The plight of the polar bear, together with a lawsuit, has forced an admission from the Bush administration: Global warming is real. The reality-adverse administration has had to come to grips with a hard fact: The bears' icy habitat is melting - and due to climate change. The Interior Department is proposing to declare the bears a threatened species. This acknowledgment of global warming ought to be the first step of a more aggressive approach ... [full story]

Two polar bears float, facing each other, on small ice floes. One says: 'How's that New Year's resolution coming?' The other answers: 'Still looking for new habitat ...' Editorial cartoon by Bruce Beattie. [full story]

FBI Agents and Beaverton Police Detectives arrested a volunteer firefighter from Tualatin Dec. 28 for attempted rape and attempted sex abuse when he allegedly attempted to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl he had been chatting with in an online chat room. Justin Wayne Traweek, 24, was taken into custody without incident about 11:30 a.m. Thursday at a Tualatin grocery store.  He was released pending an appearance in Washington County Circuit Court in ... [full story]

A strong storm is expected to blow into the Bend and Central Oregon areas this afternoon, with snow accumulations of 5-to-9 inches overnight, the National Weather Service has warned. A winter storm warning is in effect from 4 p.m. this afternoon to noon Saturday, with light to moderate snow developing later this afternoon and becoming heavier at times tonight. Treacherous driving conditions caused by blowing and drifting snow are possible with gusty winds of 15-25 ... [full story]

Study is part of a national consortium to find the best methods for resuscitation outcomes at the site of injury A study to determine whether a different type of resuscitation fluid than normal saline can improve survival rates in severely injured people will begin in the Portland metropolitan area this month. The study is the first as part of OHSU's partnership in the National Institutes of Health-funded Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC).The study was delayed so all ... [full story]

West Coast Representatives, Senators Urge House and Senate to Fund Disaster Aid for Salmon Fishers U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio and several other representatives and Senators yesterday introduced legislation in the House and Senate that would provide $60.4 million in disaster aid for the commercial salmon fishers and communities hard hit by the virtual closure of the coastal salmon fishing season. They also sent a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting their assistance in getting ... [full story]

New tel­e­scope ob­ser­va­tions have bol­stered a claim that as­tro­no­mers have seen the uni­verse’s first lu­mi­nous ob­ject­s—pos­sib­ly gar­gan­tu­an stars, re­search­ers say.If the find­ings prove cor­rect, sci­en­tists add, they might fit with a the­o­ry that such stars seeded the growth of the big­gest, so-called su­per­mas­sive, black holes. Black holes are ob­jects so heavy and com­pact that their grav­i­ty sucks in eve­ry­thing near­by, in­clud­ing light.   The bot­tom pan­el is an im­age from NASA's Spitzer Space Tel­e­scope, of stars ... [full story]

DeFazio, Walden's bipartisan effort introduced bill to reauthorize successful "county payments" program U.S. Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) yesterday announced the introduction of H.R. 17, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007, legislation that would reauthorize the successful "county payments" law for seven more years.Of Oregon’s 36 counties, 32 received payments through the program totaling over $273 million last year.  Because of the large amount of timber historically harvested ... [full story]

University of Oregon students have qualified for more than $600,000 this fall under two new federal student aid programs. With thoughtful planning, even more students may be able to benefit, according to Jim Gilmour, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships. So far this year, 548 students have received more than $615,000 in Academic Competitiveness (ACG) and Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grants. The programs are distinctive because ... [full story]

As a leader in the fight to expand stem cell research, Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) called on the 110th Congress to swiftly pass legislation to expand the number of stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research.  Senator Smith is an original co-sponsor of the measure, which was introduced recently in the United States Senate.  “The start of another Congress affords us the opportunity to re-evaluate stem cell legislation outside of the political cloud ... [full story]