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Calif. town is told to prepare to leave as wildfire surges

 
Sentencing in Venezuela protested Lilian Tintori, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopodo Lopez, on Friday holds up a letter from him after he was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in Caracas. Lopez, a former mayor, was ruled to have incited a march that turned violent. A Caracas circuit court late Thursday night found Lopez guilty. Critics say the trial was a farce.
Sentencing in Venezuela protested Lilian Tintori, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopodo Lopez, on Friday holds up a letter from him after he was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in Caracas. Lopez, a former mayor, was ruled to have incited a march that turned violent. A Caracas circuit court late Thursday night found Lopez guilty. Critics say the trial was a farce.
Published Sept. 12, 2015

San Andreas, Calif.

Town is told to prepare to leave as wildfire surges

A wildfire in Northern California grew explosively Friday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate from rural communities, destroying six homes, threatening thousands more, and prompting a state-of-emergency declaration from the governor. "It's expanding like a balloon," said state fire spokeswoman Nancy Longmore. The fire that had only burned about a single square mile Thursday morning had surged to 101 square miles by Friday evening. It was 5 percent contained. At one point, the blaze was bearing down on the 2,700 residents of San Andreas, prompting an evacuation order for the entire town 60 miles southeast of Sacramento. But the fire changed direction and the order was called off a short time later, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. San Andreas residents were told they still need to be prepared to evacuate. In central California, a wildfire was threatening to sweep through an ancient grove of giant sequoia trees. Firefighters have been clearing lines with bulldozers around the Grant Grove and putting up sprinklers, said Andy Isolano, a spokesman for the Clovis Fire Department. The giant sequoias, some of which stand more than 200 feet tall, are among the largest and oldest trees on Earth.

Phoenix

Police question man in freeway shootings

Police swarmed a convenience store near Interstate 10, detained a man and seized his white Chevrolet Tahoe on Friday, raising hopes of a resolution to the freeway shootings rattling Phoenix. A man and woman were taken into custody for questioning, but Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said only the man was of interest to investigators. The man was booked into a Phoenix jail on unrelated charges Friday night, officials said. Graves said the SUV was being examined for any evidence that might connect it to 11 confirmed shootings on the city's freeways in the past two weeks.

Portland, Ore.

Man on jet urinated on passengers, police say

An Oregon man faces charges after authorities say he urinated on passengers on a flight from Anchorage to Portland, Ore. Jeff Rubin, 27, was arrested early Friday after JetBlue Flight 47 arrived at Portland International Airport, KOIN-TV reported. A police report said passengers and airline employees told officers Rubin had been sleeping for most of the flight. About 30 minutes before landing, they said, he stood up and began urinating through the crack between the seats in front of him — and onto the passengers sitting there. The report said he lost his balance and fell backward, splashing urine on passengers, seats and luggage.

Philadelphia

U.S. dropping China case against professor

Federal prosecutors sought to dismiss charges Friday against a Temple University physics professor who was accused of scheming to provide secret U.S. technology to China after being confronted with statements from physicists that investigators had misunderstood the technology. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia declined to comment on the four-page motion the office filed seeking to drop four counts of wire fraud against the professor, Xi Xiaoxing. In its filing in federal court in Philadelphia, the government said only that the motion is based on "additional information" it received since the charges against the 57-year-old professor were filed in May. Xi is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China.

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Louisville, Ky.

Clerk seeks delay on gay-marriage licenses

A Kentucky county clerk who was recently jailed for denying same-sex couples marriage licenses filed an appeal Friday that asks for another delay in issuing the licenses. Attorneys for Kim Davis, who objects to gay marriage on religious grounds, argued in their motion to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that all the same-sex couples who sued Davis for a license received one from her deputies while she was in jail. Therefore, they said, her office should not be required to issue them to any more couples once she returns to work. U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning wrote that his mandate to issue licenses applied to all couples, not only those who filed suit. But Davis' lawyers allege that order was issued improperly.

Elsewhere

India: An Indian court in Mumbai convicted 12 men Friday in connection with near-simultaneous bombings in 2006 on seven commuter trains in the city, an attack that killed more than 180 people and left 800 wounded, a prosecutor said.

Times wires