Wildfires force 60,000 evacuations in Spokane

At least three wildfires ballooned over the weekend in Spokane County, Wash., burning more than 5,390 acres and forcing the evacuation of about 60,000 people — about a tenth of the area’s residents.

Firefighters were racing to take advantage of weather conditions that had slightly improved, but those conditions could worsen again by Wednesday. Officials said at a news conference yesterday that no deaths, injuries or missing people had been reported as a result of the fires, but they cautioned that those figures could change.

Officials said it was too early to determine the full extent of the damage. “When the sun rises in the morning, I think we’re going to be in shock to see some of the scenes that emerge,” Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh, the Washington National Guard commander, said at a briefing.

Residents in the Pacific Northwest have dealt with a record-breaking wildfire season, largely because of excessive drought and heat. More than 1,000 fires have burned this year in Washington alone, covering about 425,000 acres.

Republican holdouts say they’ll back attorney general nominee

After the Justice Department committed in writing to abandoning elements of a deal it struck with President Trump to resolve his lawsuit against the I.R.S., Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had been holding out on the nomination of Todd Blanche to lead the department, said they would back him.

The two men had vowed that they would not confirm Blanche unless he provided written assurances that the department had formally scrapped a planned $1.8 billion fund to pay people who claimed the government had persecuted them. They had also demanded that he narrow the scope of the immunity from I.R.S. scrutiny that was granted to Trump.

But critics said that the documents Blanche posted to social media in order to ease the path to his nomination had loopholes, and the documents left the perk most valuable to the president largely untouched. Trump, when asked about the assurances provided by Blanche, his former personal lawyer, said, “I didn’t look at it.”

In other Washington news:

Two deaths in Michigan are linked to cyclosporiasis

Health officials in Michigan, which has been at the center of a nine-state outbreak of cyclosporiasis, said that two deaths had been linked to the intestinal illness. It is caused by a parasite, cyclospora, which spreads through food or water contaminated with human feces.

The two people who died had “significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration,” officials said. The infection causes lengthy bouts of diarrhea, which can be dangerous for vulnerable groups including infants, older adults and those who are pregnant or have weakened immune systems.

The deaths come during the worst year on record for cyclosporiasis in the U.S. The C.D.C. is investigating or has confirmed more than 18,000 cases in 45 states, and has reported 423 hospitalizations.

The secretive boards that decide trans troops’ fate

Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an order that effectively forced all trans troops out of the military. Some chose to fight the order, taking their cases to special separation boards.

The boards follow the same process that the military uses to determine whether to kick out service members who abuse drugs or beat their spouses, with levels of security and silence usually reserved for state secrets. Sometimes the service members are kept out of their own hearings. A lawyer who has represented dozens of trans service members told us what they had experienced in the hearings.

Hannah Waddingham returns to a “delicious” role

The third season of “Ted Lasso,” which follows the American coach of an English soccer team, was the most watched original streaming show of 2023. That success added to a breakout for the musical theater veteran Hannah Waddingham, who returns on Wednesday as Rebecca, the team’s owner, for the show’s fourth season.

Waddingham, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall in heels, has a head-turning presence and a four-octave vocal range. The daughter of a river police officer and an opera singer, she plays her role with poshness and ruthlessness. “This girl,” Waddingham remembered thinking when she read the pilot script, “you’re delicious.”

A new Japanese import: folk houses

High in the foothills of the Wallowa Mountains, there’s a kominka, or a traditional Japanese folk house. Filled with shoji screens and tatami mats, the kominka uses a post-and-beam system, with some parts that are more than 200 years old — because they came from the home prefecture of one of its owners.

Many such houses in Japan are empty because of earthquake building codes and shrinking populations in rural areas. Efforts are underway to save them, with some being exported to the U.S., where they can be shipped and rebuilt for about $500,000. See how they look.

Pizza Interview: Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon

Starting with “Saturday Night Live” in 1995, Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon have been working together for more than 30 years. Their most recent projects are the new Netflix series “The Hawk,” and a couple of pizzas.

We invited the two comedians into our kitchen to cook pies and talk. They told us about their favorite chains, which “S.N.L.” cast members they’d hire to work in a restaurant, and why salt-and-vinegar chips and pineapple are good to eat before doing voice work. You can watch it here.