PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- Police responding to the report of a suicidal person later arrested the man on various firearm-related charges for allegedly shooting a gun several times earlier in the evening inside a home where several people were present.   Darrin Allen Breese - CCJ photo  According to a Prineville Police news release, officers responded to NE 2nd Street and NW Idlewood Streets about 8 p.m., May 11, to a report of a possibly suicidal subject. Darrin Allen ... [full story]

PRINEVILLE, Ore. – Police today announced the arrest of a high school senior who is alleged to have broken into the northeast Prineville home of a woman and child late last Thursday night while armed with a knife and wearing a ski mask.   Ronald Jeremy Castillo - CCJ photo  Ronald Jeremy Castillo, 18, was taken into custody at the Crook County High School Tuesday following an interview at the school, Prineville Police Chief Eric Bush reported. The ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. – The Department of Defense has announced that a 24-year old Bend woman who was serving as an Army Medic in Iraq was killed May 11.   (inset) Cpl. Jessica A. Ellis, 24, of Bend, Oregon, was killed in Iraq by an IED on May 11, 2008  Cpl. Jessica A. Ellis died in Baghdad of wounds suffered when her vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device (IED). According to the DOD news release, Cpl. Ellis was assigned to the ... [full story]

ONTARIO, Ore. -- Police and prison officials have identified the inmate found dead in his cell under suspicious circumstances as a 61-year old Coos County man who was incarcerated in the Snake River Correctional Institution for various sex crimes. According to an Oregon State Police (OSP) news release, OSP, the Malheur County District Attorney and the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) are continuing the investigation into the death of James Ivan Briggs. Briggs was found ... [full story]

HILLSBORO, Ore. – A 28-year old Hillsboro man was expected to be sentenced to 69 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in Washington County Court to giving ecstasy to two teenagers and sexually abusing one of the girls, police reported.   Brandon Michael Sullivan - booking photo provided by Hillsboro PD  According to a Hillsboro Police news release, Brandon Michael Sullivan dissolved ecstasy pills in soft drinks and gave the beverages to 14- and 15-year-old girls ... [full story]

Oregon State Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Gunson released drug-related death statistics for 2007 reflecting a continuing rise since 1999 and the third highest number of these deaths since 1997. The statistics showed a sharp increase in Heroin-related deaths while Methamphetamine and Cocaine-related deaths dropped in comparison to last year's figures. "The jump in Heroin-related deaths is very alarming and the highest in that category for the last seven years," said Dr. Gunson. "There is nothing ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- A Northwestern University art professor has discovered Chicago's famous Lincoln Park was a city cemetery before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.Pamela Bannos says she began researching the history of the area because she was always curious about why there was a tomb in the park, WBBM-AM, Chicago, reported Wednesday.Bannos found the area used to be the Chicago City Cemetery housing some 35,000 graves.After the Lincoln assassination, Chicago converted the land to ... [full story]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Damage is estimated at nearly $10 million for brush fires that swept through Brevard County, Florida damaging and destroying more than 160 homes.One veteran firefighter said he was stunned after seeing some of the damage in Palm Bay where crews were continuing to put out hot spots and mopping up areas late Tuesday, WKMG-TV, Orlando, reported.Statewide, more than 100 fires were reported burning Tuesday.Palm Bay police early Wednesday arrested Brian Crowder, 31, ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., and his father Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. are demanding the U.S. Secret Service hand over documents involving them.The two plan to file a freedom of information request following a newspaper story indicating the Jackson family may have been the subject of racially-insensitive Secret Service e-mails, The Chicago Southtown Star reported Wednesday.The e-mails were submitted as evidence in a racial discrimination suit filed against the Secret Service by 10 ... [full story]

BERLIN -- The domestic intelligence agency in Germany says in an unpublished report that Communists, Marxists and other fringe groups have infiltrated the government.The German daily Bild said Wednesday in an unpublished report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution that the leftist Communist Platform, Marxist Forum and pro-Cuba groups, which the report says are "extremist structures," are increasing their influence in The Left Party, Der Spiegel reported.The Communist Platform, the report ... [full story]