Five national stories of the week

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leads the final vote of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Congress last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leads the final vote of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Congress last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from around the world. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.

Florida collapse search stretches to day 6, the House of Representatives is to vote on a bill launching a probe into the Jan. 6 insurrection, two killed in a natural gas line explosion in Texas, California bans state travel to Florida and four other states and the Supreme Court won't revive school's transgender bathroom ban makes up this week's five national stories.

'Excruciating:' Florida collapse search stretches to Day 6

The slow work of sifting through the remnants of a collapsed Florida condo building stretched into a sixth day Tuesday, as families desperate for progress endured a wrenching wait for answers. The work has been deliberate and treacherous. Thunderstorms rolled through the area Tuesday morning, and debris fell onto the search area overnight from the shattered edge of the part of the building that still stands, forcing rescuers to mark a “don’t go beyond here” line and focus their efforts parts of the debris pile that are farther from the structure, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told WSVN. Just two additional bodies were found Monday, raising the count of confirmed dead to 11.

House to vote on bill launching probe of Jan. 6 insurrection

A new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol would have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses, according to legislation released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week. The effort comes after Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission to probe the attack, in which hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters violently broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The new, partisan House panel would have eight members appointed by Pelosi and five appointed “after consultation with” Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Officials: 2 killed in natural gas line explosion in Texas

Two people were killed and three injured in a natural gas pipeline explosion in Texas, officials said. The deadly blast happened around 4 p.m. Monday at an Atmos Energy facility in Collin County near Farmersville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said the explosion appeared to be an accident but he invited the FBI to assist in the investigation. It was not immediately known what caused the blast. Those involved in the explosion were contractors for Atmos Energy, and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office said Monday night the contractors were employees of Bobcat Contracting and Fesco Petroleum Engineering. Two of the injured were taken to a hospital.

California bans state travel to Florida, 4 other states

California added five more states, including Florida, to the list of places where state-funded travel is banned because of laws that discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community, the state attorney general announced Monday. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta added Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia to the list that now has 17 states where state employee travel is forbidden except under limited circumstances. Lawmakers in 2016 banned non-essential travel to states with laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Supreme Court won't revive school's transgender bathroom ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Virginia school board’s appeal to reinstate its transgender bathroom ban, handing a victory to transgender rights groups and a former high school student who fought in court for six years to overturn the ban. After learning that the high court refused to hear the board’s appeal, Gavin Grimm, now 22, said that his long battle is over. “We won,” he tweeted. “Honored to have been part of this victory,” he added. Grimm was a 15-year-old student at Gloucester High School when he was banned from using the boys bathroom. The Gloucester County School Board’s policy required Grimm to use restrooms that corresponded with his biological sex — female — or private bathrooms.

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