Lost climber using cellphone signal

OREGON

COOPER SPUR -- One of three stranded climbers lost somewhere amid the ice, billowing snow, and gale-force winds on Mount Hood has been turning off and on his cellphone, raising hopes for his rescue, authorities said yesterday. T-Mobile received signals suggesting Kelly James, 48, of Dallas may have been turning his cellphone off to conserve battery power. Rescue workers confronted stormy weather on the mountain again yesterday and said they would be searching lower elevations in hopes that James's two companions, Brian Hall of Dallas and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke of New York, had gotten down from near the top of the mountain, where James was believed holed up in a snow cave. (AP)

Washington, D.C.

The nation set a record for wildfires this year, and scientists say 2006 will probably end as the third-warmest year on record for the contiguous United States. Drought and hot conditions contributed to the record wildfire season, with more than 9.5 million acres burned through early December, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The annual climate report, released yesterday by the National Climatic Data Center, says 2006 will probably be the third-warmest year on record, trailing only 1998 and 1934. (AP)

Georgia

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Board of Education voted yesterday to uphold a local school board's decision to leave Harry Potter books on library shelves despite a mother's objections. The board members voted to back the Gwinnett County School Board's decision to deny Laura Mallory's request to remove the best-selling books. Mallory, who has three children in elementary school, has worked for more than a year to ban the books from schools, contending that the fiction series is an attempt to indoctrinate children in witchcraft. (AP)