Today's weather & top news

Today, mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of rain showers in the morning. Highs in the mid-60s. North winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Tonight, mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph. Wednesday, mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. West winds up to 5 mph shifting to the south in the afternoon. ... Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Monday defended his refusal to prosecute housing discrimination cases on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” again couching his stance in the nationwide debate over illegal immigration. “In Nebraska, like every other state, our taxpayers have had enough, and they don’t want to see their state attorney represent illegal immigrants,” Bruning said on the show, which Dobbs has often used as a platform to protest illegal immigration. “My office isn’t going to be the free lawyer for illegal immigrants,” Bruning said. The attorney general has been in the spotlight recently for refusing to prosecute cases of alleged housing discrimination brought to him by the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission. But NEOC officials have stressed that while Bruning has made public comments about his refusal to file housing discrimination actions on behalf of illegal immigrants, only one case has involved people in the country illegally. Other discrimination cases have involved U.S. citizens, including disabled people and single parents. Bruning detractors say he is simply using the illegal immigration issue for political gain. “Jon Bruning is making a mockery of our state,” said Lincoln attorney Kathleen Neary after watching Bruning’s television appearance. “He is somehow taking pride in the fact that he is not enforcing our laws. It is an embarrassment.” ... Relentless wildfires burned into the early morning Tuesday across Florida’s Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents trying to save their homes with garden hoses. Firefighters in the Brevard County town of Palm Bay have spent more than 48 hours battling the state’s biggest blaze, which has damaged about 70 homes and scorched 3,500 acres, or about 5 1/2 square miles.

“Everytime I turn around another house is on fire. We don’t have enough resources on our own to do a job like this,” said Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.

Officials expressed concern early Tuesday after flare-ups overnight. Flare-ups when humidity is higher can be a bad sign because fire spreads even more quickly during the drier and windier daylight hours, said Palm Bay Assistant Fire Chief Jim Stables. “It’s going to be challenging to get the fire under control,” he said.