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(05-26) 19:08 PDT Corralitos — Some residents who had been forced to evacuate from their homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains last week were allowed to move back in Monday as moist weather and calmed winds helped firefighters contain 80 percent of a wildfire that has scorched 4,270 acres.
Fire officials hope to have all the evacuees back in their homes by Thursday, said Henry Dekruyff, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. They expect to fully contain the blaze by today and have it under control by Friday.
The fire, which started Thursday, has destroyed 36 residences and 18 outbuildings such as sheds and barns. A hundred homes remained threatened as of Monday night.
People had voluntarily evacuated 1,400 homes and authorities mandated the evacuation of 450 more, said Chris Morgan, a Cal Fire prevention specialist.
On Monday afternoon, fire officials allowed an unidentified number of people to return to their homes, which were mostly in Santa Cruz County. Those allowed to return include people with homes along Eureka Canyon Road and Rider Road to Ormsby Road; Hazel Dell Road; Buzzard Lagoon Road; Browns Valley Road; and Croy Road in Santa Clara County. People had been allowed back on Saturday on guided tours with fire officials but weren’t allowed to stay.
Holly Waddle, who lives on Mount Madonna Road, said the three-bedroom home she built 33 years ago was spared even though it sits roughly 100 feet from where the blaze started. Living in a fire-prone area where winds can get as high as 125 mph, Waddle keeps a plastic container with old photos and papers handy in case she needs to flee. She grabbed those as well as her father’s ashes and sped down her road after her husband spotted the blaze early Thursday morning. She said she stopped at neighbors’ houses and leaned on her horn, screaming for them to leave. One of those houses ended up burning to the ground. She is grateful she can eventually return to hers.

sfgate.com

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Kalee Whipple and Morgan Warburton keyed a second-half run and No. 18 Utah rallied to beat New Mexico 57-53 on Saturday for the Utes’ 18th straight win.
Trailing by 12 with 4:49 left, Warburton and Whipple each scored eight straight points during a 18-4 run that allowed Utah (23-3, 12-0 Mountain West Conference) to rally.
Whipple, who finished with 21 points, started the run, hitting a 3-pointer, both ends of a one-and-one and another 3. Then Warburton, who had 17, took over with back-to-back 3-pointers and a short jumper, which tied it at 48-all.
Leilani Mitchell gave Utah its first lead moments later with a baseline drive and the Utes never trailed again.
Utah made its final seven shots — five of them 3-pointers — and its final six shots from the line.
New Mexico (14-12, 6-7) held the Utes off the scoreboard for the first 8:10, but the Lobos only managed to score 11 points during that time.
Utah went through another drought to start the second half, this time going 5:07 without a point before Halie Sawyer went inside for a basket.
Dionne Marsh scored 21 points and Brandi Kimble added 11 for New Mexico.

sports.espn.go.com

NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase said Sunday it will acquire rival Bear Stearns in a deal valued at $236.2 million — or $2 a share — a stunning collapse for one of the world’s largest and most venerable investment banks.
The last-minute buyout was aimed at averting a Bear Stearns bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global financial system.
The Federal Reserve and the U.S. government swiftly approved the all-stock deal, showing the urgency of completing the deal before world markets opened.
The Bush administration will “do what it takes” to stabilize chaotic markets and minimize the economic damage, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday after a tumultuous week.
Bear Stearns shares close Friday at $30 a share. At their peak, the shares traded at $159.36.
The Fed will provide special financing to JPMorgan Chase for the deal, JPMorgan Chase said. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns’ less liquid assets. Risky bets on securities tied to subprime mortgages — loans given to customers with poor credit history — crippled Bear Stearns, the nations’ fifth-largest investment bank.
At almost the same time as the deal for control of Bear Stearns was announced, the Federal Reserve said it approved a cut in its lending rate to banks to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent and created another lending facility for big investment banks. The central bank’s official meeting is on Tuesday. Before the emergency move to lower the discount rate, which is the rate at which banks lend each other money, the Fed was widely expected to again cut its headline rate by as much as a full point to 2 percent.

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