Wildfires destroy 2 towns in Texas

Grass fires raged across the dry southern prairie Sunday, burning homes in Oklahoma City, destroying two small towns in Texas, and creating patchworks of flames as gusts spread burning embers.

Dozens of fires burned across the dry Oklahoma landscape. In Texas, more than 20 fires sprang up, including a 22,400-acre blaze that threatened 200 homes near Carbon, west of Dallas.

Crews flying over northern and western Texas to assess the damage Sunday reported the tiny communities of Ringgold and Kokomo, together home to about 125 people, had essentially been wiped out by flames.

In New Mexico, two dozen elderly residents were moved out of a nursing home in Hobbs, and a casino and community college in the town of 29,000 were evacuated.

Avalanche kills 2 snowmobilers

A New Year's Day avalanche killed two men who were snowmobiling near Rocky Mountain National Park, and a snowshoer was missing and presumed dead after another avalanche in Utah, officials said.

A blizzard had been moving through the Colorado mountains near Trap Lake where the two snowmobilers were caught in the avalanche Sunday morning, said Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella. The two men were confirmed dead a couple of hours after the slide. Their identities were not released.

In Utah, dangerous conditions forced rescue teams to hold off resuming their search for a snowshoer missing after an avalanche Saturday afternoon in Provo Canyon.

Crystal Cathedral pastor steps down

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller handed over the leadership of the Crystal Cathedral on Sunday to his only son, ending half a century as pastor of a church he started in a drive-in movie theater in Orange County, Calif., and built into a worldwide ministry.

Robert A. Schuller, 51, will succeed his father as senior pastor Jan. 22. He also will take over the popular "Hour of Power" religious broadcast seen around the world.

The Crystal Cathedral is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America and is its largest church, with a congregation of more than 10,000.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times