Lake Tahoe; Biden infrastructure plan takes on EV charging’s inequality problem and more

The roundups, made necessary by the devastating effects of wildfire and drought, show how climate change is endangering the iconic wild horses, livestock and other wildlife, according to ranchers, activists and the U.S. government. U.S. childcare in short supply as burned-out workers quit, new hires hard to find Rochelle Wilcox, the owner of three childcare centers in New Orleans, receives 10 to 15 phone calls nearly every day for each school from parents asking if there is space for their children.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Evacuees anxiously follow course of California fire near Lake Tahoe

Red Cross officials who have turned a Carson City recreation center into a shelter have tried to make evacuees from the wildfire raging near Lake Tahoe as comfortable as possible. Cots are placed at COVID-safe distances from each other on the gym floor, each topped with a soft white blanket. Urns of coffee waiting at the entrance.

Biden infrastructure plan takes on EV charging's inequality problem

The Biden administration has an ambitious $7.5 billion plan to expand electric vehicle charging to underserved areas, but it must first overcome a host of obstacles that have discouraged private investment in more equitable charging networks. The experience of California - the U.S. state with the largest number of EVs and the most advanced charging infrastructure - shows how challenging it will be to achieve the goals in the $1 trillion infrastructure spending proposal Biden wants Congress to pass.

Activists fought rounding up U.S. wild horses. Then came drought and climate change

Across the U.S. West this summer, helicopters buzz low, herding thousands of wild horses into gated areas. The roundups, made necessary by the devastating effects of wildfire and drought, show how climate change is endangering the iconic wild horses, livestock and other wildlife, according to ranchers, activists, and the U.S. government.

U.S. childcare in short supply as burned-out workers quit, new hires hard to find

Rochelle Wilcox, the owner of three childcare centers in New Orleans, receives 10 to 15 phone calls nearly every day for each school from parents asking if there is space for their children. But Wilcox has to turn them away. While her enrollment is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels, she doesn't have the staff to take on more students.

Texas six-week abortion ban takes effect

A Texas ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect early Wednesday morning after the U.S. Supreme Court did not act on an emergency request by abortion rights groups to block the law enabling the ban. Barring a later ruling by the court, its inaction by midnight on the groups' request for an injunction will allow the ban litigation continues in the groups' lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

Insurers may take $18 billion hit from Hurricane Ida - industry experts

Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $18 billion from Hurricane Ida in the United States and the Caribbean, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Wednesday. The number, closer to the lower end of the initial estimates given by insurance analysts while the storm was still raging earlier this week, is the first from one of the industry's major risk-modeling experts.

U.S. private payrolls miss expectations in August -ADP

U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in August, but the labor market continues to steadily recover. Private payrolls increased by 374,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Data for July was revised slightly down to show 326,000 jobs added instead of the initially reported 330,000.

U.S. Navy helicopter crashes off San Diego coast, Pacific Fleet says

A military helicopter took off from the USS Abraham Lincoln and later crashed into the sea leading to search-and-rescue operations off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet said on Tuesday. "An MH-60S helicopter embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31," the Pacific Fleet said https://bit.ly/3kDYgfj in a message on Twitter.

Evacuees urged not to return home after devastation from storm Ida

Evacuees who fled Ida before the storm hammered southern Louisiana are being urged not to return home just yet as the U.S. Gulf Coast begins an arduous recovery from one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the region. Three days after the Category 4 hurricane came ashore, more than a million homes and businesses remained without electricity. Power was restored to some customers in the eastern part of New Orleans on Wednesday morning, Entergy Corp said. But the utility warned it may take weeks to return service in some areas where transmission towers had crumbled into heaps of metal.

Texas bill restricting voting access heads to governor's desk

The Texas legislature on Tuesday passed the final version of a bill restricting voter access that sparked a weeks-long political showdown and is expected to be quickly signed into law by the state's Republican governor. Both the state House of Representatives and state Senate - each controlled by Republicans - approved the measure that would outlaw drive-through and 24-hour voting locations and add new identification requirements for mail-in voting.