Wind

With few exceptions in modern motorbiking, the two-wheeled world has broken down something like this: Manual transmission equals motorcycle (and macho). Automatic transmission equals scooter (and sissy). But in the last year, the most caveman of two-wheeled categorizations has begun to evolve: Motorcycles are beginning to incorporate automatic transmissions. The Honda DN-01, which is rolling into U.S.

Khalfani Muhammad of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has never faced a camera he didn't like or taken on an opponent he didn't want to beat. That made Saturday's Southern Section track and field championships the ideal environment for Muhammad to put on a show. Facing competition from some rising young sprinters, Muhammad made it clear he's not ready to relinquish his title as fastest teenager in California. He ran a wind-aided personal best 10.33 seconds to capture the Division 3 100 meters.

A sudden, blinding dust storm trapped hundreds of holiday motorists on Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley on Friday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 114 injured in a series of chain-reaction accidents, the California Highway Patrol said. CHP officials said at least 93 cars and 11 big-rig trucks slammed into one another at 2:30 p.m. along a 1 1/2-mile stretch of the highway approximately 45 miles north of Coalinga.

Federal wildlife officials took the unprecedented step Friday of telling private companies that they will not be prosecuted for inadvertently harassing or even killing endangered California condors. In a decision swiftly condemned by conservationists and wildlife advocates, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said operators of Terra-Gen Power's wind farm in the Tehachapi Mountains will not be prosecuted if their turbines accidentally kill a condor during the expected 30-year life span of the project.

'Inherit the Wind' Where: Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, 24855 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu When: 7 p.m. Sunday Price: $15 in advance; $20 at the door Info: http://www.malibufilmsociety.org

Winds will continue to blow through much of Los Angeles County and surrounding areas, but the gusts should die down well before Christmas Eve, according to forecasters. High-wind warnings issued by the National Weather Service in the mountains and the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys were to have remained in effect until about 3 a.m. today. Less serious wind advisories were to remain in place until 9 p.m. in the Santa Monica Mountains and along the Los Angeles County coast.

Ann Rutherford, an actress whose small role as Scarlett's younger sister Carreen in the 1939 film "Gone With the Wind" was her most enduring, has died. She was 94. Rutherford, who also portrayed Mickey Rooney's teenage girlfriend in the Andy Hardy movies, died Monday evening at her home in Beverly Hills, said her close friend and fellow actress Anne Jeffreys. Rutherford had been in declining health with heart problems. As she became one of the last surviving cast members of "Gone With the Wind," Rutherford made a second career out of attending festivals featuring the beloved Civil War epic.

In bike racing and triathlons, aerodynamics can become an obsession. Because overcoming wind resistance is key, riders have for years shelled out big bucks for aero bike frames, aero handlebars, aero wheels and aero helmets — without giving a second thought to sticking a blunt, wind-dragging 3-inch-wide water bottle right in the middle of it all. Now, straight from the wind tunnel, the final piece of the puzzle has arrived: the aero hydration system....

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -  Large, wind-driven wildfires whipped across Nebraska and into South Dakota as Isaac's tropical rains swung east of the drought-parched hinterlands. Nebraska's sparsely populated northwest corner, abutting South Dakota, is the latest hot spot in a long firefighting season for the dry American West. On Friday, fire officials ordered residents along Highway 385 to evacuate as soon as possible. “Fire crews are making every effort to stop the fire and protect property in the fire area, but Mother Nature is not cooperating,” officials said in a statement.

Scott Dettorre was a young firefighter in 1993 when the infamous Green Meadow wildfire swept through, leaving a path of destruction from Ventura County to Malibu. The fire, which destroyed 53 homes and consumed 44,000 acres, caught firefighters unprepared and prompted officials to rethink the way they fight blazes driven by fierce Santa Ana winds. This week, Dettorre helped lead the battle against the Springs fire, which like the devastating 1993 blaze covered a wide swath of the county.

For three years, Brad Cross would rise at 5 a.m. and drive his grandson, Aaron, 53 miles from their home in Rialto to Santa Ana so Aaron could attend Mater Dei High School. He'd drive back to Rialto, then return to pick up Aaron after baseball practice. That's 212 miles a day, five days a week, and helps explain why his 2007 Nissan Sentra has passed 285,000 miles on its odometer. "I hated it, but we had committed to take Aaron to that school," Brad said. Aaron Cross' only sacrifice was listening to his grandfather's collection of oldies music.

The Southern California wildfire season got off to an ominous start Thursday with a massive brush fire in Ventura County that officials fear is just a preview of dangerous months ahead. The fire showed in dramatic fashion how the region's record dry conditions and lack of rainfall can quickly combine with fierce Santa Ana winds to produce widespread havoc. Firefighters said the dry winter and spring left the brush much more combustible than they've ever seen it at this time of year.

A fast-moving brush fire powered by Santa Ana winds raged out of control Wednesday in Riverside County, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes and creating a thick pall of smoke that stretched for miles and affected air quality in the region. The Summit fire, which had charred at least 2,950 acres near Banning, spread quickly after breaking out shortly after noon as hundreds of firefighters struggled to create containment lines and protect homes, officials said. The blaze destroyed at least one home and left one firefighter with minor injuries.

Authorities dealing with a huge explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, were preparing for a possible shift in the winds that could push toxic clouds toward areas not yet affected by the disaster, officials said early Thursday. At least three people were reportedly killed, dozens of others were injured and about six firefighters were missing after the massive blast and huge fireball tore through the West Fertilizer facility in West, about 20 miles north of Waco.  A huge plume  of smoke -- laden with toxic anhydrous ammonia --  was visible for miles and was being pushed by winds blowing from the south, officials said.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The course wouldn't be eaten alive again Friday, not by anyone, from the clammy outset and soggy middle to the wind-whipped end. Augusta National again had most everyone under control, and that included the one guy whose force-of-nature runs can turn the place inside out. So there stood Tiger Woods, brilliantly extricated from pine straw along the 15th fairway, staring directly at the pin and full command of the weekend....

Reporting from La Quinta -- All of a sudden it was windy, sunny and sandy at the Humana Challenge on Saturday. Gusts reported up to 50 mph blew a scoreboard into a lake on one course and made golf balls on the green at another course do a little dance without the aid of a putter before third-round play was suspended. Tournament leader Mark Wilson described seeing tree branches blowing past him on the La Quinta Country Club course and Zach Johnson said balls were moving around the green at the Nicklaus Private course.

California installed so many new wind turbines in 2012 that it vaulted into second place behind Texas in the amount of wind power it produces, according to a new annual report from the American Wind Energy Assn. California also ranks second in the U.S. in the amount of employment associated with the wind industry, with more than 7,000 jobs, the AWEA said. Nationally, wind energy production grew 28% in the U.S. last year in what AWEA describes as the industry's best year to date.

A brush fire driven by powerful winds slowed to a crawl overnight in Fillmore as gusts died down and gave firefighters a chance to regroup. "Today is our day to get strong work done," Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Mike Lindbery told The Times early Tuesday. "We have limited time before these predicted Santa Ana winds. " The blaze scorched through about 170 acres in the Ventura County town Monday evening and burned two structures. Lindbery said he could not immediately determine how much of the fire had been contained.