BEND, Ore. -- The members of the 115 Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Oregon Army National Guard arrived in Salem, Oregon on Wednesday following their deployment to Iraq in support of Oregon Iraqi Freedom. The unit is commanded by Major Don Troxell of Bend, and includes a second Bend soldier, SSG Margaret Chiyo Nelson. Families are friends welcomed their arrival at the Anderson Readiness Center (ARC) at about 2:30 p.m. The formal demobilization ceremony will be ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. – Two men, as yet unidentified by officials, have allegedly confessed to unintentionally igniting the Skyliners Two Fire, a 24-acre blaze which burned about five miles west of Bend off Skyliners Road and Forest Road 4606 on Sunday. A joint investigation by U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office led to the origin and cause of the fire, which was determined to be human-caused. The two men confessed to ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. – An accidental chemical spill in a Bend, Oregon, high school chemistry lab prompted an evacuation Wednesday when smoke began billowing out of an exhaust hood, officials announced.   Mountain View High School - BLS photo  According to a news release issued by Bend-La Pine Schools, a Mountain View High School chemistry teacher was cleaning the spill when smoke began billowing out of an exhaust hood. Students and faculty were evacuated from the area, and ... [full story]

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. – An incessantly barking dachshund named Annie refused to let an officer responding to a noise complaint leave until police found her owner who had fallen and hit her head.   Annie, the rescue dachshund - LOPD photo  According to a Lake Oswego Police Department (LOPD) news release, Sgt. John Brent was confronted in the middle of the residential street by the “very small but ferociously barking” dog, who wouldn’t let the officer's police ... [full story]

SALEM, Ore. -- For 3,000 Oregonians whose names were drawn in April to receive applications for the Oregon Health Plan's Standard benefit package, Friday is the deadline to return applications to the Oregon Department of Human Services. So far, DHS has mailed OHP-Standard applications more than 10,000 people and, of those who returned their applications, 1,649 people have been found eligible for health care programs. Some applications continue to be reviewed for eligibility. "We are ... [full story]

PANAMINT SPRINGS, Calif. -- California officials say they have closed a search for body parts at a Death Valley National Park ranch used by Charles Manson and his murderous clan in 1969.Manson and his followers used Barker Ranch as a hideout after the killings of several people in and around Los Angeles, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.The only items found by the 20-member search team before the search ended Wednesday include a .38-caliber shell casing, ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES -- A California school custodian is facing criminal charges for allegedly videotaping 18 female students while they were in the locker room, police said.Hilario Hernandez Medina, 39, was taken into police custody Monday and charged with possession and control of child pornography, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.A worker at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village last week stumbled across a camera that had "inappropriate images" of females ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said Thursday he thinks he will be able to order further U.S. troop reductions in Iraq come September.Petraeus, testifying before the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee, which is considering his nomination to head us the U.S. Central Command, said his recommendation will be determined by the situation once the summer reduction is completed."My sense is that I will be able to make a recommendation at that time for ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- Canada's Supreme Court Thursday denied damages to a man who claimed major psychological damage after finding a dead fly in his bottled water.Waddah Mustapha, 47, was awarded damages of $341,775 by a lower court over the 2001 incident when Mustapha noticed the fly as he was about to install the water jug in his kitchen in Windsor, Ontario.Mustapha had claimed he suffered a battery of psychological maladies after seeing the fly in the ... [full story]

BEIJING -- The soaring death toll from southwestern China's devastating earthquake jumped nearly 10,000 to 51,151 Thursday, government officials reported.The official count raised the injury total from the 7.9-magnitude quake to 288,431 with another 29,328 people missing.CNN reported that domestic and international donations to help quake recovery, as of midday Thursday, had reached a reported $3 billion.Meanwhile, China announced it would cut government spending by 5 percent this year so it can set aside $10.14 ... [full story]