Wildland: Several wildfires along Colorado’s front range have destroyed dozens of homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. Enormous forest homes burned to the ground outside Colorado Springs in an area not far from where fire burned 346 homes last year. The fires are expected to continue burning today.

National: The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the Obama administration to stop it from collecting the telephone records of American citizens. This follows revelations that the National Security Agency is scooping up electronic records. The suit says the data gives the government information about the politics, religion, personal and public affiliations of ordinary citizens. A CBS News poll says nearly 60% of Americans believe it’s wrong for the government to collect phone records. But nearly 75% said they approve of the government tracing phone records of foreigners suspected of terrorism.

• Former White House chief of staff William Daley, sometimes described as the smartest of the Chicago political family, said he’s exploring a run for governor of Illinois. He’s the brother of Richard M., who was mayor of Chicago for 22 years, and the son of Richard. J., mayor for 21 years.

Holland on the Hudson: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed a $20 billion plan to protect the city from rising seawaters and storm surges. He would build a network of levees, berms and floodwalls along the city’s 520 miles of coastline. Bloomberg admitted it’s expensive, but Hurricane Sand caused $19 billion worth of damage to New York.

World: The Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb set off outside the Afghan Supreme Court building in Kabul. Seventeen people were killed and 39 injured.

• A 116-year-old man believed to be the world’s oldest person died outside Kyoto, Japan. He took the title after the death of an Iowa woman.

Sports: The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks clashed in two bench-clearing brawls last night after errant pitches hit batters. The Dodgers won the game 5-3, but the fights were a draw.

• The New England Patriots’ monosyllabic football coach Bill Belichick gave the following answers as to why he signed fired Jets player Tim Tebow to be a backup quarterback: “Try to do what’s best for the team”; “The position”; “We’ll see, I don’t know’’; “No” and, “I think I’ve covered it.”

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