Not everyone who attended President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Thursday was a fervent Trump supporter. Asked how they'd rate Trump on a scale from 1 to 10, some respondents ranked him as low as an 8. (Others, of course, gave him a 10 or an 11 or an 11-and-a-half or a 20.)

There were concerns about his implementation of tariffs, though not from John, 30, a soybean farmer who saw the tariffs as "a small loss for a big-time gain."

There were concerns about his tweeting, though not from Mike Connolly, 33, who said that he "liked his Twitter usage" which was Trump's "only mouthpiece where he can get by everybody else."

Generally, though, attitudes toward Trump mirrored Connolly's broader summation.

"I love the president. I love his agenda," Connolly said. "Love what he's doing for America. Everything he said two years ago when I was in this exact parking lot, he's been doing." The friends who were with him whistled and clapped.

There's an all-or-nothing aspect to a lot of the support for Trump expressed by those who were waiting to hear him speak, often accepting - or at least agreeing with - the president's representations of how his administration is faring.

At times that means accepting things that were at odds with what the media had reported, such as the nuance of Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un or that he self-funded his campaign or the agreement that he reached with the European Union last month or the immediate effects of Trump's tax cuts. For every time the media reported news about Trump with a "yes, but," what was remembered was the unfairness of that "but." Reporting that differed from Trump's representations was, simply enough, "fake news."

Trump, as usual, reinforced that idea during his speech.

"They can make anything bad, because they are the fake, fake disgusting news," Trump said, later adding: "Whatever happened to fair press? Whatever happened to honest reporting?"

He later called the media "horrible, horrendous people."

For a reporter from one of the publications Trump targets, that makes interviewing his supporters a complicated proposition. Some were happy to share their thoughts. Others criticized Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post's owner. One man declined to answer questions, given how "liberal" The Post is. Many offered half-serious asides about the Washington "Compost" or a quick "you're fake news!" One man with a thick mustache offered a curt, "You people suck."

"Nobody hates you," said Avi Bader, 28, who'd come in from New Jersey. "They hate your reporting. They find it despicable and demeaning, but no one hates you personally."

His brother Moshe, 31, had just finished explaining how the national atmosphere was "toxic" these days because of how Trump supporters were targeted for abuse.

Among those interviewed, the media often joined the Democrats and, in some cases, establishment Republicans as part of a broad effort to take Trump down.

Harry Peck, 57, wearing a T-shirt criticizing NFL players who have knelt in protest, had at one point worked at Trump Organization construction sites. He and his companion Victoria Stuchio, 60, came out to be part of the crowd cheering Trump on.

"I love the man!" Stuchio said. "I support him all the way."

"The Democrats keep crying and crying and they're fighting him every step of the way," she said. "Right, Harry?"

"It's disgusting," Peck said.

"No matter what he does, he's a bum," Stuchio said.

"He's doing great but the Republicans are stopping him," John Mancini, 63, said. "The Republicans are not allowing him to do what he wants to do, which is make this country great."

"The deep state!" a guy standing nearby interjected.

Susan Price, 72, drove through the rain to attend the rally with her family and saw some symbolism in how the weather cleared when they arrived.

"We want Trump to do exactly what he's been doing and do more," she said. "And give him the encouragement to overcome all of the various forces that are trying to take him down, whatever their motives are."

Trump's reported explanation to CBS' Lesley Stahl that he targeted the press to discredit negative news stories seems obviously to be the case. But it's broader than that: By castigating the media, he also heightens his own assessment that he's a victim, which draws his base closer to show support. Because what's absorbed by those supporters isn't just that the president they support is under attack. It's that they are under attack, too.

“You feel like he’s fighting for you,” Moshe Bader explained. And when he wins — when he’s “kicking butt,” in the phrasing of Mike Connolly — so are they.

Most of those in attendance at the rally Thursday were obviously part of Trump’s fervent base, a group so thoroughly examined that no insight, including that in the previous paragraph, is particularly novel. But it still bears repeating, outside of the context of electoral politics, that there is a group of millions of Americans which broadly accepts Trump’s rhetoric as factual and his position as embattled. It may not help in November, but it fills arenas and contributes to sky-high approval ratings from Republicans - victories for Trump in their own way.

Philip Bump is a correspondent for The Washington Post based in New York. Before joining The Post in 2014, he led politics coverage for the Atlantic Wire. @pbump

“Mission accomplished.”

That is how Benjamin Lamah described his feelings Friday as he and scores of other Utahns were naturalized as U.S. citizens and honored at the state Capitol.

Lamah, a Utah resident who came to the United States from Guinea eight years ago, was one of 110 immigrants – representing 41 nations – who were celebrated by Utah officials, including state Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, and U.S. Rep. Mia Love, and presented documentation of their citizenship by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

“Give yourself a hand,” Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, told the citizenship candidates.

In his keynote speech, graphic designer and naturalized citizen Chris Mann, from the United Kingdom, told the new U.S. citizens to appreciate their cultural differences that make them unique and bring diversity to the country. Friday’s ceremony honored citizenship candidates from American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Thailand and other nations.

“You have a place,” Mann said, “and you truly belong as a citizen of the United States.”

In a prerecorded video broadcast to the audience, President Donald Trump congratulated the new U.S. citizens for their achievement. “You enjoy the full rights and the sacred duties that come with American citizenship,” the president said. “Very, very special.”

Lamah said he’s “very excited” to “be an American, to be a part of this great nation.”

“I’m feeling great, really,” agreed Asif Ghouri, another newly naturalized citizen who came to the U.S. from Pakistan four years ago. Even before receiving his citizenship, Ghouri became a certified nurse and currently works at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute.

The most difficult part of achieving citizenship?

“Documentations and then waiting,” he said, “because I applied a year ago, and it took one year to just do that.”

Earlier this week, The Tribune reported that Utah’s backlog of legal immigrants waiting for approval of U.S. citizenship applications grew faster than in any other state in 2017. As of now, the waiting time to have a citizenship application reviewed is up to 20 months.

Julieta Rosales from Mexico, who has lived in the United States for seven years, said she also felt it had been a long process. But she said she is proud of herself for getting through it, and “grateful that this country opened the doors for me and my family to be here,” she added.

Now that she is a citizen, Rosales said she is ready to become as involved as she can. “I’m very happy that I’m here,” she said, “and I’m ready to be part of the community and [to] vote and participate.”

In the state of Utah, approximately 5,800 people became U.S. citizens in the 2017 fiscal year, according to Debbie Cannon, a public affairs officer for USCIS. That same year, more than 716,000 people across the country became naturalized U.S. citizens.

Denver • Three years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency triggered a massive mine spill that polluted rivers in three states, the federal government still has not repaid any of the victims for the millions of dollars in economic damage they claimed.

The EPA said this week it is making progress on reviewing about 380 claims for lost income, fallen property values and other losses from the 2015 spill at the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado.

But the agency has not said when it might finish the review or when anyone might be paid.

Some business owners say they feel misled and doubt they'll ever be compensated. Lawmakers are impatient.

"The EPA's response to the Gold King Mine spill has been unacceptable," New Mexico Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan said Friday. "This spill had devastating consequences for Navajo Nation and northwestern New Mexico, spilling millions of gallons of toxic, contaminated wastewater."

An EPA-led contractor crew was doing excavation work at the entrance to the Gold King near Silverton, Colorado, on Aug. 5, 2015, when workers inadvertently unleashed 3 million gallons (11.4 million liters) of wastewater pent up inside the mine.

The water sent a yellow-orange plume of pollution into rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The Navajo Nation and other tribal lands were also affected. The EPA estimated the water carried nearly 540 U.S. tons (490 metric tons) of metals, mostly iron and aluminum.

Farmers, rafting companies, fishing guides, homeowners and others filed for about $318 million in economic losses, according to EPA documents reviewed by The Associated Press. State, tribal and local governments said their losses were higher.

"We weren't asking for the sky. We were asking for what we lost," said John Flick, co-owner of Duranglers, a fishing guide service and store in Durango, Colorado, about 50 miles downstream from Silverton.

Flick and his partner, Tom Knopick, filed a claim for about $98,000 in lost income from guiding and retail sales when authorities put the rivers off-limits for several days.

"Even if we'd got half of that, we'd have been happy. We got nothing," Flick said.

The EPA paid out millions of dollars to state, tribal and local governments for the cost of responding to the spill and for water tests. But the Obama administration, which was in charge at the time of the spill, said in January 2017 it could not pay for any economic damages. The administration cited sovereign immunity, which prohibits most lawsuits against the government.

That provoked a furious political backlash, and the new Trump administration said it would reconsider. One year ago, then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt visited the Gold King mine and promised to review all the claims.

"As far as I can tell, that was just talk," said Alex Mickel, co-owner of Mild to Wild Rafting, which offers float trips and four-wheel-drive tours in Durango and in Moab, Utah.

Mickel filed a claim but declined say how much. He said the EPA has never acknowledged getting it.

He said he feels misled by both the Obama and Trump administrations. Under Obama, the EPA promised to compensate for the damage.

" 'We're going to make people whole,' that was their words," Mickel said.

Pruitt resigned amid a storm of ethics scandals in July, and the EPA is regrouping under acting chief Andrew Wheeler. But the review is making headway, agency spokesman James Hewitt said.

The EPA sent letters in June to 54 people who filed claims, or to their attorneys, asking for clarification or more information, Hewitt said in an email to the AP Thursday. Only a few have responded, he said.

John Swartout, a policy adviser to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, said he has been brief by the EPA on the review and believes the agency is making progress, but "it's slow going."

The compensation requests were submitted under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people and businesses to ask the federal government to repay them for economic losses and injuries caused by negligence or wrongful action by federal employees.

Separate from the tort claims, at least four lawsuits have been filed against the EPA over the spill. Utah is seeking $1.9 billion, the Navajo Nation $162 million and the state of New Mexico $130 million. About a dozen New Mexico residents also sued, seeking a combined $120 million.

The lawsuits are pending in federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Provo • There were a few personnel surprises when BYU released its preseason training camp roster Thursday afternoon.

Most notably, receiver Trey Dye was not on it. Head coach Kalani Sitake said the oft-injured Dye has lingering medical issues and has decided to retire from playing football.

“I love Trey, and he is going to be involved with us, the team,” Sitake said. “It is unfortunate that he had some injuries and medical issues. But I love having him around. You saw him on the field [Thursday] so we will use him as a student coach right now.”

Dye, who redshirted in 2016, caught 16 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown in his three-year career that began in 2014.

Also missing from the printed roster handed out before the open session of practice was Rickey Shumway, a walk-on receiver from Timpview High who always seemed to make a lot of excellent catches in practice.

A BYU football spokesperson said Shumway, who appeared in 10 games but never made a catch, is finished playing football but still enrolled in school.

As has been previously reported, tight end Joe Tukuafu and running back Ula Tolutau are no longer in the program. Also, linebacker Jeremiah Ieremia, a returned missionary who participated in spring camp, has decided to transfer.

Several other players who participated in spring camp are not on the printed roster for preseason camp but are still on the online roster and still considered part of the program. They are not currently participating in preseason camp for various reasons.

That list includes returned missionary linebacker Hirkley Latu, tight end Nate Heaps, running back KJ Hall, long snapper Matt Foley, running back Kavika Fonua, defensive lineman Tevita Mo’unga, defensive lineman Langi Tuifua and linebacker Morgan Unga.

Tuifua, the Bingham High product who made seven tackles last year and showed promise as a pass rusher while appearing in 10 games, is battling an issue with his lower back and may be forced to sit out this season.

Three high school recruits who signed last February but were not mission-bound — running back Amone Finau, defensive lineman Chinonso Opara and linebacker Alex Miskela — are not currently with the team but could be in the future, the spokesperson said.

Because they haven’t been on the team before, they won’t be added to the roster until they are officially with the team, per BYU policy.

Danny Jones, the punter from Australia who signed in February, is classified as a redshirt sophomore with three years to play three. He enrolled in college in 2016, so the NCAA determined his eligibility clock started then.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jenny Wilson is throwing down the gauntlet to Mitt Romney on immigration.

Wilson said in a news conference Thursday Romney is “out of touch” with Utah voters on the issue. She says Romney’s policies are harsh, including ending so-called chain migration, a term critics use to describe family-based immigration. He’s also supported a border wall backed by President Donald Trump.

Wilson says the one-time presidential candidate should "come out of hiding" and accept her invitation to debate on the issue.

Romney’s campaign declined to comment. The two candidates are set to debate a number of issues Oct. 9.

Wilson says she supports funding border security but is against a border wall. She also wants to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement but rejects calls to abolish it.

A run-down dresser with a missing drawer sits perched atop a blanket of tree branches in a neighborhood off 300 South and 800 East. It’s one of the smaller piles across the city, but neighbor Peter Conover said “it seems to be growing” — though the mattress that was there before has recently disappeared.

Salt Lake City’s new bulk waste pickup program, Call2Haul, was touted as a way to crack down on this illegal dumping. But one month in, trash continues to pile on streets across the city, and residents who do want to go through the proper channels are experiencing long wait times.

“A lot of the illegal dumping that occurs was hidden in prior years in the old neighborhood cleanup program,” said Lance Allen, Salt Lake City’s waste and recycling division director. “So when we go into an area we’d clean out everything, whether it’s an illegal pile out in front of the house or [whatever] it was.”

Now that the program is limited to specifically prescheduled addresses, Allen said the illegal dumping may be more visible — but it’s likely not more prevalent than in the past. The city has received 32 reports so far in 2018 compared to 48 in the same time period last year, he said.

The old curbside program was loved in some neighborhoods but became a problem in others, mostly with illegal dumping on the west side. That endangered storm water and environmental quality and created a flooding hazard as items blocked the drains, according to Sophia Nicholas, the communications director for Salt Lake City’s Sustainability Department.

“The intention of [Neighborhood Cleanup] was always to be that bulky waste service that was for items that didn’t fit in the containers, but people just used it as an opportunity to dump trash on the street,” she told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Even though we had restrictions on the types of material that people could put out for neighborhood cleanup, it was very difficult to actually enforce that.”

The vast majority of people are complying with the new system, Allen said, and the city has been working to address the garbage of those who aren’t.

“It does put us in a tough spot, you know, with removing it and offenders believe that that’s acceptable behavior or leaving it in place and creating a health hazard in addition to that eyesore,” he said.

Most of the dumping is happening in areas where it can’t be traced back to a particular individual, like in parking strips, outside apartment complexes or in fields.

But at least one City Council member is ready to dump the new program.

“The near-unanimous negative constituent complaints I’ve received about Call 2 Haul’s decreased constituent service are enough for me to call for its discontinuation and a return to the City’s original neighborhood clean up program,” Councilman Charlie Luke posted on Facebook. “As part of a return to the successful neighborhood clean up, I will support additional funding for a rapid response crew to deal with illegal dumping issues throughout the City.”

In a follow-up post on Friday, Luke said, “I’ve heard from no one (outside of City administration) coming to the defense of Call 2 Haul. I would really like to hear from anyone who has used the new service and still believes it to be superior to the traditional neighborhood cleanup.”

The city’s changes to its Neighborhood Cleanup program followed a survey last summer that received more than 4,000 responses and in which the new program was the choice of 49 percent of respondents out of four options.

The new program offers residents the opportunity to schedule year-round pickups. Under the old system, the city would assign different areas a pickup time whether it worked with a person’s schedule or not. But now, residents can schedule one pickup a year, which for the first time includes up to four car tires and electronic waste.

Tiffany Young, a Salt Lake City resident who lives near 800 East, was frustrated when she missed the city-assigned bulk garbage pickup date in her neighborhood back in 2015. Though Young hasn’t tried the new program yet, she thinks that old system might have been preferable.

“In the past, with a set date, I could plan ahead,” she said. “Now I need to make an appointment for my trash. It takes me months to make an appointment to get my hair cut or change the oil in my car. Planning my trash’s schedule is just one more thing I’ll never get around to doing.”

Long wait times to actually get a pickup date on the calendar have also caused frustration for some residents.

Sarah Johansen, who lives in the Sugar House neighborhood, said she called the city to set up a trash pickup date on June 21 — three days after appointments opened. But six weeks later, she still doesn’t have a time set up to get rid of her old barbecue grill and a pile of other garbage.

“It was kind of a pain to have junk in front of people’s houses for a week, but it was one week and then it was gone, so it wasn’t a problem,” Johansen said of the old program. “Right now I’m frustrated because I do have stuff I want picked up and I would like them to come get it.”

Allen acknowledged the backlog, noting that the city has received over 1,800 pickup requests and has people working overtime and weekends to get caught up. Residents who are calling to schedule now are automatically being assigned an October pickup date, he said.

And though some have called for the city to go back to its old program, Allen said he thinks it’s too soon to say the new one won’t be a success.

“We’ve got to remember why we went down this road,” he said. “One was because of the illegal dumping issues that we’re still experiencing in some cases. And two was the impact on the environment… I don’t think going back to something that has a negative impact on the environment and [was] still creating these illegal piles we’re seeing now would make sense.”

Washington • Some Democratic senators are demanding Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke explain how a Canadian company has snatched up a dozen mining claims inside the former boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Such actions aren’t permitted, they argue, because President Donald Trump didn’t have the authority to shrink the monument in the first place — an assertion at the heart of an ongoing court battle.

“New mining within the boundaries of a national monument is illegal,” the senators, including Tom Udall and 22 fellow Democrats, wrote in a letter to Zinke this week, “and we believe these claims are as invalid as the president’s proclamation which is the subject of litigation.”

Trump carved out some 2 million acres of protected lands from the Grand Staircase and Bears Ears national monuments in December, a move that spawned instant lawsuits from environmental and wildlife groups that contend a president doesn’t have the power to reduce monuments under a 112-year-old law.

Glacier Lake Resources, based in Canada, purchased rights in June to the Colt Mesa Copper-Cobalt mine in an area that used to be protected from mining by the national monument status.

The company’s president, Saf Dhillon, said the mine includes copper, cobalt and nickel and that it would seek to extract the minerals.

“Surface exploration work will start this summer on the Colt Mesa property and drill permitting will be initiated shortly,” Dhillon said in a statement.

The Bureau of Land Management has not yet approved any new mining in the area.

Zinke, who oversaw a review of national monuments that led to Trump cutting the size of the Utah monuments, told Congress that the decision to change the boundaries had nothing to do with mining.

Interior Department documents have shown that the review focused on the benefits of logging, ranching and energy development if the monuments were changed rather than the economic boost of outdoor recreation and tourism in the surrounding areas resulting from the monument designations.

“If these claims are approved, the Bureau of Land Management would be using federal resources to facilitate legally questionable mining claims in an important, environmentally sensitive area,” the senators wrote in their letter. “As you know, ongoing litigation challenges the opening of these lands to mining and drilling and most legal experts believe that the courts will eventually find that President Trump lacked the authority to eliminate protections from Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Proceeding with mining while the litigation is ongoing could cause irreparable harm to this area and is in violation of federal law protecting this area under the Antiquities Act.”

The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Democrats' letter comes as residents near the former Grand Staircase boundaries are concerned that the mining claims are already impacting their way of life.

Blake Spalding, owner of Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm in Boulder, which abuts the former monument boundary, wrote in an op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune last Sunday that she feared the acquisition of the mine has already led to changes to the roads in the area.

“Already the bulldozers have arrived on the Burr Trail to begin the destruction of our priceless landscapes, in order to provide access to the mine,” she wrote.

Friday, Spalding says she personally hasn’t seen any bulldozers but heard secondhand that an area of the trail that was impassible this spring is now drivable by two-wheel drive vehicles. She says it could have been Garfield County that improved the road but she chalks that up to the county seeking to help the mine start up again as soon as possible.

Garfield County wouldn't need a BLM permit to improve the dirt road.

“It’s important that people in the world understand there are things happening,” Spalding said. “It’s unclear what the motivation is here [to fix the road]. It doesn’t seem like they went and fixed that road that leads directly to the mine site.”

Ashley Korenblat, managing director of Public Lands Solutions who also owns Western Spirit Cycling in Moab, says it’s likely that improvements are happening on public roads as a way to spur development on the former monument land while awaiting BLM permits.

She says she's concerned about increased traffic in the area and why certain roads are getting maintenance now.

“Lots of counties, when they’re desperate for resource extraction to start up again, they do the one thing they can do, which is affect the transportation,” Korenblat said Friday.

Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Society, one of the groups suing over Trump’s changes to the monuments, said this week that, without the monument protection, there’s a “greater chance for mischief” within the former boundaries.

Bloch said SUWA is monitoring activities in the area and will take what steps are needed to protect the landscapes in the former monument boundaries while the court battle continues.

“Those could certainly include, but are not necessarily limited to, seeking emergency injunctive relief from the court,” Bloch said.

Urban Meyer defended himself Friday, admitting he was not forthright when questioned last week about 2015 allegations of domestic violence against one of his assistant coaches, but also insisting he handled the situation properly at the time.

The assistant Meyer fired, Zach Smith, also spoke up, denying he abused his wife, backing his former boss and placing Ohio State's athletic director into the middle of the picture.

Two days after Ohio State sidelined Meyer and opened an investigation into what its superstar coach knew and did about the accusations abuse of made against Smith by his ex-wife, two central figures in this college football drama answered some questions — and left much to be explained.

Meyer posted a statement addressed to Buckeyes fans on Twitter not long after his team, expected to be one of the best in the nation, opened practice for the upcoming season without him. Meyer was put on paid administrative leave Wednesday.

While Meyer's statement was still being digested, Smith went on Columbus radio station 105.7 The Zone. In the interview , Smith said Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith questioned him during the 2015 football about the allegations made by Courtney Smith that fall. Police reports were made about two separate incidents, but Zach Smith has never been criminally charged.

Zach Smith was fired last week by Meyer, a few days after his wife obtained a protective order against him.

Smith also did an interview with ESPN. He said never assaulted his wife and any physical injuries she might have suffered were the result of him defending himself.

He said Gene Smith was alerted by police about the 2015 allegations. Zach Smith said after speaking to Gene Smith about them and he spoke to Meyer. He said Meyer told him then he would fire Smith if the head coach found out Smith hit his wife.

"I don't know what else Urban Meyer could have done," Zach Smith told ESPN.

The crisis at one of the most storied programs in college football history comes as the school is reeling from a sexual abuse scandal involving a now-dead sports doctor, Richard Strauss.

The Buckeyes open the season at home Sept. 1 against Oregon State. Co-offensive coordinator Ryan Day is acting head coach and there is no timetable for the Meyer inquiry to conclude.

"Over the past several days I have been portrayed as being indifferent to domestic violence and as someone who did not take appropriate action when warranted," Meyer said.

"Here is the truth: While at the University of Florida and now at the Ohio State University I have always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures when I have learned of an incident involving a student-athlete, coach or member of our staff by elevating the issues to the proper channels. And I did so regarding the Zach Smith incident in 2015. I take that responsibility very seriously and any suggestion to the contrary is simply false."

At Big Ten media days last week, Meyer said he knew of an incident involving the Smiths in 2009 and that he and his wife, Shelley Meyer, addressed it with the Smiths. He was also asked about a 2015 incident alleged by Courtney Smith, who also said she told Meyer's wife about those incidents.

"I can't say it didn't happen because I wasn't there," Meyer said at the time. "I was never told about anything and nothing ever came to light. I've never had a conversation about it. I know nothing about it. First I heard about that was last night. No, and I asked some people back at the office to call and say what happened and they came back and said they know nothing about it."

Meyer said his intention at media day was not to say anything inaccurate.

"However, I was not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media, and I apologize for the way I handled those questions," Meyer said

Meyer said he will fully cooperate with investigators. Ohio State did not respond Friday to a request seeking comment on the comments by Meyer or Smith, who told the radio station his marriage was volatile and that he made mistakes. The Smiths divorced in 2016.

"I don't believe I have ever threatened her or anyone," said Zach Smith, who had been an assistant at Ohio State since Meyer was hired in 2012, in the radio interview.

Smith, the grandson of late Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce, a mentor to Meyer, played for Meyer when he was coach at Bowling Green in 2001-02. Smith also was a graduate assistant for Meyer at Florida for five seasons.

In 2009, Zach Smith was accused by his wife of assault, but charges were not filed. Meyer has said he and his wife, Shelley, counseled the couple at the time. Courtney Smith has also said she told Shelley Meyer about the 2015 incidents and shared pictures of injuries through text messages that she shared with college football reporter Brett McMurphy .

In one text to Courtney Smith, Shelley Meyer said of Zach Smith: "He scares me"

Meyer has been at Ohio State for six seasons, going 73-8 with a national championship in 2014 and two Big Ten conference titles. He earlier won two national titles at Florida.

Ohio State's policy on sexual misconduct says anyone who supervises faculty, staff, students or volunteers has a duty to report "when they receive a disclosure of sexual misconduct or become aware of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that sexual misconduct may have occurred involving anyone covered under this policy."

A clause in Meyer's new contract, which raised his salary to $7.6 million this year and runs through 2022, also requires him to "report to Ohio State's Title IX athletics any known violations" of the sexual misconduct policy involving students, faculty or staff at the risk of being fired with cause.

Firing Meyer without cause would cost Ohio State a nearly $40 million buyout.

Montreal • Rick Genest, a Quebec model known for his head-to-toe tattoos and participation in the Lady Gaga music video “Born This Way,” has died, his talent agency said.

Dulcedo Management confirmed on Facebook late Thursday the passing of Rick Genest, who was better known as Zombie Boy. Dulcedo said it "was in shock" and called the 32-year-old represented by the agency an "icon of the artistic scene and of the fashion world."

Lady Gaga said on her official Twitter account Thursday night that "the suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating."

The American singer added: "We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can't talk about it."

According to his website, he holds the Guinness World Book of Records for the most insects tattooed on a human body (178), as well as the most bones inked on a human body, at 138.

But while his outward appearance may have been intimidating, he was unfailingly mild-mannered and polite, according to the CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission, a homeless shelter Genest visited as a teen and continued to support as an adult.

Sam Watts said he last saw Genest in June, when the artist lent his famous image to a campaign to raise awareness about the issues facing marginalized and homeless youth.

"This was a guy who put you totally at ease," he said.

"Immediately you knew this was a kind and gentle soul who had some deep concerns about anybody who is on the fringes or being dismissed for how they looked."

In early 2011, a photo of Genest in a fashion magazine drew the attention of fashion designer Nicola Formichetti, then the artistic director for French fashion house Mugler.

It was Formichetti who helped Genest secure his first major modelling gigs with Mugler and introduced him to Lady Gaga, who cast him in the video for her 2011 single "Born This Way."

In their scenes together, the singer sported face paint that mimicked Genest's tattoos as the two performed to the hit song in matching black suits.

Quebec’s coroner’s office said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo. • An Oregon man who was caught on video harassing a bison in Yellowstone National Park has been arrested in Glacier National Park.

The National Park Service says 55-year-old Raymond Reinke of Pendleton, Oregon, caused a disturbance Thursday in Many Glacier Hotel. He appeared in U.S. court Friday and was jailed pending a court hearing next week.

Reinke had been cited for drunken and disorderly conduct in a third national park, Grand Teton, last Saturday and was released on $500 bond that required him to follow the law and avoid alcohol.

Yellowstone rangers cited him three days later for not wearing a seat belt and noted he appeared intoxicated.

Reinke was later cited for harassing a Yellowstone bison, which another visitor captured on video . Rangers there didn’t know of his bond conditions.

Boise, Idaho • Idaho police are starting to enforce a new law targeting slow drivers using the passing lanes of highways.

Two drivers have been cited as of July 27 for driving too slowly in the passing lane since the law took effect July 1, the Idaho Press reported Monday.

Idaho State Police have given warnings to three other drivers.

Most people expect the general traffic to stay on the right lane and leave the left lanes open for passing, said Lt. Shawn Staley.

"If vehicles are moving slower, it can cause accidents and crashes," he said.

The law doesn't specify how much time it should take for slow cars to move over to the right lane. Staley expects it should be within a normal and reasonable time, as determined by troopers.

Drivers who hold up traffic by going below the speed limit in the left lane could face a $90 fine, Staley said.

"Guys will make traffic stops on it," Staley said. "But it would have to be fairly egregious."

State Rep. Lance Clow of Idaho Falls sponsored the bill. The Republican doesn't expect state troopers to actively look for slow drivers, but said they have a new tool if needed.

The law also allows drivers to go 15 mph (24 kph) over the speed limit on a two-lane road to pass a vehicle going below the speed limit.

It does not apply to multilane highways or Interstate 84, Staley said.

Those driving the speed limit on the left lanes will not be fined even if they "impede" drivers who want to speed, Staley said.

“If you’re going the lawful rate of speed, another person shouldn’t push up behind you,” he said.

San Francisco • A deadly Northern California wildfire burned so hot in dry and windy conditions that it birthed a record-breaking tornado of flame, officials said Friday.

They also warned of worsening conditions throughout the region.

Winds in the "fire whirl" created July 26 near Redding reached speeds of 143 mph (230 kph), a speed that rivaled some of the most destructive Midwest tornados, National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said. The whirl uprooted trees and tore roofs from homes, Dykema said.

The whirl measured a 3 on the five-level Enhanced Fujita scale, which scientists use to classify the strength of tornados, he said. California has not recorded a tornado of that strength since 1978.

That fire continues to burn about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the Oregon border as firefighters there and throughout Northern California brace for worsening conditions this weekend.

The weather service issued warnings for critical fire weather conditions into Saturday, saying a series of dry low-pressure systems passing through the region would bring afternoon wind gusts.

"This is a particularly dangerous situation with extremely low humidity and high winds. New fires will grow rapidly out of control, in some cases people may not be able to evacuate safely in time should a fire approach," the weather service said in its bulletin for the Mendocino area north of San Francisco.

Forecasters said areas with the highest threat include the massive blaze near Redding and two fires burning next to each other around Clearlake about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

The Redding fire has grown to 206 square miles (533-square-kilometer) and has destroyed 1,060 homes and many other structures.

Two firefighters and four other people have been killed since the blaze, which ignited July 23, raced with extraordinary fury toward the region's largest city. More than 1,300 homes remained threatened.

Wildfires typically create whirls but rarely of the strength of the one recorded July 26, Dykema said.

Whirls are created when hot air rises and twists tightly, he said. The hotter the fire, the faster the air rises and the tighter it twists until it takes off as a tornado.

To the southwest of Redding, new evacuations were ordered late Thursday at the Mendocino Complex, where twin fires have ravaged a combined 240 square miles (621 square kilometers), destroyed 41 residences and threatened 9,200 homes.

One of the fires rapidly expanded overnight.

In Sierra Nevada, firefighters achieved 41 percent containment of a 115-square-mile (298-square-kilometer) forest fire that has shut down Yosemite Valley and other adjacent portions of Yosemite National Park at what is normally the height of summer tourism.

The fire has reached into remote areas of the country's third-oldest national park. Workers who live in Yosemite's popular Valley region were ordered to leave Friday because of inaccessible roads.

The fire also killed two firefighters.

A new report says the first firefighter, a California bulldozer operator, nearly slipped off a steep mountain trail three times before his vehicle finally rolled into a ravine and fatally crushed him.

Each earlier slip alone qualified as a "near miss" warning that the century-old mining trail could collapse, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's preliminary report.

Braden Varney, 36, was working alone overnight July 14 fighting the wildfire while his assistant went to get a new hydraulic hose. Varney's radio wasn't communicating with headquarters, so his assistant relayed messages — until they lost contact.

The report says the death of the 10-year veteran highlights the need for better risk assessment, communication and supervision.

Officials have not said how the other three firefighters died fighting blazes near Yosemite and Redding.

___

Associated Press writer Don Thompson contributed to this report from Sacramento, California.

Grass Lake, Mich. • Two sets of 24-year-old identical twins had their first date together, became engaged at the same time and are now preparing to tie the knot in Michigan this weekend.

Identical twins Krissie and Kassie Bevier will marry Zack and Nick Lewan in Grass Lake on Aug. 3 and 4, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported. Krissie and Zack's wedding will be held on Friday, while Kassie and Nick will get hitched on Saturday. The four will share their reception Saturday night.

"I'm in disbelief sometimes of just how everything happened," Nick Lewan told WILX-TV .

Kassie Bevier and Nick Lewan met first at Grand Valley State University four years ago in a psychology class. The professor had asked if there were any twins in class, and Kassie and Nick both raised their hands.

"I was looking around and I looked behind and I was like, 'Oh. I'm in trouble now,'" Nick Lewan said.

Kassie and Nick invited their twins on their first date to church one Sunday morning, and Krissie and Zack started dating shortly after.

Nick and Zack Lewan proposed to the Beviers together on a trip last year to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

"It basically happened at the same time ... which is par for the course for us," Kassie Bevier said. "We do things in twos."

The couples plan to move in together into a two-bedroom apartment in Fenton.

The Beviers are working toward finishing their doctorates in physical therapy at the University of Michigan. Nick Lewan is pursuing his master's degree in mental health counseling from Oakland University. Zack Lewan works in vegetation management for an energy company.

"We're individuals. We are all individuals," Zack Lewan said. "We work differently and we have different interests, and just respect each other for those differences."

The couples said they click so well because they were brought up with the same family values.

“We just flow together and it makes sense,” Krissie Bevier said. “There is a special twin bond, and having someone who understands that is huge.”

Durango • A Colorado man has been fined $1,000 for intentionally feeding bears for the third time in the past eight years.

The Durango Herald reports a resident reported to Colorado Parks and Wildlife that they had seen a man leaving out food in his backyard for bears.

Wildlife Manager Matt Thorpe says the resident took pictures and provided them to officials.

An investigation found that the man had previously been fined for the same behavior in 2010 and 2012.

In Colorado, it's illegal to knowingly feed bears.

The first offense carries a $100 fine. The second violation gives a $500 fine.

Thorpe said Colorado Parks and Wildlife contacted the man on Sunday, who paid the fine on the spot.

He can be fined another $1,000 if he breaks the law again.

A U.S. Forest Service employee has been charged with theft and accused of rigging a car auction to let his girlfriend get a pickup truck at a major discount.

The Standard Examiner in Ogden reported Thursday that Robert Joseph Alexander is accused of overseeing a 2017 auction in which he allowed his girlfriend to buy a 2012 Dodge Ram for $6,900 that was likely worth three times as much. Prosecutors say he inaccurately listed the truck as damaged.

Alexander's attorney Chad McKay says Alexander was just doing his job of selling surplus government vehicles. He says employee's family members are allowed to buy cars in public auctions.

Alexander pleaded not guilty at a June 25 hearing. He was the assistant fleet manager for the Forest Service.

Canton, Ohio • Joining the most exclusive club in football truly hit home Friday for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2018.

Well, maybe not for the one guy missing, but certainly for Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Brian Urlacher, Brian Dawkins, Robert Brazile, Jerry Kramer and Bobby Beathard.

While Terrell Owens was in Chattanooga, Tenn., planning his own ceremony, the other seven men who will be inducted into the football shrine Saturday night attended the Gold Jacket Luncheon in Canton. Their takeaway was tinged with awe.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life,” said Lewis, like Moss and Urlacher a Hall of Famer in his first year of eligibility. “There was so much love and respect in that room. I’ve never experienced this level of greatness, this level of respect.”

The luncheon isn’t at all about food and drink. It’s about a kinship, a fraternity of the very best at what they did as athletes.

So when the likes of Joe Greene, Dick Butkus and Willie Lanier told their stories to the three linebackers in this year’s class, Lewis, Urlacher and Brazile were spellbound.

“The stories and the brotherhood, I didn’t realize what I was getting into,” Urlacher said, shaking his head while smiling. “To hear the stories of what they’d gone through ... .”

Of course, Kramer went through more than three decades of waiting to get in. The Packers guard became eligible in 1974 and wound up being voted into the hall as a senior candidate.

Brazile also went the senior route after becoming eligible in 1990. Beathard made it in the contributor’s category and has been retired from NFL team front offices since 2000.

Much of the attention at a news conference Friday was paid to the four youngest men in this class; Dawkins got in on his second try. Each of them was stoked by being part of the luncheon gathering.

And they spoke about the guys they idolized.

“Ronnie Lott is the first guy I wanted to be like, I looked up to that cat for much and modeled my game after him,” said Dawkins, who probably was a harder hitter than Lott, though few defensive backs approached Lott’s coverage skills. “He would challenge his teammates to do more, challenge himself to do more. He was a game changer in a game-changing league.”

Urlacher pointed to Butkus, considered by many the greatest middle linebacker in NFL history, and Mike Singletary, his Hall of Fame predecessors for the Bears. But because Urlacher played safety at New Mexico — and often outran every teammate, regardless of position — his hero, like Dawkins’, was a DB.

“Darren Woodson,” Urlacher said. “I was a safety in college and a huge Cowboys fan and he was the guy I wanted to be like when I grew up.”

Urlacher has an edge on Woodson, who hasn’t yet made it into the hall.

Moss mentioned being thrilled to chat with former teammate Chris Doleman, who was inducted in 2012.

“These guys set the foundation and we respect these guys who paved the way,” Moss said. “It was great to be in there and hear a lot about it. You walk out of that room and say, ‘I am glad to be part of this fraternity.’”

While Owens is part of it because he was elected in February, his distancing himself from the proceedings here — and from his hall peers — didn’t draw much response from 2018 class members. That’s probably fitting, sort of like how an NFL coach won’t talk about players who are holding out, focusing instead on “the guys who are here.”

Nearly 140 Hall of Famers are expected in Canton for Saturday night’s inductions. Lewis wished he could have spoken in depth to all of those who attended the luncheon.

“Listening to some of those stories,” Lewis said, “you think, ‘Each one of you guys had to make your path straight enough so a person like me could follow.’ (It was) me and Dick Butkus face to face. Me and Mean Joe Greene locked. Willie Lanier and me just there in the corner talking.”

Hall of Famers all.

After traveling for over 25 hours, the Las Vegas Aces players decided not to play a game against the Washington Mystics on Friday night.

The decision to cancel the game was made about 1 1/2 hours before the tip.

The Aces players issued a statement through their union Friday night.

“To all of our WNBA fans around the world, We regret that the Aces were not able to take the court tonight against the Washington Mystics,” the statement said. “We trust that you know this decision was not made lightly. There is nothing we enjoy more than playing in front of the most rabid fans in professional sports night in and night out, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and disappointment that was created for the fans, workers and anyone else who may have been affected by tonight’s cancellation.

“Given the travel issues we faced over the past two days—25+ hours spent in airports and airplanes, in cramped quarters and having not slept in a bed since Wednesday night— and after consulting with our Union, and medical professionals, we concluded that playing tonight’s game would put us at too great a risk for injury.”

Las Vegas had an adventure getting to Washington with travel woes causing the team to arrive in D.C. at 3 p.m. They were scheduled to take off from Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon, but their flight was delayed more than eight hours before being canceled. The team scrambled to get on overnight flights that got the players to Dallas on Friday morning where they could connect to Washington.

“Naturally, the issue of player safety is of paramount concern for all involved in the WNBA,” the statement said. “This issue is bigger than our team and this one unfortunate set of circumstances, and we look forward to being a part of future discourse in the hope of preventing such incidents in the future. We thank all of you for your continued support of us and our league, and we will see you back out on the court this Sunday at Connecticut.”

The Aces then had to split their team up into groups to get on different flights in Texas with the last set of players boarding a flight that gets into Washington around 3 p.m. The WNBA moved the original tipoff back an hour to 8 p.m.

“I’m really disappointed that the Las Vegas players and organization didn’t come to compete,” Mystics coach Mike Thibault said in a phone interview Friday night. “If you’re there and in the city and can play, you should show up and play.”

Thibault recalled a story that when he was coaching in Connecticut in 2003 the team was in Cleveland when a massive blackout hit the east coast. The team took a bus back to Connecticut and then made it to New York for a game, showing up 52 minutes before tip. They won that game.

Fans already in the arena Friday night were given an autograph session with the Mystics players. All fans who had a ticket to the game will receive a complimentary ticket to a future Mystics game.

“It was Breast Cancer Awareness night and we were supposed to have 5-6,000 fans here,” Thibault said.

The Mystics fly to Dallas on Saturday morning for a game against the Wings on Sunday afternoon. Moving the game to Saturday wasn’t really an option. The Aces were beginning a three-game road trip in D.C. with their next game Sunday in Connecticut.

Las Vegas never came to the D.C. arena after spending over a day traveling that left the players unhappy.

“No shoot around. No night of sleep. No beds. No food. Right now we will land in DC at 245pm that has us going straight to the gym bc of traffic and bags...and you want us to play?” All-Star guard Kayla McBride tweeted. “Oh ok.”

WNBA teams aren’t allowed to fly charter because of the cost and the competitive advantage it could give some teams willing to spend the money.

“We can’t control the weather, but league can control whether or not player health will be put at risk tomorrow,” center Carolyn Swords tweeted. “Delays, cancelations & now taking a red-eye to get to DC(at)1pm. Aces will have been traveling for 24 hrs by the time we land. It takes less time to get to Sydney, AUS.”

The Aces currently sit in ninth place in the standings, 1 1/2 games behind Dallas for the final playoff spot.

Las Vegas wasn’t the only WNBA team with travel issues Friday. The Indiana Fever were supposed to fly to New York for their game against the Liberty on Saturday. The Fever sat at the airport for three hours before being told their flight was canceled because of weather. There were thunderstorms in New York on Friday afternoon.

The Fever, who had a travel party of 20 people, were planning on flying to New York on Saturday morning to play a game that tips at 3 p.m.

Indiana had a game postponed in 2015 when it couldn’t get a flight to Connecticut from Washington after playing the Mystics the night before.

Montreal • Johnny Manziel threw an interception — and made a tackle — on his second play in the Canadian Football League. It didn’t get much better after that, with four of his six first-half series ending in interceptions.

Seeing regular-season action for first time since December 2015 with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, Manziel fizzled in a hurry in the Montreal Alouettes’ 50-11 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night.

After completing a pass for a 5-yard loss on his first play, Manziel threw an interception on the second — with the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner bringing down linebacker Larry Dean.

On Manziel’s second series, with Montreal down 14-0 to his former Hamilton teammates, he handed off twice before the Tiger-Cats blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown.

The former Texas A&M star had another pass intercepted on his third series, with the blame going to running back Tyrell Sutton for mishandling and deflecting the ball to defender Jumal Rolle.

Manziel led Montreal to a field goal on his fourth drive, then threw his third interception early in the second quarter — Rolle’s second of the night.

The fourth interception came with 2:22 left in the half at end with the Tiger-Cats up 38-3.

Manziel played three series in the third quarter — all ending in punts — before giving way to back up Vernon Adams in the fourth.

Manziel began the season with Hamilton, but couldn’t get on the field behind starter Jeremiah Masoli and was traded to Montreal two ago weeks ago

The Alouettes are 1-6 and have won just once in 18 games going back a year.

Masoli was 17 of 26 for 300 yards and two touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats (3-4).

A lightning-sparked wildfire was moving quickly through dry vegetation in Box Elder County on Friday, getting close enough to Interstate 84 that state officials shut down a 32-mile stretch of the road between Tremonton and Snowville near the Idaho border.

Officials announced the roadway was closed in both directions about 7:30 p.m. It’s unclear when the highway will reopen, and a fire spokesman told The Salt Lake Tribune it’s possible that wind could propel blaze — dubbed the Goring Fire — across the road.

Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Jason Curry said the fire grew rapidly, burning at least 5,000 acres Friday. It was completely uncontained .

Curry said the fire is threatening ranch homes in the area, but officials haven’t called for residents to evacuate.

State and county fire crews have been fighting the fire.