When Americans have to chose between putting gas in their cars or buying groceries for their families, taking an elaborate vacation this 4th of July isn't a top priority.

Stockton's San Joaquin Delta College took an unusual step last year -- now, it's paid off with some national distinction.

For boaters it's a three-day holiday weekend with sunny weather.  But not all are celebrating.

Enforcing the new law, Sacramento City and Metropolitan firefighters are loaning life vests to people on the American River this holiday weekend.

From fun runs to parades to fireworks, valley residents celebrate the nation's 232nd birthday. (See slide show)

Gov. Schwarzenegger Friday ordered an additional 200 California National Guard soldiers to the fire lines, supplementing more than 19,000 firefighters.

AP - A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes.

AP - The nation's largest fireworks display exploded in a spectrum of color over the East River, temporarily stealing the spotlight from New York's world-famous skyline and helping to create a brilliant end to a day of July Fourth celebrations nationwide.

AP - "Compromise, hell!" Jesse Helms screamed in a 1959 editorial that captured what would become the legacy of his Senate career and his place in the conservative movement.

AP - Former Sen. Jesse Helms, an unyielding champion of the conservative movement who spent three combative and sometimes caustic decades in Congress, where he relished his battles against liberals, Communists and occasionally a fellow Republican, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86.

AP - The National Park Service is considering reopening Lady Liberty's crown for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to documents a congressman released on July Fourth.

AP - The call girl involved in a scandal that brought down New York's former governor has dropped a lawsuit claiming "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis exploited her image and name on the Internet.

AP - Joey Chestnut achieved frankfurter immortality Friday, outdueling his celebrated Japanese rival in an epic hot-dog eating contest that pushed both of the gluttonous gladiators to the brink.

AP - Fuel prices are soaring and credit markets tightening, but the super-rich are still lining up to pay tens of millions of dollars for mega yachts.

AP - Arlan Ettinger will never forget the response he got when he took one of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks' hats to a meeting at the Apollo Theater in New York.

AP - Wish "Yankee Doodle" a happy 250th birthday. Maybe.

AP - Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.

AP - At least one person fired a gun into a crowd in a street early Friday, killing four people and sending panicked revelers running for cover, police said.

AP - Some quotes of Jesse Helms, who died on the Fourth of July at age 86: