Wildfire forces Calif. evacuations Wildfire forces Calif. evacuations ADVERTISING SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people have been told to leave their homes as a wildfire burning Sunday in thick forest threatened rural communities in far Northern California. The fire
Wildfire forces Calif. evacuations
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people have been told to leave their homes as a wildfire burning Sunday in thick forest threatened rural communities in far Northern California.
The fire that sparked around 11:30 a.m. Saturday has destroyed four homes and consumed nearly 19 square miles near the towns of Manton, Shingleton and Viola, fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
About 3,500 homes spread out across a rural area along the border of Tehama and Shasta counties are threatened as the fire continues to expand, he said.
“A good majority are immediately threatened, and a good number are in the path of the fire,” Berlant said Sunday. “We will be battling it hard today.”
The fire’s cause has not been determined, but officials said it started after a series of lightning strikes in the area.
No part of the blaze was contained Sunday afternoon, and fire activity had picked up, Berlant said.
John Cluff, 42, told the Redding Record Searchlight that he was forced to flee his home before the evacuations were issued. He went back for his dog about 3:30 p.m.
“The fire basically chased me out of the property,” he said. “All I could see was black smoke and flames.”
Front-yard grave stirs controversy
STEVENSON, Ala. (AP) — James Davis is fighting to keep the remains of his late wife right where he dug her grave: In the front yard of his home, just a few feet from the porch.
Davis said he was only abiding by Patsy Ruth Davis’ wishes when he buried her outside their log home in 2009, yet the city sued to move the body elsewhere. A county judge ordered Davis to disinter his wife, but the ruling is on hold as the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals considers his challenge.
Davis, 73, said he never expected such a fight.
“Good Lord, they’ve raised pigs in their yard, there’s horses out the road here in a corral in the city limits, they’ve got other gravesites here all over the place,” said Davis. “And there shouldn’t have been a problem.”
While state health officials say family burial plots aren’t uncommon in Alabama, city officials worry about the precedent set by allowing a grave on a residential lot on one of the main streets through town. They say state law gives the city some control over where people bury their loved ones and have cited concerns about long-term care, appearance, property values and some neighbors’ complaints.
It’s unclear when the appeals court might rule. Attorneys filed initial papers in the appeal on Friday. The decision could come down to whether the judges believe the front-yard grave constitutes a family plot that requires no approval or a cemetery, which would.
Rover zaps Mars rock with laser
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — NASA’s Curiosity rover has zapped its first Martian rock, aiming its laser for the sake of science.
During the target practice on Sunday, Curiosity fired 30 pulses at a nearby rock over a 10-second window, burning a small hole.
Since landing in Gale Crater two weeks ago, the six-wheel rover has been checking out its instruments including the laser. During its two-year mission, Curiosity was expected to point the laser at various rocks as it drives toward Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-high mountain rising from the crater floor.
Its goal is to determine whether the Martian environment was habitable.
In several days, flight controllers will command Curiosity to move its wheels side-to-side and take its first short drive.
The $2.5 billion mission is the most expensive yet to Mars.
Lennon’s killer
is up for parole
ALDEN, N.Y. (AP) — Officials say John Lennon’s killer, who is up for parole for the seventh time, could have a parole hearing as early as Tuesday.
New York Department of Corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia says Mark David Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by members of the parole board this week. She says they could make a decision by Thursday or Friday.
Chapman shot Lennon in December 1980 outside the Manhattan apartment building where the former Beatle lived. He was sentenced in 1981 to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Chapman was transferred in May from the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York to the nearby Wende (WEHN’-dee) Correctional Facility. Both are maximum security. The prison system doesn’t disclose why inmates are transferred.
Chapman was denied parole for the sixth time in September 2010.
