An 18-year old Bend man was arrested and charged with burglary after he was observed leaving a local bowling alley by police responding to an alarm at Lava Lanes in the early morning hours on Tuesday, police reported.   Jordan J. Bilyeu - DCJ photo According to Lt. Ken Mannix with the Bend Police department, officers assisted by Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies responded to an alarm from Lava Lanes Bowling at 1555 NE Forbes about 1:40 a.m., ... [full story]

PORTLAND, Ore.  - A former guidance counselor at Troutdale Elementary School was sentenced Monday morning to 97 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine following his pleas of guilty to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.  United States District Court Chief Judge Ancer L. Haggerty ordered the fine remitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a non-profit agency located in Alexandria, Virginia, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed two ethics bills from opposite sides of the aisle brought on by the investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. A bill brought to the floor by Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, instructs the ethics committee to examine Jefferson's case and decide whether his expulsion is merited, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The measure passed by a 373-26 vote, with 13 members of the legislative body -- including ... [full story]

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A Virginia Tech building where a gunman killed 30 students and faculty members and himself will reopen June 18, the university announced. The engineering departments that occupied Norris Hall before the April 13 shootings will remain in the building, although the classrooms where student Seung-Hui Cho killed his victims will become offices and labs, the Roanoke (Va.) Times reported. Cho also shot and killed two students in a Virginia Tech dorm. Virginia ... [full story]

SACRAMENTO -- The California Assembly in Sacramento has approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed an earlier gay-marriage bill but sponsoring Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he hoped to change the governor's mind by introducing him to "children and families who suffer on a regular basis due to the current inequity in the law," The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. "I'm certain that he's an open-minded and open-hearted individual and ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Partisan bickering was threatening the immigration bill before the U.S. Senate Wednesday. Democrats said they would force a time limit on the bill in an effort to curb Republican amendments to the immigration deal, The Washington Times reported. Republicans vowed to block the time-limit move with a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said blocking the debate limit would kill the bill for the current session, the Times reported. "People are looking ... [full story]

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Police in Kansas were looking for a "person of interest" in the abduction of an 18-year-old woman from a Target parking lot. Overland Park, Kan., Police Chief Jim Weaver on Tuesday night released video of a truck that entered the Target parking lot where Kelsey Smith was last seen. "We think this is a connection," Weaver said at a news conference, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star reported. "We need to know ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- A poll released Tuesday showed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., pretty much tied for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was the first USA Today/Gallup Poll in which Clinton wasn't the leader among Democratic presidential hopefuls, USA Today reported. Obama led Clinton 30 percent to 29 percent if former Vice President Al Gore was in the race, but Clinton led Obama 37 percent to 36 percent if Gore was not ... [full story]

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Most Republican presidential hopefuls defended the U.S. invasion of Iraq in a New Hampshire debate but criticized how the war has been handled. "I'm going to give you a little straight talk. This war was very badly mismanaged for a long time," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in response to a question from a woman whose brother died in the war, CNN reported. The debate Tuesday was the first in Republican debate ... [full story]

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Five suspected terrorists were formally charged Tuesday in New Jersey in an indictment alleging they were inspired by al-Qaida. The group allegedly planned an attack on Fort Dix in an effort to kill U.S. soldiers training to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan or had returned from the fight. A sixth man is charged with aiding and abetting the group by supplying them with firearms. "The defendants ... were inspired by, among others, ... [full story]