FRITCH, Texas. (AP) — The small town of Fritch is again picking through the rubble of a Texas wildfire, a decade after another destructive blaze burned hundreds of homes and left deep scars in the Panhandle community. Residents in and around Fritch and other rural towns fled for safety Tuesday afternoon as high winds whipped the flames into residential areas and through cattle ranches.

A Pacific storm packing powerful winds and heavy snow is shaping up to be the strongest of the season, forecasters say, as it pushes toward California with potential blizzard conditions in the Sierra and up to 10 feet of snow in the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the weekend.

CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of small towns and cattle ranches.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo era was still working Wednesday but not for long, company officials said. Intuitive Machines, the company that built the lander, released new photos that showed at least one broken leg on the six-legged spacecraft. The lander came in too fast, skidded and tumbled over as it touched down near the moon's south pole last Thursday, hampering communications and power.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A baby pig that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was “pardoned” Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker. The weeks-old little pink critter — dubbed Earl “Piglet” Long, a play on the name of the former 45th governor of Louisiana — was ceremoniously pardoned by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser on the Louisiana Capitol steps.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November. McConnell, who turned 82 last week, announced his decision Wednesday in the well of the Senate, a place where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front row seat afforded the party leaders.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a challenge to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that replaces a rifle’s stock, the part that rests against the shoulder. They harness the gun’s recoil energy so that the trigger bumps against the shooter's stationary finger, allowing the gun to fire rapidly.

CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — Rapidly moving Texas wildfires Tuesday prompted evacuation orders in small towns and shut down a nuclear facility as strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fueled the blaze in the state's rural Panhandle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army is slashing the size of its force by about 24,000, or almost 5%, and restructuring to be better able to fight the next major war, as the service struggles with recruiting shortfalls that made it impossible to bring in enough soldiers to fill all the jobs.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A moon lander that ended up on its side managed to beam back more pictures, with only hours remaining before it dies. Intuitive Machines posted new photos of the moon’s unexplored south polar region Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In California, a high school teacher complains that students watch Netflix on their phones during class. In Maryland, a chemistry teacher says students use gambling apps to place bets during the school day. Around the country, educators say students routinely send Snapchat messages in class, listen to music and shop online, among countless other examples of how smartphones distract from teaching and learning.

HOUSTON (AP) — The gunfire that shattered the calm at pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston only lasted about four minutes. But surveillance video and police body camera footage released Monday, more than two weeks after the Feb. 11 shooting at Lakewood Church, showed the terror of the brief attack: Parishioners scattering, searching for safety in rooms and hallways. Officers drawing guns and taking cover behind walls. And the shooter's 7-year-old son covering his ears during the chaos, and moments later laying on the floor after being shot and wounded.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A warm front swept springlike weather across a large swath of the country Sunday in what is usually one of the coldest months of the year, sending people out of their homes to enjoy the rare winter respite but also bringing increased wildfire danger.

For nearly 50 years, Idaho's prison staffers have been serving Thomas Eugene Creech three meals a day, checking on him during rounds and taking him to medical appointments.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral mass Saturday for a Kansas City-area DJ who was killed when she was shot during a celebration of the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory. Lisa Lopez-Galvan was one of about two dozen people who were shot when gunfire erupted Feb. 14 outside the city’s Union Station. She was remembered during the 90-minute service as a loving wife and mother whose smile could light up a room and who saw each day as a chance for excitement and laughter.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private U.S. lunar lander tipped over at touchdown and ended up on its side near the moon’s south pole, hampering communications, company officials said Friday. Intuitive Machines initially believed its six-footed lander, Odysseus, was upright after Thursday's touchdown. But CEO Steve Altemus said Friday the craft “caught a foot in the surface," falling onto its side and, quite possibly, leaning against a rock. He said it was coming in too fast and may have snapped a leg.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private lander on Thursday made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years, but managed just a weak signal back as flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact. Despite the spotty communication, Intuitive Machines, the company that built and managed the craft, confirmed that it had landed. There was no immediate word from the company on the condition — or even the exact location — of the lander. The company ended its live webcast soon after confirming a touchdown.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Four foreign nationals were arrested and charged Thursday with transporting suspected Iranian-made weapons on a vessel intercepted by U.S. naval forces in the Arabian Sea last month. Two Navy SEALs died during the mission.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — China plans to send a new pair of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo, renewing its longstanding gesture of friendship toward the United States after a recalling nearly all the iconic bears on loan to U.S. zoos as relations soured between the two nations.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private U.S. lunar lander reached the moon and eased into a low orbit Wednesday, a day before it will attempt an even greater feat — landing on the gray, dusty surface. A smooth touchdown would put the U.S. back in business on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo program in 1972. The company, if successful, also would become the first private outfit to ace a moon landing.

NEW YORK (AP) — Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives.

SEATTLE (AP) — Photographer Matt McDonald had lived on Puget Sound for years, but had never seen a whale, so he was elated when he spotted a giant marine mammal just off Seattle's waterfront one evening.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday that two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade. Both adults are charged with second-degree murder and other charges. They have been hospitalized since the shooting, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments can be considered children under state law. The decision, issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled Friday that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — One woman was killed and five more were wounded when an argument escalated to gunfire at a Waffle House restaurant in Indianapolis early Monday, police said. Officers responded to a report of a shooting at the restaurant around 12:30 a.m., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.