The family of Nolan Wells is continuing to release pieces of their independent investigation, as they push for transparency from local investigators and for federal authorities to investigate.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Washington and California head up a 20-state coalition challenging the Trump administration’s reforms to the Endangered Species Act, claiming the reforms will undermine states’ efforts to conserve fish and wildlife. The states, plus the District of Columbia, filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for Northern California targeting different reforms. In a court brief, Washington highlighted its commitment to conservation by noting it spends about $1 million a year on just the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly and Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit. “The loss of federal protections would potentially devastate endangered species like orcas and salmon that are inseparable from Washington’s state’s economy, our identity and our traditions,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said at a press conference. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July eliminated an ESA rule that prohibited private landowners from altering the habitat of protected species. “This is a reversal of staggering proportions,” one lawsuit claims. The other lawsuit seeks to reinstate the “blanket rule,” which gave threatened species nearly the same level of protection as endangered species. The same lawsuit also challenges plans by the wildlife service to consider how activities such as grazing will be impacted if the...