California

Wildfires blacken thousands of acres

Despite withering summer heat, firefighters aided by planes slowly gained ground Wednesday against California wildfires that have burned more than 18,500 acres of brush and forest and caused hundreds of people to evacuate homes.

Wet weather headed into the region, bringing hope of relief but also raising fears of flash flooding and new lightning-caused fires.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized funds for some of the blazes, which were burning in Los Angeles County, to the east in Riverside County, to the south in San Diego County and in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada.

One of the most difficult fires, 4,700 acres in Angeles National Forest on the edge of the Mojave Desert, was 46 percent contained. The fire in Pine Canyon, pictured above, prompted voluntary and mandatory evacuations of more than 500 homes Tuesday.

Salt Lake City

University settles religious-beliefs case

The University of Utah agreed Wednesday to let students opt out of activities that conflict with their religious beliefs, settling a lawsuit brought by a Mormon drama student who refused to recite lines that contained profanity and took God’s name in vain.

Christina Axson-Flynn, 24, had sued the university in federal court, accusing it of violating her to right to freedom of speech and religion.

She said that after refusing to recite the lines in an acting class during the 1998-99 school year, she feared theater department professors would retaliate against her, so she withdrew from the university.

Under the settlement, she will be reimbursed $3,000 to $4,000 in tuition.