AP - Firefighters took advantage of cooler temperatures and calmer winds Saturday as they continued to fight a persistent wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has chewed through acres of centuries-old redwoods, destroyed at least 17 homes and displaced hundreds of people.

AP - State child welfare authorities on Friday appealed a stinging court ruling that said their seizure of more than 440 children from a polygamist sect's ranch was unjustified, but they also agreed to reunite 12 children with their parents while the case moves on.

AP - A semi-truck slammed into the back of a school bus that had stopped to drop off students along a highway on Friday afternoon, seriously injuring five people.

AP - Once it was Japanese torpedoes and kamikaze suicide planes. Then, the threat of the wrecking ball. Now, it's money — or the lack of it — that could imperil the future of the USS Intrepid.

AP - Forecasters said Saturday that at least a dozen tornadoes spun across western and central Kansas a day earlier, destroying numerous homes, downing trees and injuring several people.

AP - A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.

AP - Jesse McGee points to trophies he won in local marathons. He mentions his work with youth and volunteer school programs. He praises his church's efforts to deliver scripture lessons to inmates.

AP - A robotic spacecraft scheduled to land Sunday on Mars will be operated by NASA. But it's scientists at a University of Arizona lab who will be calling the shots on what the robot does.

AP - When Evelyn Burwell put on a cap and gown to accept her high school diploma, she knew someone wasn't in the audience — her dad.

AP - Barack Obama inched closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, picking up five delegates, including a California congressman who switched his allegiance from Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - A suburban policeman hunted down a homeless, frequently arrested illegal immigrant, hit him hard and left him to die last year, a prosecutor told jurors in opening statements of his manslaughter trial Friday.

AP - The city of Vallejo filed for bankruptcy protection Friday to deal with a ballooning budget deficit caused by soaring employee costs and declining tax revenue.