Lauren Pierce, 15, was one of the "victims" — complete with fake blood — during an exercise Thursday in Los Angeles to prepare the area for a massive earthquake. Organizers said 5 million people signed up to take part.

Ric Francis / The Associated press

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WASHINGTON — A Transportation Department inquiry has concluded that Federal Aviation Administration officials covered up safety errors at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the second such admonishment in the past three years.

A spokeswoman for the department's inspector general said a report of the investigation's findings should be released today. She confirmed the general findings as outlined in documents released late Thursday by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

The report was requested by that office, which is responsible for protecting government whistle-blowers. It said that between November 2005 and July 2007, FAA managers intentionally misclassified 62 instances in which airplanes were allowed to fly closer than they were supposed to, attributing the errors to pilots or categorizing them as non-events to shift blame away from air traffic controllers.

SAN FRANCISCO — A California gay-rights activist filed a complaint Thursday accusing the Mormon church of failing to report the full value of the work it did to support the state's new ban on same-sex marriage.

Fred Karger, the founder of Californians Against Hate, submitted the complaint to the enforcement division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the agency that regulates campaign activity.

Karger alleges that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ran out-of-state phone banks and provided other services that must be reported as contributions to the Proposition 8 campaign.

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said the church has complied with all campaign finance laws and is confident an investigation would prove that.

LOS ANGELES — Authorities are investigating after letters containing white powder were sent to Mormon temples in Utah and California.

A temple that was the site of a recent gay-rights protest in Los Angeles was closed Thursday after receiving an envelope, which was being inspected.

Protests have targeted the Mormon church, which encouraged its members to fight the recently passed amendment banning gay marriage in California.

SANTA BARBARA — A brush fire destroyed an unknown number of homes Thursday in the tony enclave of Montecito, forcing residents to evacuate what has long been a hideaway for the rich and famous.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured or exactly how many homes had burned in the community of 10,000. Television images showed one destroyed house that appeared to have a turret. Flames had engulfed several multimillion-dollar homes, and widespread power outages were reported.

The fire broke out shortly before 6 p.m., and strong winds quickly spread the flames through 300 acres.

GRANTS PASS — An agreement signed Thursday lays the groundwork for removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River to help one of the West Coast's most beleaguered salmon runs and end a long environmental dispute.

Removal of the PacifiCorp dams is expected to begin by 2020.

The Bush administration had strongly backed farmers in 2001 after the Endangered Species Act forced the shut-off of irrigation water to thousands of acres of farms to leave enough for threatened salmon.

When the administration restored irrigation in 2002 over the objections of tribes and conservation groups, low water conditions in the Klamath River led to the deaths of 70,000 adult salmon returning to spawn.

HAMMOND — Two men took a 16-year-old girl from New York to Indiana and subjected her to sexual abuse, forced labor and beatings during a six-month ordeal, federal prosecutors said.

Yan Niang Soe, 22, and Johnathan A. Sullivan, 23, were charged with forced labor and trafficking with respect to forced labor, authorities said.

On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered them held in temporary custody until they are transferred to New York, which has jurisdiction.

Authorities say the two took the girl from Buffalo, N.Y., where she lives, to Indiana, where she was repeatedly raped and forced to cook and clean for one of the men and baby-sit for the other man's children.

MANSFIELD — Donors are moving quickly to replace items stolen from an ailing teenager while he was out attending a fundraiser in his honor.

A student group is purchasing another TV for 16-year-old Sam McCready, whose new wide-screen TV was taken during Saturday night's break-in at his family's home in Bellville. A chain store plans to replace the stolen Sony PlayStation.

Sam lost both kidneys to Goodpasture's syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease, and travels 60 miles to Akron three times a week for dialysis.

The family has struggled with medical expenses as the boy has gone through repeated hospitalizations and chemotherapy. He is hoping to eventually be well enough for a kidney transplant.

HUNTSVILLE — Texas executed a former New York City hairstylist with a long criminal record Thursday for the robbery, rape and murder of an Army medic at her apartment near Fort Hood.

"From Allah he came and from Allah he shall return," Denard Manns said from the death chamber gurney.

Manns, 42, uttered what appeared to be a brief prayer and was pronounced dead 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow.

Manns was convicted of raping and murdering 26-year-old Michelle Robson in 1998. The former mural painter from New York City had moved to Texas that year after being paroled after serving nearly six years in prison for armed robbery.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — If all goes as planned, a team of intrepid space plumbers and lube-job specialists will lift off on today for a visit to the International Space Station.

Like all recent missions, this trip is mainly devoted to completing the $100 billion orbiting laboratory. The equipment heading skyward on the shuttle Endeavour is part of NASA's plan to double the station's crew size to six next year.

Included in the payload are a second toilet and new sleep quarters, and the first-ever station refrigerator for cold drinks.

But what is getting the most attention is a system the astronauts will install that recycles and purifies the water used on the station, the kind of technology necessary for long-term outposts on the moon or Mars