FRESNO – Fire crews struggled yesterday to battle a wind-fueled grass fire in rural Fresno County burning close to more than a dozen homes.
About 100 firefighters dropped retardant, cut lines and ran bulldozers to contain the 300-acre fire burning in the foothills east of the community of Piedra, Cal Fire said.
There was no mandatory evacuation order, but many residents have left.
Associated Press
USC area baby-death case ends in plea deal
LOS ANGELES – A Montana woman whose newborn son was found dead in a trash bin near the University of Southern California pleaded no contest to child endangerment yesterday after four attempts to charge her with murder were dismissed.
Under a plea agreement, Holly Ashcraft, 23, will be sentenced next month to time served, 30 days of jail time and 695 days of electronic monitoring, and five years of probation, said Los Angeles County prosecutors.
A homeless man said he found the dead baby Oct. 10, 2005, in a cardboard box in a trash bin behind a restaurant that was a popular hangout for students at USC, where Ashcraft was studying architecture.
DNA testing showed the child was Ashcraft's. A coroner's investigation determined the infant was born alive and died from prematurity and other, unspecified factors. The defense argued the child might have been stillborn.
Associated Press
