FIRE SPARKED BY SHOOTING EVACUATES HOMES IN UTAH: SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (AP) — Residents of at least 2,300 homes in northern Utah were being evacuated Friday after high winds kicked up a fire started by target shooters.

The roughly 4,000-acre blaze, or about 6.25 square miles, started Thursday near the Saratoga Springs landfill, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. High winds then helped fan the flames onto tinder-dry grasslands.

Authorities were initially worried as flames moved toward property owned by an explosives company. But as winds kicked up, the fire began moving toward Saratoga Springs, and crews began focusing on saving homes.

Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Teresa Rigby said the 2,300 houses evacuated include residents who voluntarily left, along with those ordered to leave.

MONSIGNOR CONVICTED FOR COVERING UP ABUSE CLAIMS: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.

Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

MAN BREAKS INTO VT. HOME, CUT SELF ON WINDOW, DIES: BURKE, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police say a man died after he broke into a home by smashing a glass window and was severely cut as he climbed through it.

Police responded to a report on Wednesday of a dead man on the kitchen floor of the unoccupied home in Burke.

They identified the man as 73-year-old Duwayne Masure, of Sutton.