Investigators suspect an enormous fire burning at a Spokane, Wash., fuel distribution center was arson, Fire Chief Bobby Williams said. The blaze, which started Monday at Whitley Fuel, destroyed buildings and sent thousands of gallons of petroleum products into storm sewers and the Spokane River. "We have no idea how much oil escaped," said Jani Gilbert, a state Department of Ecology spokeswoman.

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FRESNO — State health officials warned consumers Tuesday against eating a type of tamarind-flavored Mexican candy produced under the name de la Rosa Pulparindo that was found to contain dangerous levels of lead.

The "Extra Hot and Salted" variety of the Pulparindo candy, wrapped in red paper and sold in 10-ounce boxes, could pose health concerns, according to the California Department of Public Health.

SAN FRANCISCO — Sporadic power failures darkened a broad swath of downtown Tuesday afternoon, affecting an area that houses some of the world's most popular Internet companies and their computer servers requiring a steady supply of electricity. About 51,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco and south of the city experienced the on-again, off-again series of outages at the height of the failure, which started around 2 p.m. and lasted until 5, Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman Darlene Chiu said.

The failures, affecting much of SoMa, the city's South of Market section, was eventually traced to several power surges the system experienced as PG&E tried to keep electricity flowing through a substation where the transmission line breakers had failed, Chiu said.

WASHINGTON — A now-famous pair of pants was the star attraction at a fundraiser Tuesday meant to help pay the bills of a dry-cleaning couple caught in a legal stitch.

The $54 million pants, as they've come to be known, were the subject of a widely mocked lawsuit that garnered international attention. Now, they have their own security guard.

Jin Nam Chung and Soo Chung, the owners of Custom Cleaners, successfully defended themselves from the $54 million suit, which originally demanded $67 million, but they now owe about $100,000 in legal costs.

BOULDER — The University of Colorado's governing board on Tuesday voted 8-1 to fire a professor whose essay mentioning some Sept. 11 victims as similar to Nazi figure Adolf Eichmann provoked national outrage and led to an investigation of research misconduct.

Ward Churchill had vowed to sue if the Board of Regents took action against him. "New game, new game," he said after the vote. Three faculty committees had accused Churchill of plagiarism, falsification and other misconduct in other research.