Calif. Fires Force 250,000 to Evacuate

SAN DIEGO - Wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds forced the evacuations of nearly 250,000 people Monday in San Diego County, including hundreds who were being moved by school bus and ambulance from a hospital and nursing homes.

More than a dozen wildfires had engulfed Southern California, killing at least one person, injuring dozens more and threatening scores of structures.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Hundreds of patients were being evacuated Monday from a hospital and nursing homes in the path of one of more than a dozen wildfires engulfing Southern California. The …

Would-be victim leads suspect to US authorities

Illinois authorities say a Michigan man was so intent on robbing a motorist that he unwittingly followed her in his car straight to a sheriff's department, where he was arrested.

The 26-year-old man was arrested Tuesday and remains jailed on charges of attempted armed robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle, the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

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Mars Again Spawns A Quest for Wisdom

Yet another novel about Mars? Before you groan, consider thatMoving Mars (Tor, $23.95) is by Greg Bear, one of the outstandingscience fiction writers of the 40something generation.

Bear tells the story of the creation of a habitable Mars in the22nd century from the viewpoint of a physicist who links with anartificial intelligence, and a young woman of the Martian aristocracywho embraces revolution in search of a future for her native world.

He also tells it extremely well. It lacks nothing in scientificsoundness or literary excellence, and in spite of its scope, it iscontained within a single volume. It belongs on the same shelf withthe explorations of the Red …

Heather Locklear released from LA-area hospital

THOUSAND OAKS, California (AP) — Heather Locklear was released Friday from a hospital after she was treated in the intensive care unit for an unknown ailment.

She was discharged in the afternoon, Los Robles Hospital spokeswoman Kris Carraway-Bowman told The Associated Press. The 50-year-old "Melrose Place" actress was hospitalized Thursday.

The hospital in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks said earlier in the day that Locklear was medically stable and being cared for one-on-one in the ICU. Paramedics transported …

EU bans baby food with Chinese milk, recalls grow

The European Union banned imports of baby food containing Chinese milk on Thursday as tainted dairy products linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candy and other Chinese-made goods that were quickly pulled from stores worldwide.

The 27-nation EU adds to the growing list of countries that have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products. In addition to the ban, the European Commission called for tighter checks on other Chinese food imports.

Chinese baby formula tainted with melamine has been blamed for the deaths of four infants in China and the illnesses of 54,000 babies there. Health experts say ingesting a small amount of the chemical poses no …

Giants get the chosen 1 Trade QB Rivers to acquire Manning from Chargers

After a tense hour in which Eli Manning was a prospective lawstudent, the NFL's first family of quarterbacks got what it wanted.

Eli will be a New York Giant.

In one of the more bizarre first hours in recent draft history,Manning was taken with the first pick by the San Diego Chargers, forwhom he later announced he wouldn't play.

Manning then appeared on the stage at The Theatre of MadisonSquare Garden with his parents, Archie and Olivia, looking as glum asany No. 1 pick ever has as commissioner Paul Tagliabue held up aChargers jersey with "1" on it. He didn't put on the Chargers hat,and boos cascaded down from the galleries.

An hour later, as Manning …

AVALANCHE KILLS TWO; Is There Enough Avalanche Information Available to the General Public?

At around 1:45 a.m. Friday morning, a rush of snow slid 600 feet down the side of a mountain, burying a vacation home near Soldier Mountain in Fairfield. Dr. Marsha Landolt, Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Washington, and her husband Dr. Robert Busch an aquatic health consultant in Seattle, were covered by ten feet of thick snow while sleeping in the lower level of the home.

Landolt's son Nicolas Kocan, and Busch's daughter Jenna Rovig and her husband Kelby Rovig, along with their two children were able to escape the slide because they were sleeping in the structure's relatively unburied upper level. Two family dogs also escaped the carnage. One of the animals, …