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From The Associated Press

8,000 flee Cedar Rapids flood

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—The Cedar River poured over its banks Thursday, displacing at least 8,000 residents from more than 3,000 homes, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.

Officials estimated that 100 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids, a city of about 124,000, where several days of preparation could not hold back the rain-swollen river. It wasn’t clear just how high the river had risen because a flood gauge was swept away by the swirling water.

“We’re just kind of at God’s mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start,” Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. “We’re going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding.”

Days of heavy rain across the state have sent nine rivers across Iowa at or above historic flood levels. Residents were already steeling themselves for floods before storms late Wednesday and early Thursday brought up to 5 inches of rain across west central Iowa.

“We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring,” said Brian Pierce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport. “We’re in uncharted territory — this is an event beyond what anybody could even imagine.”

Gov. Chet Culver has declared 55 of the state’s 99 counties as state disaster areas.

Calif. wildfires threaten homes

FELTON, Calif.—Hundreds of firefighters struggled to gain control of a series of wildfires burning across Northern California on Thursday, including a raging forest fire that forced hundreds to leave their homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for 500 residents in the heavily forested hills. Voluntary evacuations were in place for another 1,000 residents. Nearly 800 firefighters were battling the blaze, which could spread to as many as 1,500 acres, Battalion Chief Paul Van Gerwen said.

US Airways to cut jobs, charge for 1st bag

PHOENIX—US Airways Group Inc. said Thursday it planned sweeping cuts in service and increased fees to pay for sky-high fuel costs that have plagued the industry.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier said it would cut domestic flights, shrink the size of its fleet, slash 1,700 jobs, charge passengers to check their first bag and add a fee for nonalcoholic drinks during flights.

“We must write a new playbook for running a profitable airline in this new and challenging environment,” US Airways Chairman and Chief Executive Doug Parker said in a statement.

Fliers will now pay $15 to stow just one bag in the cargo hold for tickets booked on or after July 9, 2008. US Airways will be the third major carrier to add such a charge.

Salmonella-tainted tomato illnesses reach 228

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes has jumped to 228 illnesses. The government has learned of five dozen previously unknown cases, and says it’s possible the food poisoning contributed to the death of a cancer patient in Texas.

Six states that had escaped the outbreak so far have been added to the list, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermon, bringing the number of affected states, including Arizona, to 23.

The Food and Drug Administration still hasn’t pinpointed the source of the outbreak. And with the latest known illness striking on June 1, officials also aren’t sure if all the tainted tomatoes are off the market.