Fire threatens near California's Big Sur
BIG SUR, Calif. -- A wind-driven wildfire broke out late Friday in the rugged mountains above Big Sur, forcing residents to evacuate their homes and authorities to shut down a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway.
The fire started in a canyon and was pushed to the sea by 35 mph winds, jumping the highway and burning on the west side. It burned at least 2.3 square miles and was 5% contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Saturday.
The Monterey County sheriff's office ordered evacuations in a sparsely populated area between Carmel and Big Sur and shut down a stretch of Highway 1.
Evacuees shared social-media images of flames behind iconic Bixby Bridge, which spans the deep and wild canyon along the highway and has been the backdrop for many car commercials, movies and TV shows.
Strong winds were recorded across the San Francisco Bay Area and a swath of the Sierra Nevada overnight, knocking down trees and power lines and causing outages in numerous neighborhoods.
Many areas were subject to wind advisories. In Sonoma County, firefighters extinguished a 5-acre fire on Geyser Peak, where gusts above 90 mph were recorded.
The region was still moist after December storms dumped heavy snow in the mountains and partially refilled parched reservoirs, providing some relief from what had been an exceptionally dry year.
Warnings of gusts from 50 mph to 70 mph were planned for much of Southern California on Saturday afternoon.
Man with severed arm rescued in Maine
LEWISTON, Maine -- A man who stumbled along a street carrying his own severed arm was saved by two public workers who saw him and happened to be trained in the use of tourniquets, authorities in Maine said.
"It had to be divine intervention, because two of my best guys just happened to be there sanding sidewalks," said Mary Ann Brenchick, director of Lewiston Public Works. "It couldn't have been better guys for this kind of situation."
Witnesses said the man's arm was cut off near the shoulder Friday, apparently in a workplace accident, the Sun Journal reported.
The workers applied a tourniquet while waiting for an ambulance, said Lewiston police Lt. Derek St. Laurent. "That probably saved his life," St. Laurent said.
Investigators followed a trail of blood back to a business where several people said the man had been operating a band saw. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was alerted.
The injured man, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital and was expected to survive, officials said. It was unknown whether surgeons were able to reattach his arm.
Texas official, wife admit election fraud
LONGVIEW, Texas -- An East Texas county commissioner and his wife pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election fraud after reaching a plea deal that lets him remain in office.
Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown and his wife, Marlene Jackson, entered their pleas before a state district judge in Longview on Thursday. Each was sentenced to a year's probation and fined $2,000. District Attorney Tom Watson said he expected charges against two other co-defendants to be resolved similarly.
All four were charged in a September 2020 indictment containing 134 counts accusing them of vote harvesting during Brown's 2018 Democratic primary campaign against former Longview City Council member Kasha Williams.
"Today, I have entered a plea to a misdemeanor for campaigning at a voter's house and asking her to consider voting for me while she had possession of her mail-in ballot," Brown said in a statement. "I did not realize at the time that doing so was a misdemeanor."
Court upholds ruling on Arizona records
PHOENIX -- A state appeals court says legislative privilege does not broadly protect the Arizona Senate from having to release hundreds of public records related to the state's review of the 2020 election.
The Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's narrow view of the privilege, rejecting arguments by lawyers for the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Senate and Cyber Ninjas, the inexperienced firm it hired to run the GOP's election review, have been battling for months over two public-records lawsuits, one filed by the parent of The Arizona Republic and one by American Oversight, a government watchdog group.
The Senate has disclosed more than 20,000 records but is withholding all or part of about 1,000 documents citing the privilege, which is meant to promote robust debate among elected officials.
Senate Republicans argued that the privilege applies broadly to lawmakers' communications about the election review. But the judges ruled it applies only to discussions related to the process of passing legislation.
The judges directed the Senate to release the records or give them to a judge to decide whether the more narrow view of legislative privilege will allow the Senate to withhold specific documents. An appeal is possible.
The Colorado Fire burns behind a house off Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Colorado Fire burns along below Rocky Creek Bridge on Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Colorado Fire burns along Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Colorado Fire burns under Rocky Creek Bridge on Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Colorado Fire burns along Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
The Colorado Fire burns along Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Brandon Crenshaw takes photos as a fallen tree sits on top of his car after strong winds in Upland, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. The strong winds bring the potential for fires, downed trees, powerlines and other debris. In the higher canyons and the western portion of the San Gabriel Mountains, isolated wind gusts could reach up to 80 mph, officials said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
The Colorado Fire burns a fence off Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)Gallery: Wildfire in California's Big Sur
