HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii (AP) — One of the world’s most active volcanoes is erupting again in a remote part of a Hawaii national park.
Kilauea erupted briefly Sunday night in an area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park that's closed to the public. The volcano's middle East Rift Zone eruption then resumed Monday night, U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
Eruptive activity increased early Tuesday but there is no immediate threat to homes or infrastructure, the observatory said.
Volcanic gas known as “vog” may reach downwind subdivisions near the park, the observatory warned.
The park encompasses the summits of two of the world’s most active volcanoes: Kilauea and Mauna Loa. But the eruption's location in a remote wilderness area more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the nearest road doesn't make public viewing possible, according to park officials.
During a Tuesday morning helicopter overflight, geologists said they observed fountaining eruptive fissures and active lava flows on the floor of Napau Crater.
This photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, captured during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter flyover Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, shows the eruption in Kilauea's middle East Rift Zone in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. (A. Ellis/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
Montana's Republican governor on Wednesday will face his Democratic challenger in likely their only debate this election season in a state tilting toward the GOP.
Gov. Greg Gianforte at first dismissed Ryan Busse, a former firearms industry executive, as not a “serious candidate” and refused to debate the Democrat because he hadn't released his tax returns.
Busse responded by releasing 10 years of income tax records, setting the stage for the debate hosted by ABC Fox Montana.
Gianforte's election by a wide margin in 2020 — with backing from former President Donald Trump — ended a 16-year run of Democratic governors in Montana.
The wealthy former technology executive spent more than $7.5 million of his own money in the 2020 race, and has since overseen a decrease in individual income taxes and an increase in residential property taxes in Montana.
The state balanced its budget and had record-low unemployment under Gianforte.
He signed laws blocking gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and limiting access to abortion, but those have been blocked by courts.
A Republican supermajority in the Legislature gave him power to directly appoint judges and justices when mid-term vacancies occur and also funded charter schools, a longtime Gianforte goal.
Busse, who is from Kalispell, has sought to portray Gianforte as wealthy and out of touch with ordinary citizens. He has accused Gianforte of using his personal wealth to reach office and then standing by as housing costs made parts of Montana unaffordable for many.
A former vice president at firearms company Kimber Manufacturing, Busse has said his disagreement with aggressive marketing of military-type assault rifles caused him to exit the gun industry.
Tax returns show Busse and his wife earned about $260,000 annually over the past decade.
Gianforte’s tech career began in New Jersey. He moved to Bozeman in 1995 and founded RightNow technologies, which was eventually sold to software company Oracle for nearly $2 billion.
A criminal case put an early stain on Gianforte's political career. He was charged with a misdemeanor in 2017 when he body-slammed a reporter, but he went on to win a seat in the U.S. House in a special election and won reelection to the seat in 2018.
FILE - Ryan Busse, senior advisor at Giffords Law Center, listens during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing, July 27, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
FILE - Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Montana Senate and House of Representatives, Jan. 25, 2023, inside the state Capitol in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
