Syria: US warships are moving closer to Syria as President Obama decides how to respond to a suspected mass chemical attack outside of Damascus Wednesday. The President is expected to meet with the National Security Council today to discuss military choices. Obama has said he will not act until the facts are clear. So far the only evidence of the attack is compelling video of dead and dying victims showing clear signs of exposure to a nerve agent.

National: A 200 square mile wildfire has spread into the boundaries of Yosemite National Park and endangered power and water lines that feed San Francisco. The fire has destroyed only four homes but is considered a threat to 5,500 residences. Yosemite remains open.

Grope A Dope: San Diego Mayor Bob Filner resigned yesterday, effective Aug. 30, after 18 women accused him of sexual harassment. In an emotional speech to City Council the 70-year-old Filner, a former member of Congress, said, “You know I started my political career facing lynch mobs, and I think we have just faced one here in San Diego.” He went on, “In a lynch mob mentality, rumors become allegations, allegations become facts, facts become evidence of sexual harassment which have led to demands for my resignation and recall.”

Military Justice: Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was found guilty of murdering 13 people and wounding 31 others in the 2009 Ft. Hood shooting spree. Hasan acted as his own lawyer and offered no defense or closing argument. He is eligible for the death penalty. The army psychiatrist said he had “joined the other side”.

• Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who admitted massacring 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bales is a veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He offered no explanation for the killings.

The Obit Page: Tom Christian, 77, a descendant of HMS Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian, and for many years the shortwave radio voice of Pitcairn Island, died July 7. News takes a long time to come from the remote Pacific island where the population is now 51. Christian, was the great-great-great-grandson of the mutiny’s leader.

The 60s: Linda Ronstadt told AARP Magazine that she has Parkinson’s disease and can’t sing anymore. The 67-year-old Ronstadt was a heart-breaker star of the 60s. Her 1967 hit “Different Drum” with the Stone Poneys was an anthem of the generation. But we would have preferred to see the sad news broken in Rolling Stone.

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