NATION IN BRIEF: Bonfire cause of wild blaze

The Santa Barbara County, Calif., sheriff on Tuesday said a weekend wildfire that destroyed 210 homes was caused accidentally by a bonfire built by a group of young adults. Sheriff Bill Brown said the 10 young people thought they had put out the bonfire before they left it, but the destructive wildfire erupted about 13 hours later. An anonymous tip led to the discovery. The Santa Barbara fire injured more than two dozen people, including a Montecito couple still hospitalized with critical burns suffered as they fled their home.

New witness points to suspect in Aruba

A new witness has come forward in the 2005 disappearance of Mountain Brook, Ala., teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, and prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking more evidence against the only remaining suspect. A woman told police this month that Joran van der Sloot confessed to her years ago that he was involved in Holloway’s disappearance, according to Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the Aruba Prosecutors’ Office. But the Dutch Caribbean island’s chief prosecutor said authorities still lack proof they need to convict Van der Sloot.

Pickens’ wife plans vast horse refuge

The wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday she will create a refuge for wild horses, after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced it was considering euthanizing some of the animals to protect the herd, the range and other foraging animals. Madeleine Pickens proposed purchasing around 1 million acres to serve as a refuge for horses that otherwise might be killed.

Bond won’t remain NAACP chairman

Veteran civil rights activist Julian Bond will not seek another term as chairman of the NAACP’s national board, saying the time is right to “let a new generation of leaders” take over the century-old organization. Bond, 68, has served as chairman since 1998. He announced Tuesday that his current one-year chairman’s term, which expires in February, will be his last, although he plans to remain on the board.

Court upholds law on druggist privacy

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation law that restricts drug company access to some information about doctors’ prescription-writing habits. The ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston overturned a lower court decision that said the confidentiality law unconstitutionally infringed on the free-speech rights of companies that collect, analyze and sell medical data.

Payment to include illegal workers

The former owners of a New Bedford, Mass., leather goods factory raided last year by immigration agents will pay $850,000 to workers —- including illegal immigrants —- to settle a lawsuit claiming the company violated laws on overtime. “This agreement should send a message to other companies that they have to follow labor laws regardless of workers’ immigration status,” said Audrey Richardson, an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, which filed the lawsuit.

Oral Roberts plans layoffs after payoff

Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., will lay off about 100 employees, days after it agreed to a near-$450,000 separation agreement with its former president who resigned amid a spending scandal. The layoffs represent roughly 10 percent of the university’s work force, but the school did not specify which departments would be targeted. The school, with a budget this fiscal year of about $91.8 million, is more than $17 million in debt.

21 kids taken from accused preacher

Arkansas authorities have taken into protective custody 21 children associated with the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries based on allegations of neglect and physical abuse. Three children were seized Tuesday at the Texarkana courthouse, the site of custody hearings this week for six girls taken during a September raid of the evangelist’s compound in Fouke. Police took the other 18 children from two vans during a traffic stop. The 74-year-old Alamo has pleaded not guilty to two federal counts of transporting a juvenile across state lines for sex.