2 die in Calif. wildfire

2 die in Calif. wildfire

LAKE ISABELLA, Calif.

A deadly wildfire that roared through dry brush and trees in the mountains of central California gave residents little time to flee as flames burned dozens of homes to the ground, propane tanks exploded, and smoke obscured the path to safety.

Two bodies were found Friday near Lake Isabella, a popular recreation area east of Bakersfield that was ravaged by wind-whipped flames, said Phil Neufeld, a spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department.

At least 80 houses were destroyed in the southern Sierra Nevada as the fire burned out of control across 29 square miles, leveling neighborhoods and forcing thousands of people to flee from fast-moving flames.

Officials: No evidence Fla. gunman was gay

washington

FBI investigators so far have not turned up persuasive evidence that Orlando gunman Omar Mateen was gay or pursuing gay relationships, according to two government officials familiar with the investigation.

The FBI began looking into that possibility after media reports last week quoted men as saying that Omar Mateen had reached out to them on gay dating apps and had frequented the gay nightclub where the June 12 massacre took place.

The officials say the FBI, which has conducted about 500 interviews and is reviewing evidence collected from Mateen’s phone, has not found concrete evidence to corroborate such accounts nearly two weeks into the investigation. They also cautioned that the investigation is ongoing and that nothing has formally been ruled out.

IS captures 900 Kurdish civilians

BEIRUT

Islamic State militants abducted about 900 Kurdish civilians in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo over the past three weeks, forcing the captives to build fortifications for the extremists in retaliation for a Kurdish-led assault on a nearby IS stronghold, activists said Friday.

Reports also emerged Friday that at least 26 of those abducted have been killed for refusing to follow IS orders.

The abductions come amid fierce fighting for control of Manbij — a key IS stronghold in this Syrian province — where the extremists are being routed from the town center by the predominantly Kurdish and U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces.

Kan. lawmakers OK school-funding fix

TOPEKA, KAN.

Kansas legislators passed an education funding plan Friday after top Republicans rewrote it to gain broad, bipartisan support to satisfy a court mandate and end a looming threat that public schools across the state might shut down.

The votes were 116-6 in the House and 38-1 in the Senate, sending the measure to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who told reporters he would sign it.

Lawmakers struggled with how to pay for a $38 million increase in aid to poor school districts for 2016-17.

Judge: Lawyers can have Brown records

clayton, mo.

A judge says attorneys for the city of Ferguson and other defendants in a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Michael Brown’s parents can have access to juvenile records involving the black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a white police officer in 2014.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the judge said those who are granted access to the records can’t disclose the confidential information.

The city’s lawyers argued that the information could “lead to the discovery of admissible evidence” in the lawsuit against Ferguson and the officer who shot Brown.

Associated Press