AP - Wind-driven wildfires raked Northern California for a second day Wednesday, including a raging forest fire that forced hundreds to evacuate in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

AP - A tornado tore through a Boy Scout camp in the remote hills of western Iowa on Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring 40, and setting off a frantic search to reach others in the piles of debris and downed trees.

AP - Firefighters in Northern California braced for more high winds Wednesday as they tried to control wildfires that destroyed dozens of homes and severely burned a firefighter.

AP - A helicopter rescued two hikers from high on Mount Rainier Wednesday after they were caught in a freak June blizzard that caused a third hiker's death.

AP - A sandbagged levee was preventing a swollen river from rising out of its banks and flooding this northeastern Iowa city on Wednesday, but officials asked for extra volunteers to help shore it up as more rain moved across the state.

AP - Ohio's method of putting prisoners to death is unconstitutional because two of three drugs it uses for lethal injection can cause "an agonizing and painful death," a county judge ruled Tuesday.

AP - The entire military — not just the newly reoriented Air Force — must learn to accept criticism from outside its ranks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

AP - A steel tower wrapped in a spiraling ribbon is one of the most striking features of a new arts high school set to open next year.

AP - The flowers have been selected, the Veterans' Memorial Center has been booked, and the three-piece band has been chosen. The e-invitations have gone out and relatives are flying in. The brides — and there will be two of them — might not have time to buy something new to wear, but that's OK.