Tonight’s Feature: Four Democratic presidential candidates will be looking to knock Hillary Clinton off her perch as the frontrunner tonight on CNN in the party’s first presidential debate in Las Vegas. The challenge for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be to present himself as a rational alternative to Clinton, who’s been losing support in the polls. Sanders has nearly matched Clinton’s fundraising and now he has to match her in debate.

Three other candidates will be trying to remind the public that they exist: former US Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia; former Rhode Island governor and senator Lincoln Chafee; and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

All the candidates are likely to distance themselves from President Obama. One of the themes will be economic inequality, the vast gulf between rich and poor that has grown even while Obama pulled the country out of a near-depression. Sanders has said that paying American workers a living wage is “not a radical idea.”

The ghost in the debate will be Vice President Joe Biden, who is running third or better in most Democratic polls, even though he hasn’t entered the race.

MH-17: The Dutch government released a report officially concluding that Malaysian Airlines Fight 17 was shot down over Ukraine with a Russian made Buk missile in July of 2014. The Russian company that makes the missile says their own tests show that it was not one of theirs that took down the jet.

Ukraine and western countries contend that the missile came from a rebel-held area and was fired either by the rebels or Russian forces.

The Lion King: Authorities in Zimbabwe have decided not to press criminal charges against the Minnesota dentist who killed the popular Cecil the Lion outside Hwange National Park. Dr. Walter Palmer went into seclusion for weeks after animal rights activists descended upon his dental practice in July. Zimbabwe’s environment minister said Palmer’s documentation of the hunt was proper and that he is free to return to the country, but only as a tourist.

Nation: Two firefighters died in the collapse of a Kansas City, Mo. apartment building last night shortly after they pulled two residents from the building.

>Fifteen members of a group called “Respect the Flag” have been charged in Georgia under an anti-street gang law for an incident on July 25^th when a group of white men driving pickups waving the Confederate flag clashed with a group of black people at an outdoor party. The partygoers said they were taunted with racial slurs and weapons.

The Sports Page: USC football coach Steve Sarkisian has been fired just one day after he was put on indefinite leave for having a severe drinking problem. Athletic Director Pat Haden didn’t say whether new information led to the firing, only that it was “in the best interest of the university and our student-athletes.” Sarkisian’s problem had been an open secret that went public when he behaved strangely at a big rally in August. He was believed to have been under the influence while coaching the team’s win over Arizona State on Sept. 26^th. USC is 3-2 so far this season and has dropped from the national rankings.

Centerfold: Playboy Magazine, a pioneer in the sexual revolution that put nudity on the coffee table, has been beaten at its own game by the Internet and plans to stop publishing fully naked pictures of young women. The Internet provides the world with more sex and nudity than a teenage boy came dream of, so the magazine decided to reveal women a little more artfully starting next March. Now a kid really can say he reads Playboy for the articles.

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