Weather helps slow California wildfire

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Cooler weather helped crews build a buffer Monday between a raging Northern California wildfire and some of the thousands of homes it threatened as it tore through drought-withered brush that hadn’t burned in years.

At least two dozen homes were destroyed over the past few days, and more than 13,000 people were urged to flee.

The fire – the largest blaze in drought-stricken California – roughly tripled in size over the weekend to 93 square miles, generating its own winds that fanned the flames and reduced thousands of acres of manzanita shrubs and other brush to barren land in hours.

“There’s a lot of old growth-type vegetation and four years of drought to dry it all out,” said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It was ready to go.”

Carter has mass removed from liver

ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter is expected to make a full recovery after having an operation Monday to remove a small mass in his liver, according to a spokeswoman.

Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo called the procedure “elective” in a statement released Monday afternoon. She says the operation was completed without any issues and Carter’s “prognosis is excellent for a full recovery.”

In response to an email from The Associated Press asking how the mass was detected, what symptoms Carter had displayed, what follow-up care he will receive and what is known about the mass, Congileo said no further details would be provided.

Associated Press