Hurricane Lee, Danny Masterson sentence, Maui unemployment

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Hurricane Lee, now a Category 5 storm, is expected to rapidly intensify as it churns towards the Caribbean. Its center will likely pass north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico, and it could pose potentially dangerous beach conditions on the U.S. East Coast as early as Sunday.

• NPR’s Michael Copley tells Up First that the extreme weather seen across the world this summer is a consequence of climate change and an El Niño weather pattern, which is amplifying that warming. He says we can expect this pattern to continue as long as people keep emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.  

The core of Hurricane Lee is forecast to pass north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the next several days.

National Hurricane Center

A judge sentenced “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women when he was at the height of his career two decades ago. Masterson was first accused of sexual assault in 2017, and in 2020 was charged with raping three women at his California home between 2001 and 2003.

• A jury found Masterson guilty on two counts at his second trial in May (the first ended in a mistrial), but could not come to a unanimous decision on the third count, which allegedly involved his then-girlfriend. The accusers testified that Masterson drugged them at his house before raping them. They had all met through the Church of Scientology.

Ukraine is trying to do something no nation has ever attempted: operate a…