This time around, authorities at all levels appear to be acting quickly and effectively to lessen the loss of life and the damage from a national disaster. The fires raging across Southern California are certainly a national tragedy, with nearly 1 million people forced from their homes and nearly 700 square miles burned. But authorities at the local, state and national levels appear so far to be doing their part to help those affected and ... [full story]

The same two Prineville teenagers arrested and accused of burglarizing a Bi-Mart store in mid-July, then again a week later in connection with graffiti “tagging” of numerous businesses using paint they alleged stole from an equipment shed of a local little league field, have been arrested yet again – this time in connection with the theft of $5,000 in merchandise from Joe’s Eastside Market, police reported.   Robert James Atkinson (left); Roy Miller (right) - CCJ ... [full story]

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- A Michigan woman was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the stabbing deaths of her two young daughters.Jennifer Kukla, 31, of Macomb Township was found guilty but mentally ill in a jury trial last month, the Detroit Free-Press said. She was convicted of killing 8-year-old Alexandria and 5-year-old Ashley on Feb. 4 in the family's mobile home.Kukla's attorney argued that she was criminally insane and had been hearing voices that ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES -- One man is dead and another in custody in Southern California, both suspected of arson as the region entered its sixth day of devastating wildfires Thursday.In the first incident, San Bernardino university police spotted a man in a rural area of scrub near the campus Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.When officers called out to the man, he jumped into a car and fled, leading university and San Bernardino police ... [full story]

TAMPA, Fla. -- A 6-year-old Tampa, Fla., boy narrowly escaped death after being choked by a decorative nylon Halloween spider web hanging in his home.Cade Hampton was unable to breathe Wednesday with strands of nylon around his neck when he was found by his parents, WKMG-TV, Orlando (Fla.) reported Thursday."His little face -- I saw it around his neck and his face is completely reddish purple," his mother, Dawn Hampton, told the broadcaster.The nylon had ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Five members of a feminist anti-war group were arrested for disrupting a congressional committee meeting and accosting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Rice was attending the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on U.S. Middle East policy Wednesday when the women barged in, The Washington Times reported Thursday.Some of the women carried signs that said "Blood on your hands," while the leader of the group had smeared her palms with ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government Thursday issued a new wave of sanctions against Iran, focusing on the country's military, for its nuclear development activities. The State and Treasury departments designated Iranian entities and individuals associated with Iran's military and banking community as proliferators and supporters of terrorism.The designations are included in sanctions against Iran to counter that country's "bid for nuclear capabilities and support for terrorism" by naming banks, companies and individuals and cutting them ... [full story]

AMARILLO, Texas -- Make-a-Wish Foundation officials say a 3-year-old Texas boy with malignant brain cancer whose miniature horse was mauled to death will likely get a replacement.The group that tries to provides terminally ill children with their wishes gave Christian Vasquez a miniature horse in August. Monday, two pit bull terriers got onto the family's property and gored the animal to death, the Amarillo Globe News reported.Jelaine Workman, executive director for the foundation's Amarillo chapter, ... [full story]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Florida judge has sentenced Howard Steven Ault to death for the 1996 abduction and murder of two young sisters.Ault, 41, was convicted of raping and killing DeAnn Mu’min, 11, at his home in Fort Lauderdale and then killing her 7-year-old sister, Alicia, because she was a witness.Ault had been sentenced to death in 2003; however, the sentence was overturned on a technicality involving jury selection.The Miami Herald said Thursday Ault ... [full story]

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Michael Skakel’s bid for a new trial was rejected by a Connecticut judge who dismissed his claim there was enough new evidence to warrant a second trial.Skakel, a cousin of the Kennedy family, was convicted in 2002 of killing 15-year-old neighbor Martha Moxley in 1975 when Skakel was himself a teenager. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.Superior Court Judge Edward Karazin said in the ruling released Thursday that ... [full story]