MEL MELCON / Los Angeles Times In the Porter Ranch area yesterday, a plume of smoke rose from a fire fueled by strong Santa Ana winds.

LOS ANGELES – Strong Santa Ana winds sent two wildfires surging into neighborhoods ringing the San Fernando Valley yesterday, killing a homeless man, destroying homes and triggering frantic evacuations. Another person died in a freeway crash as fire brought traffic to a halt.

• Fire roars across base
• Valley residents wait to flee fire until it's nearly too late

WASHINGTON – Buoyed by the biggest intervention in the U.S. banking system since the Depression, and similar dramatic moves in Europe, stock markets around the world staged one of their most powerful one-day rallies in history yesterday. The Treasury Department, in its boldest move yet, is expected to announce a plan today to invest up to $250 billion in banks, officials said.

• Federal intervention shifts clout away from Wall Street

2008 VOTE: PRESIDENT

TOLEDO, Ohio – Sen. Barack Obama advocated an immediate and expensive economic assistance package yesterday while Sen. John McCain readied a set of specific proposals of his own, as the presidential candidates entered a three-week sprint toward an election that appears certain to turn on fixing the nation's faltering economy.

Local schools are enrolling a growing number of students who don't speak English – students who typically fare poorly on standardized tests – at a time when the federal No Child Left Behind Act calls for unprecedented test score gains.