Call it a happy ending to a long -- a really, really long -- Hollywood epic.

Maya Bakersfield 16 Cinemas has been a coming attraction for nearly a decade, but the movie theater will finally open to the public July 15, according to Larry Porricelli, vice president of sales and marketing.

In another example of the evolution of fire management strategies in the nation's forests, the U.S. Forest Service is allowing the Shotgun Fire to burn eastward, while at the same time, attempting to block the fire's westward expansion.

Located in the Golden Trout Wilderness northeast of Porterville where Shotgun Creek flows into the Little Kern River, the Shotgun Fire has grown to 412 acres and is expected to double again in area by the end of the holiday weekend, the U.S. Forest Service said in a release Friday.

Officers from several law enforcement agencies will be out in force during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, cracking down on impaired and drunken drivers, the Kern Avoid DUI Campaign Task Force reported Friday in a news release.

The holiday enforcement push will include a DUI checkpoint that will operate from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. in an undisclosed location in greater Bakersfield.

Firefighters successfully battled five separate grass fires on both sides of Highway 99 Friday afternoon.

While the blazes were separate, they all occurred between Airport Drive and Olive Drive at close to the same time, according to a release from the Kern County Fire Department.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has announced that she will resign as governor of Alaska and will not seek a second term, according to reports from CBS News and other news outlets.

Palin's decision is thought to open the door for a run for the presidency in 2012.