Oakland Fire Kills Many

It's already one of the city's deadliest blazes, but Oakland, California, authorities say casualties are expected to rise as they investigate the fire at the warehouse-turned-arts-space known as Ghost Ship. Rescuers had to halt their search late Sunday, and roughly half of the two-story building remains to be scoured. At least 36 people have been confirmed dead, including teenagers and a deputy's son, in a huge blaze that gutted a converted warehouse during an electronic dance party Friday night. It could take weeks to identify victims through DNA and dental records. Former California State Chief Fire Marshal James McMullen said firefighters and investigators must begin in the least-burned areas before moving "slowly and methodically to the area of origin, then to the point of origin." All this must happen before determining a cause, he said.

In Other News Dr. Ben Carson, a famed neurosurgeon, will be nominated as the next secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Trump transition team announced Monday. Carson endorsed Trump shortly after he dropped out of the contest for president. The secretary of housing and urban development oversees federal public housing programs and helps formulate policy on homelessness and housing discrimination. As is the case with all cabinet secretaries, Carson needs to be confirmed by the Senate. Michigan will become the second state to conduct a recount of ballot casts during the 2016 presidential election. The ruling follows a request from Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein after a razor-thin margin made the state the last to be called in the November election. Stein has spearheaded a recount effort in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- three battleground states where Donald Trump narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton. Stein's campaign, who withdrew a recount request in a Pennsylvania state court, this weekend said she would instead file the lawsuit seeking a statewide recount in federal court Monday morning. High emotions rang out among thousands of protesters at the Standing Rock site after the Army Corp of Engineers announced it will look for an alternate route for the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Hawaiians have been warned that a winter storm may bring heavy snow to Big Island peaks overnight. Up to six inches of snow is expected to fall. Meteorologists say it isn't unusual for the Big Island summits to experience snowfall in the winter months.