Short 120 deputies, jailers and dispatchers, sheriff’s office to host recruiting drive Tuesday

Nicholas Evans, the British author of the bestselling novel “The Horse Whisperer,” has died at 72. His representatives at United Agents said Evans died “suddenly” on Aug. 9 following a heart attack. Published in 1995, “The Horse Whisperer” was Evans’ debut novel and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The story of a trainer hired to help an injured teenager and her horse back to health was adapted into a Hollywood movie starring Robert Redford as the title character and Scarlett Johansson playing the young rider in her breakout role. Evans worked as a screenwriter and television documentary producer before working on the novel. His other books include “The Loop,” “The Smoke Jumper,” “The Divide” and “The Brave.”

Prosecutors say the driver suspected of causing a fiery crash that killed five people, including a pregnant woman, near Los Angeles was suffering from worsening mental health problems and had been involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment. Nicole Lorraine Linton is charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter. In a filing opposing Linton’s pretrial release, a deputy DA said Linton's “reckless conduct combined with her mental health struggles” mean she should be held without bail. The filing was obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities say one person was killed and nine others were injured Monday in a gas explosion at a southeast Missouri home. Capt. Barry Morgan, with the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, said the explosion happened around 7 a.m. Monday in Wyatt. Morgan said authorities are trying to determine whether a water heater or stove are to blame. He identified the person killed only as a man in his mid-20s. The other victims suffered serious or critical burn injuries. Several were flown to hospitals in St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee. The garage of a neighboring home also caught fire but no one inside that structure was hurt.

A federal bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for a defamation lawsuit in Connecticut to proceed against Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The case was filed by relatives of some victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Jones falsely claimed the nation’s deadliest school shooting was a hoax. Jones’ lawyer had sought to transfer the case to a federal bankruptcy court, rather than continue the case in Connecticut state court. However, Monday’s ruling essentially allows the plaintiffs to continue the defamation lawsuit against just Jones as an individual, without a company owned by Jones and a defendant in the Connecticut case.