Small signs of rebuilding the California town of Paradise after it was destroyed by wildfire are sprouting this spring, including the issuing of the first permits to rebuild two the 11,000 homes destroyed five months ago. The city issued the first permit Thursday to Jason and Meagann Buzzard, who said they never intended to leave the town of 27,000 people that was 90 percent destroyed by the Nov. 8 fire that killed 85 people. "We were 100 percent intent on rebuilding in Paradise," Jason Buzzard said. "It's home. I was born and raised there. My wife was born there and so was my daughter."

When a massive wildfire swept through California's oldest state park last week it was feared many trees in a grove of old-growth redwoods, some of them 2,000 years old and among the tallest living things on Earth, may finally have succumbed. But an Associated Press reporter and photographer hiked the renowned Redwood Trail at Big Basin Redwoods State Park on Monday and confirmed most of the ancient redwoods had withstood the blaze. Among the survivors is one dubbed Mother of the Forest.

Authorities searching through the blackened aftermath of California's deadliest wildfire have released the names of about 100 people who are still missing, including many in their 80s and 90s. As the names were made public late Tuesday, additional crews joined the search, and the statewide death toll climbed to at least 51, with 48 dead in Northern California and three fatalities in Southern California.

For Californians venturing outside, donning a mask will be as common as putting on a cap or sunglasses when the state begins gradually easing stay-at-home orders on Friday. But rules about face coverings vary from county to county, and it's unclear what enforcement might look like.

German insurance company Munich Re says the Northern California wildfire that killed dozens of people and burned down the town of Paradise was the world's costliest single natural disaster in 2018. The November fire caused overall losses of $16.5 billion.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter won't go on trial until next year on corruption charges that involve the spending of campaign cash on vacations, extramarital affairs and other items, a U.S. judge decided Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan changed the trial date from Sept. 10 to Jan. 14 after defense attorneys raised questions about whether an appeals court must first consider their motion to dismiss the case against the California Republican.

The storm that pummeled much of California for three days began moving east Thursday after causing at least six deaths, forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes and plunging nearly 300,000 utility customers into darkness at its peak. The National Weather Service says the winter storm is forecast to drop its heavy rain, snow and wind in Colorado next and move across much of country in coming days.

One year after Paradise burned, hundreds of people gathered in the parking lot of a former bank building in the Northern California town to pause for 85 seconds — one for each person who died.

The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday, rattling nerves on the July 4th holiday and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California.

A day after a wind-whipped wildfire in northern Nevada roared through a neighborhood in Reno and destroyed at least five houses, more than 1,000 people who were forced to evacuate — including the mayor — started returning home Wednesday. Another fire about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south and across the border in California also exploded in strong winds Tuesday, killing one person, driving hundreds from their homes and destroying 80 structures in and around a small community, including some houses.