The long-anticipated drunk driving trial of Matt Roloff, television star of TLC’s “Little People, Big World”, began Tuesday in a Washington County, Oregon, Circuit Court with jury selection, opening statements, and testimony by the arresting deputy.   Matt Roloff's mug shot from his 2007 DUII arrest - WCSO photo Defense attorney Robert Thuemmel gave an opening statement, and testimony was heard from the arresting officer, Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen Pastori.  According to an earlier Sheriff’s office ... [full story]

Massive snow slides have closed U.S. 20 near Santiam Junction for the third time in less than 24 hours, at times trapping vehicles in snow 12-15 feet deep.   Massive snow slides have prompted intermittent closures of US 20 near Santiam Junction during the past 2 days - OSP photo Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) reported that a slide yesterday trapped three vehicles, although no injuries were reported. Two more slides reported late Tuesday and early Wednesday covered ... [full story]

Even though an injured skier’s cell phone battery had gone dead, its GPS chip enabled rescuers to target the Bend, Oregon man’s location which led to his eventual rescue from the heavily-forested terrain Tuesday afternoon, deputies reported.  Ian Minsker, 28, was able to call 911 about 11:30 a.m. before his phone’s battery died, and reported that after being dropped off at the top of Paulina Peak earlier in the morning, he injured his leg and ... [full story]

ANCHORAGE, Ala. -- Alaska state Sen. John Cowdery's name has popped up repeatedly in an oil-pipeline corruption scandal, though he hasn't been charged with any crime.The FBI searched Cowdery's and five other legislators' offices in 2006 and Cowdery was named in testimony by a federal informant as someone bribed in the Veco scandal, The Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News said.Cowdery, R-Anchorage, also has a personal relationship with the oilfield services contractor company's former chief executive, Bill ... [full story]

LONDON -- A British Airways worker banned from wearing a small cross on a necklace has lost her case claiming religious discrimination.Nadia Eweida, 56, of London, a check-in worker, claimed discrimination because other faiths were allowed to wear symbols, including Muslim hijabs and Sikh bangles, London's The Independent said.The airline later changed its policy to allow employees to wear religious symbols. Eweida then lost her discrimination case before a British tribunal, the paper said."I'm very ... [full story]

PARIS, Ill., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A wrongfully convicted Illinois man walked arm-in-arm from prison with his grown daughter after 21 years behind bars.Herb Whitlock left the Edgar County Jail in Paris, Ill., Tuesday, after exoneration in the 1986 stabbing deaths of newlyweds Karen and Dyke Rhoads, The Chicago Tribune said."It's a long time coming," defense attorney Richard Kling told the paper. "It took 21 years too long. Herb is innocent."Among those celebrating his release ... [full story]

PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy called his relationship to pop singer Carla Bruni serious, but refused to talk about marriage."There's a strong chance you'll learn about it after it's already happened," Sarkozy said at a Tuesday news conference in Paris, urging journalists to feel free to ignore his personal life, The New York Times said.In the two-hour press conference, Sarkozy also pledged to move on economic and educational reforms, talked about banning genetically modified ... [full story]

WARSAW, Poland -- The Russian deputy foreign minister traveled to Poland to discuss the potential deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe.The visit by Sergei Kislyak was at the invitation of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said Saturday there were no guarantees of the missile shield's installment as he saw no direct threat emerging from Iran -- an argument Washington makes in supporting the missile system.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said following ... [full story]

LONDON -- The father of missing British girl Madeleine McCann denied that the family was brokering a film deal to help pay for search costs."We can categorically deny that we are considering a movie about Madeleine's disappearance," Gerry McCann wrote Tuesday on his blog on the "Find Madeleine" Web site. "This is simply untrue."Kate and Gerry McCann reportedly were negotiating with IMG, the world's largest entertainment agency, for film rights to the story of their ... [full story]

BREA, Calif. -- A California prosecutor said there isn't enough evidence to charge a junior high teacher accused of threatening to kill a student.Brian Christopher Wilcher, 38, who teaches at Brea Junior High School, in Brea, Calif., allegedly told a possibly disruptive seventh-grader that next semester, he'd better find another teacher, "because if you're in my class I'm going to kill you," a police spokesman told the Los Angeles Times.Wilcher was arrested the next day ... [full story]