A 41-year old Springfield man was arrested for the alleged theft of a winning $50,000 scratch-it ticket from the victim at a restaurant where he worked, Oregon State Police (OSP) Lottery Security Section detectives reported Monday.   Charles Dizick - MCJ photo Troopers were contacted by the victim, a 37-year old Kooskia, Idaho resident, on December 26 when she reported the theft of the winning Oregon Lottery ticket.  The victim said she was dining with her son ... [full story]

Salem Fire Department paramedics and firefighters praised the efforts of three citizens who stepped up to help accident victims in one of several crashes that occurred Monday morning due to icy road conditions. At about 8:45 a.m., January 7, 911 dispatch received a report of a rollover crash at the intersection of Skyline Road and Cole Road S., a news release stated. When fire personnel arrived on scene, they found an SUV on its side ... [full story]

A fourteen-year-old girl sustained life threatening head injuries in an early morning vehicle crash on Portland Road NE on the Interstate-5 overpass when the child’s mother lost control of her SUV on an icy overpass causing it to slide into oncoming traffic where it was struck by a pickup, Salem police reported. Alma Garcia-Martinez was not wearing a seatbelt as a rear-seat passenger in a 2003 Ford Explorer traveling north on Portland Road about 6:30 ... [full story]

For the first time since mid-2004, the Oregon Health Plan is preparing to accept new enrollees for its Standard benefit package. The Standard benefit package serves low-income Oregon adults ages 19 to 65 who do not qualify for traditional Medicaid but earn less than the federal poverty level ($20,650 annually for a family of four). Beginning Jan. 28 and lasting through Feb. 29, Oregonians who believe they might qualify for OHP-Standard may put their names ... [full story]

The Oregon State Hospital is just one step away from receiving the gold standard seal of approval for quality and safety for U.S. hospitals. The Joint Commission, which is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care, conducted an unannounced survey in August 2006 and identified several areas where OSH needed to make improvements. OSH developed a corrective plan to address issues identified by the commission, including the need for increased hand-washing when ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George Bush on Tuesday expressed strong support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union following a meeting with his Turkish counterpart.Bush and Turkish President Abdullah Gul met in the Oval Office and then spoke with reporters."I strongly believe that Europe will benefit with Turkey as a member of the European Union," Bush said. He also said Turkey is an example to the world that democracy can coexist "with a great ... [full story]

CONCORD, N.H. -- A record number of New Hampshire voters kicked off the presidential primary season Tuesday, with Barack Obama and John McCain the favorites.The Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader said 500,000 Granite State residents -- more than half the state population -- were expected to cast ballots in the first presidential sweepstakes without an incumbent or sitting vice president in the mix in years. The previous high turnout was 396,000 in 1992.Polls opened at 6 a.m. ... [full story]

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgarian prosecutors said they opened an inquiry into a video displayed on the Internet allegedly showing orphans engaged in sex and violence.Andrey Chervenyakov, spokesman for the prosecution office in Burgas, on the Black Sea coast, told reporters Tuesday that prosecutors would try to determine who granted permission to filmmakers to shoot the video, being used as a trailer of a Bulgarian movie, the Bulgarian news agency SNA reported.The video, apparently recorded in ... [full story]

BANGKOK -- The wife of ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra has returned from exile to fight corruption charges in Thailand where a pro-Thaksin party has won elections.Pojamarn Shinawatra was taken into custody Monday after arriving in Bangkok from Hong Kong, the Financial Times reported.Her exiled husband remains in Hong Kong from where he is studying the situation in Thailand since the People's Power Party, a new version of his now defunct party, won a major victory ... [full story]

MALE, Maldives -- Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom escaped a stabbing attack Tuesday, thanks to a Boy Scout who reportedly pinned down the attacker.A 20-year-old man wielding a knife jumped out and tried to stab Gayoom in the stomach on an atoll of the predominantly Muslim island nation, the Press Trust of India reported.Mohamed Jaisham, a 15-year-old Boy Scout, wrestled the attacker to the ground, the report said quoting officials."The president escaped this serious attack ... [full story]