Firefighters are contemplating a change to the way they fight fires, reports the New York Times this morning, based on the type of furniture people have in their homes. Cutting a hole in the roof to let gas and smoke out used to be step one in all fires. But fire officials say nowadays, sofas are filled with plastic, rather than cotton, which burns much differently. In fact, plastic fires often look like they’re going out, but are actually waiting for a burst of oxygen.

San Jose has received a big prize from the federal government says the Mercury News this morning. The first-ever expansion of the U.S. Patent Office will be located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Of the 500,000 patents submitted each year, one-fourth come from California and one-third of those originate in Silicon Valley. Denver and Dallas will also receive branches.

Remember those two runners who ended up in a tie at the US Olympic trials last week in Oregon? Well, the Eugene Register-Guard says a winner will be declared tonight when Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh participate in a run-off. The victorious runner will claim the third spot on the US team and compete in London later this month. The race takes place at 8 p.m. EDT.

Daniel Berdichevsky is a professional decathlete, of sorts. The last time he performed was in 1993, when he set a Academic Decathlon record for highest individual score, an achievement which earned him the nickname DemiDec Dan and a rock star-like status.The LA Times says these days when Berdichevsky shows up at a national decathlon event he is swarmed with admirers—most of whom weren’t even born when he set his record.

Scientologists didn’t waste anytime, says the New York Post. As soon as Katie Holmes filed for divorce from Tom Cruise, the group allegedly started a campaign of intimidation to scare the actress. Over the weekend, NYPD investigated an SUV with Tennessee plates that was hanging outside Holmes’s Manhattan pad, full of “beefy armed men” who spent the day taking photos of the building.

You think it was hot yesterday? Well, at least you weren’t in Hill City, Kansas. The city has the unwelcomed distinction of being the country’s hottest this year, says the New York Times, with temperatures hitting 115° F last week. Residents say it was so hot tomatoes were cooing on the vine and people were burning themselves on metal tools left outside. Luckily, things have cool off this week—to around 100°.

It’s hard to think of Christmas when it’s 90 degrees outside, but it may serve you well to do so, says the Tampa Tribune. Airlines have just released their schedules through the end of the year, and industry experts say if you have your holiday travel plans set, buying now could save you hundreds of dollars.

The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article on how Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” became a Fourth of July classic. The “rip-roaring, bell-ringing, cannon-firing” piece was written to celebrate a Russian victory over Napoleon and is about “as all-American as the czar’s samovar.” You can thank a 1974 performance by the Boston Pops, which included actual cannons (and fireworks) for making the composition synonymous with Independence Day.