TOLLGATE, Ore. -- Three adults and four cub scouts were injured Saturday morning in a two-vehicle crash when a pickup fishtailed on an icy section of Highway 204 in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon, crossed the centerline, and was struck by another pickup, police reported.   Seven people, including four 12-year-old cub scouts from Kennewick, were injured when a pickup fishtailed on an icy section of Highway 204 in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon Saturday morning - OSP ... [full story]

A 48-year old Redmond, Oregon driver was killed and his four passengers – including three children – were injured in a multi-vehicle crash on icy Highway 20 east of Santiam Junction on Saturday morning, police reported.   One man was killed and four others injuried in a crash on Highway 20 east of Santiam Junction on Saturday morning - OSP photo  Joseph Bowdin, 48, lost control of his Ford Bronco on an icy section of the westbound ... [full story]

COOS BAY, Ore. -- Police report that the death of a 46-year old Coos Bay man was likely a suicide. His body was discovered Friday lying on boulders at the base of a 100-foot waterfall in Golden & Silver Falls State Natural Area after park employees reported an abandoned vehicle. Dale Martin Thomas, 46, had been reported missing by family members earlier in the week, and missed a court appearance on a misdemeanor charge on ... [full story]

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A Springfield, Oregon man was killed early Saturday when he lost control and crashed his motorcycle as he fled from a deputy attempting a traffic stop for speeding in northeast Corvallis. According to a Benton County Sheriff’s Office news release, a deputy observed Jesse Robert Smith speeding just before 1 a.m., Saturday, February 16, but Smith failed to stop and continued driving his motorcycle at a high rate of speed. While rounding ... [full story]

Oregon State Police and the Marion County Homicide- Assault Response Team are continuing an investigation into the death, now ruled a homicide, of an inmate found deceased in his cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem on Thursday morning. An autopsy performed on Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, has determined the cause of death -- homicide by blunt force trauma, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office announced. Barrantes-Vasquez was serving time for a 2003 second-degree assault conviction in Multonomah County, ... [full story]

LONDON - The British military is being shortchanged by the government, a senior defense official said.The unidentified official said the British military is headed for a "train crash" because the government is failing to appropriate money for new equipment, The Sunday Times of London reported.He reportedly told Defense Ministry officials that the government's defense spending has sunk to a level where buying even crucial equipment is out of reach.He said the government was running the ... [full story]

RENO, Nev. - Police in Reno, Nev., are asking for help to find the man who killed Brianna Denison, a University of Nevada student abducted almost a month ago.The Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal reported Sunday that police have linked Denison's abduction to at least two other sexual assaults in the area. "We're entering a phase of the investigation now that is going to continue to need the assistance (of the public)," said Reno Police Deputy Chief Jim ... [full story]

JERUSALEM - Israel "must assume" Hezbollah, with for foreign help, will attack Israel in response to a top leader's assassination, Israel's defense minister said Sunday.Imad Mugniyah, a top official in Hezbollah, was assassinated in Syria by unknown operatives Tuesday. He was listed on several fugitive watch lists and implicated in the 1983 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed more than 350 people. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday the assassination was "a ... [full story]

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - U.S. first lady Laura Bush Sunday helped promote Tanzania's new effort to improve the way its citizens treat orphans and children with HIV-AIDS. "The American people are proud to stand with the people of Tanzania as you confront HIV/AIDS, she said while visiting Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.The United States, she said, has helped the Tanzanian government to provide antiretroviral treatment for about 100,000 HIV patients, as well as care for ... [full story]

PRISTINA, Serbia - The United States and several European Union members are expected to officially bless Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, it was reported Sunday.The BBC reported following Sunday's declaration by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci that U.S. officials would likely endorse the country's newfound independence from Serbia this week. "From this day onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free," Thaci said during an emergency legislative session Sunday.The United States has been accused by Serbian ... [full story]