REDMOND, Ore. – A traffic stop in Redmond Friday afternoon led to the discovery of ¾ pound of marijuana and a small quantity of methamphetamine, and ultimately to the arrest of the driver and passenger, police reported.   Jon Joshua Guthrie (left), Amanda Elaine McGee (right) – DCJ photos  According to an Oregon State Police (OSP) news release, Jon Joshua Guthrie, 32, of Milwaukie, and passenger Amanda Elaine McGee, 20, of Sandy, were arrested and charged with possession, ... [full story]

SALEM, Ore. -- Ways and Means co-chairs Senator Margaret Carter and Representative Peter Buckley and Chief Justice Paul De Muniz announced Friday they had reached an agreement that will allow Oregon courtrooms to stay open for the remainder of this biennium. Rep. Peter Buckley and Senator Margaret Carter said over the past week negotiations between the Judicial Department and the Legislature on the need to cut days led to a solution that means the courts ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama will use late-night television to discuss the economy, visiting "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Thursday, the White House said. Obama will visit the NBC studio show as part of his trip to California, The New York Times reported. A White House official said Obama plans to discuss the economy with Leno, trying to focus on substance over the superfluous. The exchange will be "as funny ... [full story]

ATLANTA -- Worries about unemployment in the United States have tripled during the last year, suggests a national poll. Thirty-six percent of people interviewed for the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said unemployment is the top economic issue facing the nation today. Thirteen percent felt that way in the poll taken last April, CNN reported Monday. In the latest poll, worries about inflation were second with 20 percent, followed by the mortgage crisis with ... [full story]

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon football Coach Mike Bellotti resigned Friday and will be the Pac-10 school's next athletic director, the (Eugene, Ore.) Register Guard reported. Bellotti will assume his new post July 1, after serving for a time as senior counselor to current AD Pat Kilkenny, the report said. Bellotti was not available for comment Friday. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will succeed Bellotti as head football coach, the Register-Guard reported. At 116-55, Bellotti, 58, is ... [full story]

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A second sea lion captured by wildlife officials near Oregon's Bonneville Dam will be put down, as the first one was, officials said. The Oregonian reported Friday that veterinarians decided to euthanize the mammal after they found a contagious viral infection that prevents it from being transferred to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The viral infection appears to be the same as the one found in a sea lion killed by lethal ... [full story]

KIEV, Ukraine -- A 1930s famine that killed millions in Ukraine was ordered by Joseph Stalin to stifle aspirations of independence from Moscow, says an expert on the genocide. Stalin decimated the Ukrainian citizenry by quarantining and denying food to villages, said Stanislav Kulchytsky, deputy director of the Institute of Ukrainian History in Kiev. Kulchytsky said he could reach no other conclusion after studying Ukrainian and Russian archives, The New York Times reported ... [full story]

ATHENS, Greece -- Britain's Scotland Yard has sent officials to Greece to help the country thwart an emerging terror threat in Athens, sources say. Unidentified sources said the Scotland Yard officials were sent to Athens at the request of Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who was responding to increased domestic terror and criminal actions in the Greek capital, Kathimerini said Monday. Athens has seen an upsurge in violence since last December, when a ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. small business will get tax incentives and relief combined with efforts to thaw lending in a package outlined Monday by U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined elements of plans to take immediate action to help ensure that credit gets flowing again to entrepreneurs and business owners after meeting with a group of small-business owners, community bankers and lawmakers. "Small businesses are the heart of ... [full story]

MEXICO CITY -- A septuagenarian pachyderm fell into a pit at Mexico's largest zoo this weekend and died, officials say. The mayor's office in Mexico City said Sunday that Ranny, age 70, had lost strength in her legs and tumbled into the pit that separated her from the public at Chapultepec Zoo, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported. The elephant's fatal accident Saturday was a "result of her advanced age," the mayor's office ... [full story]