Arizona

Storm causes more damage, evacuations

A powerful storm battered the West for a third straight day Wednesday, forcing dozens of people from their homes and turning Southern California freeways into a virtual demolition derby.

The storm spawned a tornado in Southern California and left 140,000 customers without power while making for treacherous driving conditions. The California Highway Patrol logged 220 crashes between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning — more than three times the normal amount.

Authorities also reported hundreds of crashes around Las Vegas, and firefighters rescued several stranded motorists — including a police officer whose patrol car was swamped by rising water. The storm dropped 1.58 inches of rain; Las Vegas normally receives 4.43 inches a year.

Several neighborhoods were evacuated because of flooding in low-lying areas of Sedona. The storm dumped up to 2 1/2 inches of rain there within a few hours early Wednesday.

Arkansas

Judge strikes down ban on gay foster parents

An Arkansas judge Wednesday in Little Rock declared unconstitutional a state ban on placing foster children in any household with a gay member.

Ruling in a case brought by the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox said the state Child Welfare Agency Review board had overstepped its authority by trying to regulate “public morality.”

At issue was a 1999 board regulation that said gays cannot become foster parents, and foster children cannot be placed in any home with a gay member under its roof.

The ACLU had argued that the regulation violates the equal-protection rights of gays. But the judge’s ruling did not turn on that argument.

Instead, Fox noted that the Arkansas Legislature gave the child-welfare board the power to “promote the health, safety and welfare of children,” but the ban does not accomplish that. Rather, he said the regulation seeks to regulate “public morality” — something the board was not given the authority to do.

Washington, D.C.

U.S. to resume imports of beef from Canada

More than 19 months after a mad cow scare closed U.S. borders to Canadian cattle, the United States said Wednesday it would allow imports beginning in March.

The new policy will permit imports of cattle younger than 30 months and certain other animals and products from Canada, which the Agriculture Department said has effective measures to prevent and detect bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

The department said the ruling, which will take effect March 7, came after determining Canada is a “minimal-risk region,” the first country recognized as such.

Arizona

Endangered ferrets making a comeback

Endangered black-footed ferrets are reproducing more and surviving longer in the wild in Arizona than they have since recovery efforts began nearly a decade ago, wildlife biologists say.

Biologists found 28 ferrets in the last two years in Arizona that were born in the wild — more than double the number found during any two-year period since a reintroduction program began in 1996.

Biologists thought the black-footed ferret was extinct in the late 1970s, but about 120 of the nocturnal prowlers were found in the mid-1980s in Wyoming.

One reason for the low numbers is that the government killed thousands of prairie dogs — the ferrets’ main food source — during the last century because they were considered pests.