Thousands demand Army shutter school

More than 10,000 people demonstrated outside a big U.S. Army base Sunday to demand the closure of a defense-department training school they say promotes torture and murder in Latin America.

Protesters outside the Fort Benning Army base in Georgia say the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation teaches security personnel from Latin American countries to use repressive tactics and graduates have overthrown legitimate governments, citing a coup against Chile President Salvador Allende in 1973 as an example.

But a spokesman for the institute said promoting democracy was at the core of its mission.

Protester Bob Goodman of the Georgia Coalition for Peace and Justice said 20,000 people attended the 18th annual protest. Monica Manganaro, a spokeswoman for Fort Benning, said there were 11,200 demonstrators and 11 people were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

Los Angeles

Californians brace for more dry winds

Officials in Southern California began deploying firefighting crews and equipment Sunday as meteorologists predicted a return of the dry winds that stoked last month's devastating brush blazes.

The preparations came after criticism that the state did not effectively marshal available air resources at the start of last month's blazes, which consumed 780 square miles, killed 10 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

State fire officials said Sunday that 28 fixed-wing aircraft — 13 more aircraft than normal for this time of year — would be in place to extinguish any flames early this week. One hundred fire engines and 10 water tenders also were being staged in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, state officials said.

U.S. military officials, meanwhile, said they were deploying four C-130 aircraft with firefighting capabilities northwest of Los Angeles.

Seattle Times news services