CENTRAL OREGON -- Following are the results from the third Oregon High School Equestrian Team meet held in Central Oregon on April 10-12, 2008, including final district results and extra awards. All medal winners qualified for State competition.   Team Results:   Small Team Division 1st Dufur 375 2nd Lakeview 161 3rd Pendleton 84  4th Hood River 53 5th Paisley 52 6th Summit 21   Medium Team Division 1st Madras 301 2nd The Dallas/Wahtonka Union 295 3rd La Pine 289 4th Bend 197 5th Crook 101   Large Team Division 1st Redmond 656 2nd Sisters 558 3rd ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. -- Following Monday evening’s meeting of the Bend City Council, a Work Session focused on budget cutting, I talked to Finance Director Sonia Andrews. We discussed the amount of funding going towards Juniper Ridge (JR) from the General Fund, which she stated as $180,000 for debt service on a line of credit to cover our obligations per Les Schwab. All potential cuts in the JR budget as presented last fall have been undertaken. ... [full story]

BOSTON -- Cardinal Sean O'Malley has urged Pope Benedict XVI to speak out about the priest sex abuse crisis, the leader of the Boston archdiocese said.Benedict will begin a six-day trip to the United States Tuesday in Washington.O'Malley, who will accompany the pontiff at many appearances during his trip, has joined other U.S. bishops in calling on the pope to talk about the abuse scandal, The Boston Globe reported Monday.In discussions with the pope's ambassador ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday said it will hear a case on the extent to which supervisory prosecutors have immunity from wrongful conviction lawsuits.The case involving prosecutorial immunity asks whether officials in the chain of command on a criminal prosecution may be sued for damages for failure to develop policies to ensure that evidence favorable to the defense is shared with defense attorneys, Scotusblog reported.The case is Van De Kamp, et al., vs. ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited rocket-pocked Sderot Monday, saying the air assault directed at the southern Israeli city was a crime.Carter, in Israel as part of his Mideast tour, defended his controversial impeding meeting in Damascus, Syria, with Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal, saying it was important "that at least someone meet with the Hamas leaders to try to induce them to stop all attacks against innocent civilians in Israel and cooperate ... [full story]

PITTSBURGH -- Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton told a gathering of manufacturers in Pittsburgh Monday U.S. trade laws need fixing.Clinton outlined her trade stance at a forum arranged by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which unveiled a set of proposals it contends would strengthen trade enforcement and crack down on China's unfair trade policies."We need solutions to fix our trade laws, build a strong manufacturing base, and stand up to China and say that unsafe ... [full story]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A Canadian judge in Vancouver slapped three members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club with jail terms Monday for refusing to testify against another biker.David Giles, 58, was charged with cocaine possession and being part of a criminal organization. However, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie was forced to acquit him when the three witnesses appearing by a video link refused to testify, the Vancouver Sun said."Contempt of court strikes ... [full story]

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Obama campaign will launch an ambitious new field program across Oregon this week designed to empower volunteers to support the campaign with innovative internet tools.  The campaign will identify and train Obama Oregon Community Organizers (Obama OCOs) in an effort to assist supporters in reaching out to their friends and neighbors to talk about Senator Obama’s commitment to bringing change we can believe in to Washington. Today, the campaign is unveiling ... [full story]

ROME -- Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi has swept back into power, winning a third term as Italy's prime minister, election results Monday showed.Berlusconi, 71, defeated center-left challenger Walter Veltroni by a wider-than-expected margin, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Projections showed Berlusconi's coalition winning in the House by 45.9 percent to Veltroni's 39.1 percent, with similar margins in the Senate prompting Veltroni to concede in a phone call to Berlusconi, ANSA said.Berlusconi succeeds Romano Prodi, ... [full story]

MONTREAL -- A Montreal-area school board is to begin expanded emergency drills this year for nearly 130 other safety threats besides fire.The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board spent more than $200,000 and two years developing an analysis of about 130 situations that could threaten its schools, board Chairman Steve Bletas told The Gazette newspaper.This year, every classroom will have a detailed manual on safety procedures dealing not only with fires, but bomb threats, armed intruders ... [full story]