NATIONAL BRIEFS

WASHINGTON: House OKs continued war

The House endorsed the continued war in Afghanistan on Thursday despite acknowledgment from Republicans and Democrats that the American people are war-weary after more than a decade of conflict. Lawmakers rejected an amendment that would have swiftly ended combat operations by limiting funds only to the "safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops and military contractors from Afghanistan."

COLORADO: Wildfire near Fort Collins

Hundreds of firefighters worked to combat a growing blaze scorching terrain around a scenic canyon in northern Colorado. U.S. Forest Service officials said the blaze about 20 miles northwest of Fort Collins grew from about 1.5 square miles to more than 11 square miles Thursday amid erratic winds gusts.

KENTUCKY: 3 killed in nearby shootings

Three people were killed Thursday in a chaotic shooting scene in a crime-ridden section of Louisville. Two men -- Tyson Mimms, 24 and Craig Bland Jr., 22 -- were killed in the city's Russell neighborhood. As police investigated, shots rang out about four houses down. Makeba Lee, 24, was killed after she was shot by a woman who had gotten into an argument with her about the incident, police said.

MICHIGAN: It tasted like rubber

A teen finishing off an Arby's roast beef sandwich chomped down on part of an employee's severed finger. Something tough tasted like rubber, he said, so he spit it out. Ryan Hart, 14, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot that once he got a good look at it, he knew right away what had been in his junior roast beef sandwich. The employee apparently cut her finger on a meat slicer and left her station without immediately telling anyone, a health official said.