California wildfire on pace to make history for all of the wrong reasons

California fire burns through history

The Mendocino Complex wildfire exploded overnight to become the second-largest blaze in California history, at some 425 square miles in size. That's larger than 18 Manhattan Islands and is roughly one-third the size of the state of Rhode Island. The fire has destroyed about 140 structures and threatens thousands more, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It's only 30 percent contained, and is on pace to become the largest in state history.

‘I trusted him’: Campus sexual assault, from all sides

Leah Sprock was sexually assaulted her freshman year on Halloween night. She knew her attacker. She had trusted him. Then he forced her onto a bathroom floor. More than 20 million students will head to colleges this fall. About 3 million will be sexually assaulted during their college years. The Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed students who have been assaulted and accused, their parents, university officials, police officers and more to explore what this epidemic looks like. Hear their stories and follow along on IGTV. 

An office leaps into action — literally — to save a life

A police officer jumped off of an overpass in a Hollywood-style stunt to save a teenager's life in Yonkers, New York. Officer Jessie Ferreira Cavallo, with the Hastings-on-Hudson department, rushed after the boy after she watched him climb over a guardrail and leap several feet from the overpass onto concrete below. Ferreira Cavallo grabbed first-aid materials from her car and worked with a bystander to secure the teen in a neck brace and splint. He was unresponsive and bleeding, the officer said. Miraculously, the boy is expected to survive, Kieran O'Leary, a Westchester County police spokesperson said Monday.

Alex Jones gets multiple boots

Online provocateur Alex Jones and his far-right website, Infowars, seemed to be under siege Monday after Apple, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube announced they were removing its content, saying it violated policies against hate speech. Apple late Sunday removed all episodes of "The Alex Jones Show" and four other Infowars-related podcasts from its iTunes and Podcast apps. That seemed to set off a domino effect, with Facebook, Spotify and YouTube following suit Monday. It was the largest action yet against Jones, a conspiracy theorist who most famously contended that the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was a hoax.

Mysterious signal tantalizes astronomers

Canadian astronomers are excited by a strange radio signal that's one of the lowest in frequency ever recorded. Patrick Boyle of McGill University reports that a radio telescope detected a "fast radio burst" coming from beyond the Milky Way. The burst was detected at frequencies as low as 580 megahertz, the lowest frequency detection to date. Fast radio bursts were first discovered in 2007, but their origins are unknown. Earlier this year, scientists said they must originate from an extreme environment such as a star near a massive black hole – or maybe an alien civilization.

A body was found in Iowa — it wasn't Mollie Tibbetts

Twenty-year-old Sadie Alvarado was found in a ditch on the side of an Iowa road Sunday morning. Her boyfriend, Damian Hamann, has since turned himself in and been charged with leaving the scene of accident resulting in death. Alvarado's death comes just three weeks into the disappearance of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, which has left the state anxious for answers about her whereabouts. While few facts are known publicly about the day Tibbetts went missing, more than $260,000 has been raised to reward tipsters.

More news to know:

• Robert Redford says he's done with acting. Redford, 82 this month, said his new movie, "The Old Man & The Gun," will likely be his last role. He said he plans to "move towards retirement," leaving an acting career he began at age 21. 
  
• What to say to your friend who's a plastic surgeon: "Snapchat dysmorphia." It's when people ask to look like those cartoonish face filters. Doctors call it absurd.

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This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY, brought to you by Ashley May, John Riley, Mary Bowerman, Alex Connor and Josh Hafner. Look for some fresh names in here next week. 

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