Dry conditions, winds leave California open to big fires

Dry conditions and strong winds in California left much of the state vulnerable to massive fires, with blaze-starters ranging from a cooking fire at a drug trafficking operation to a bird flying into a power line. “It really goes to show you that it doesn’t take much with these dry conditions to start a fire,” CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant told CNN Sunday. The fire sparked by a bird hitting a power line ignited a series of blazes in Yuba County, forcing some 1,300 firefighters to the scene and officials to declare evacuations in the town of Dobbins, he said.

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Authorities release pictures of suspects in 3-year-old’s abduction

Police in San Bernardino, California, released pictures of two suspects in the abduction of a 3-year-old boy who was taken at gunpoint from his home last weekend. Briant Rodriguez has been missing since May 3, when two Hispanic males armed with handguns burst into the home, tied him up, along with his mother and four siblings. They ransacked the home before leaving with Briant, a small amount of cash and some personal property, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Cindy Beavers said.

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Authorities suspect man threw baby from car

Authorities arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion he threw a 3-month-old child from a car on an interstate in Tampa, Florida. The boy died. Richard McTear Jr., 21, got in a fight with his ex-girlfriend early Tuesday and picked up the baby and threw him to the ground, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said

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Lawsuit accuses craigslist of promoting prostitution

An Illinois sheriff filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the owners of craigslist, accusing the popular national classified-ad Web site of knowingly promoting prostitution. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart wants craigslist to eliminate its Erotic Services section.

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