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Tourist may have brought measles to Southern California

CALIFORNIA

Disneyland tourists warned on measles

SANTA ANA — A New Zealand teenager who visited Disneyland and other Southern California tourist spots last week brought along more than just her luggage. She brought measles. Public health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties issued a warning Friday that people may have been exposed to the disease if they were at Disneyland or the Disney California Adventure Park on Aug. 12. The girl had measles when she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 11 and went to the Desert Palms Hotel in Anaheim, officials said. After Disneyland, she is believed to have gone to Universal Studios, the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds in Hollywood, and the Santa Monica beach and pier on Aug. 14-15, authorities said. Meanwhile in Phoenix, public health officials said a teenager competing in the World Hip Hop Championship in Phoenix has measles and may have exposed others at the dance competition. The Maricopa County Public Health Department said Friday the teen was infectious with measles from Aug. 9 to Aug. 11 at the Arizona Grand Resort, where the competition was held. (AP)

Reward offered in deaths of burros

LOS ANGELES — Someone has been killing the wild burros of California’s Mojave Desert, and the Bureau of Land Management is offering up to $10,000 to anyone who can help catch the culprit or culprits. Over the past three months, 42 burro carcasses containing gunshot wounds have been found scattered along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 15, the main highway linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The animals, like wild horses, are protected under federal law. Anyone found guilty of harassing, branding or killing one faces a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail. The reward offer is in addition to others of $2,500, $5,000 and $1,000 offered, respectively, by the American Wild Horse Campaign, Return to Freedom and The Cloud Foundation organizations. (AP)

ALASKA

Wildfire destroys homes, businesses

ANCHORAGE — A wildfire burning north of Anchorage has destroyed 51 homes and three businesses, officials said Friday. Another 84 buildings between the communities of Willow and Talkeetna, about 70 miles north of the state’s largest city, also have been destroyed, fire information manager Kale Casey said. Hundreds of people have been evacuated because of the fire that started Sunday night along the Parks Highway, the main thoroughfare that connects Anchorage to Denali National Park and Preserve and Fairbanks. Governor Michael Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for the Matanuska Susitna Borough and Kenai Peninsula Borough for impacts from fires. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials have said it was human-caused. The fire had blackened nearly 6 square miles, said a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Forestry. (AP)