Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Top U.S. Senate Democrat seeks probe into postmaster general's campaign finance practices Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Sunday for the North Carolina attorney general to probe allegations published in the Washington Post that U.S Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's former company reimbursed employees for political donations.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S.-Canada towns marooned by border closure brace for winter trapped in isolation

They are small towns along the Canadian-American border, marooned by geography, whose residents' lives have already been upended by the border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. But with winter approaching, residents of Campobello Island in Canada's Atlantic province of New Brunswick and the small U.S. town of Point Roberts in Washington state are bracing for continued isolation adding to winter blues, exposing how tightly intertwined are communities that straddle an international border. 'Fire on all sides': California wildfires prompt evacuations

More than 200 people were airlifted to safety overnight after a fast-moving wildfire cut off the only road out of the Mammoth Pool Reservoir, a popular recreational site in California's Sierra National Forest. Twenty evacuees were taken to hospitals, the Madera County Sheriff said on Twitter on Sunday, as the Creek Fire that started on Friday night rapidly grew to burn some 45,000 acres (18,210 hectares), forcing evacuations and road closures in the Fresno area in central California. As protests rock U.S. cities on holiday weekend, Jacob Blake speaks out

Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot in the back by a white police officer in Wisconsin last month, spoke out for the first time from his hospital bed as dueling demonstrations over racial justice and policing continued to roil a handful of U.S. cities. In a video posted on Twitter, Blake, dressed in a green hospital gown, described being in constant pain after the shooting that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen says president disparaged Black leaders and voters: report

Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, is alleging in a new book that Trump made disparaging remarks about Black world leaders including former South African President Nelson Mandela, as well as about U.S. minorities in general, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Cohen worked closely with Trump for years before turning against him, most publicly in testimony to Congress last year prior to Trump's impeachment. Top U.S. Senate Democrat seeks probe into postmaster general's campaign finance practices

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Sunday for the North Carolina attorney general to probe allegations published in the Washington Post that U.S Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's former company reimbursed employees for political donations. "These are very serious allegations that must be investigated immediately," Schumer wrote in reference to the Post story on Sunday about New Breed Logistics, a North Carolina-based company that DeJoy led from 1983 to 2014 when it was acquired by XPO Logistics. Portland protesters throw fire bombs at officers on 100th day of demonstrations

Protesters in Portland threw fire bombs at police on Saturday night and at least one person was injured, police said, on the 100th day of demonstrations in the Oregon city over racial injustice and police brutality. Police described what they called "tumultuous and violent conduct" by protesters on the city's Southeast Stark Street. Deal likely to fund U.S. government to early December, Mnuchin says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said a deal between the White House and Congress would fund the federal government through the beginning of December and that details of the spending bill should be finalized by week's end. The measure would help avert a government shutdown when current funding runs out Sept. 30. Mnuchin and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had agreed to extend funding, according to a Democratic aide, but details on the bill have yet to emerge. Trump on defensive as critics seize on reports he insulted U.S. veterans

President Donald Trump was on the defensive on Sunday over what critics said was a "pattern" of disrespect towards the U.S. military following media reports that he had disparaged fallen veterans, the fallout from which could harm his campaign for re-election on Nov. 3. Democratic and Republican opponents alike over the weekend seized on the reports - which said that Trump had called U.S. soldiers buried in Europe "losers" - to attack his record on the military on news shows and in political ads. U.S. judge temporarily halts plan to wind down census

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Census Bureau to halt plans to wind down data collection by Sept. 30, handing a preliminary victory to municipalities and civil rights groups that want a later deadline for the nation's once-in-a-decade population count. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said her temporary restraining order, issued on Saturday, would remain in effect until Sept. 17, when she will hold a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the municipalities and advocacy groups. Coronavirus rising in 22 U.S. states

Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 U.S. states, according to a Reuters analysis, a worrisome trend on a Labor Day holiday weekend traditionally filled with family gatherings and parties to mark the end of summer. As little as three weeks ago, cases were increasing in only three states, Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, according to an analysis comparing cases for the two-week period of Aug. 8-22 with the past two weeks.