Fire officials announced this afternoon that residents of 12-15 homes threatened by a three-acre brush fire in the Awbrey Butte area including Summit Park, Summit Drive, and Wyeth Plaza in Bend were being evacuated due to imminent danger, however within less than an hour and a half the fire was contained and no homes were lost.   Smoke of the fire that threatened 12-15 homes in the Awbrey Butte area near Summit Park was clearly visible ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- Republican Rudy Guliani, the former New York mayor who wants to be president, is seen by some as shifting his position on civil unions for gay couples. Giuliani has been backing away from the issue since April and now says he would like a more modest set of rights for gay couples than is offered in four states, The Boston Globe reported Monday. His campaign told The New York Sun that New ... [full story]

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A television anchorman in Winston-Salem, N.C., has pleaded guilty to killing a man he hit with his vehicle while driving drunk in March. WXII 12 anchor Tolly Carr entered his guilty plea Monday in a Forsyth County courtroom full of his family and the family of Casey Bokhoven, the 26-year-old man he killed. Judge John W. Smith presided over the case and charged Carr with felony death by vehicle and driving while ... [full story]

HONOLULU -- The big island of Hawaii was dealing with aftershocks from an earthquake even as residents prepared for Tuesday’s approaching hurricane. A 5.4-magnitude quake Monday night caused minor rock slides before several aftershocks, including one of magnitude 3.2, followed, the Honolulu Star-bulletin reported Tuesday. "It went on way longer than is comfortable," said Jeri Kauahikaua of Volcano, Hawaii, who added the quake was felt island-wide. The earthquake was centered about 25 miles south of ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- Chicago police deny they used excessive force to subdue a man whose family is suing the city for his death. Gefery N. Johnson, 42, died last month from brutality, pepper spray and two shocks from a police Taser, his family alleges in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Court, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday. The suit alleges Johnson was cooperating with police and was shocked, sprayed and thrown to the floor of his ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Border Patrol agents handy with a hammer are being diverted from enforcement duties to finish 70 miles of fencing on the shared border with Mexico. The Border Patrol is “going back into the fence-building business,” said a memo last week asking for agents with construction experience, The Washington Times reported Tuesday. The agents are pitching in as the Bush administration withdraws half the National Guard troops sent last year to complete 70 ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says little publicly about the war in Iraq in part to minimize political jockeying, the New York Times reported Tuesday. In an interview with the newspaper, Gates acknowledged he says little in discussions with his aides and the military, preferring to listen instead. Next month, Gen. David Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, and Adm. William Fallon, the U.S. commander in the Middle East, are scheduled to ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- A $350 million federal grant may be enough to launch New York City’s plan to reduce traffic congestion by charging drivers entering Manhattan. The U.S. Department of Transportation grant falls short of the $536 million the city sought to fund mass transit and set up tolls to charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan during peak times, The New York Daily News reported Tuesday. But the grant should be enough ... [full story]

MOSCOW -- Russian investigators said Tuesday a homemade bomb caused the Monday night derailment of a train bound for St. Petersburg where 60 people were injured. The Nevsky high-speed electric train originated in Moscow and was headed for the northwestern city of St. Petersburg when the bomb blast derailed four of the 12 passenger cars about 9:45 p.m., Itar-Tass reported. There were conflicting reports about whether any cars overturned. There was a fire, but the ... [full story]

MOSCOW -- Criminal negligence is suspected in a chemical plant explosion in a Russian city in eastern Siberia Tuesday that killed at least four people. The blast happened around 5:30 a.m. at the Sayanskkhimplast factory in the city of Sayansk, the Novosti news agency reported. Four other employees were injured, emergency officials said. The plant manufactures 250,000 tons of polyvinyl chloride each year, and uses the toxic chemical dichloroethane in the process. Investigators told Itar-Tass ... [full story]