BEIJING -- More than 10,000 Chinese troops joined others in a mountainous region to locate a quake-relief Mi-171 helicopter that crashed Saturday with six aboard.The searchers scaled the Yunhua mountain range and hacked their way through thorns in their attempt to locate the chopper, Xinhua reported. The copter, belonging to the Chinese army, carried a civilian and a five-man crew.The steep mountains, dense bush, slippery tracks and massive landslides hampered the search effort, Liu Xitang, ... [full story]

CANBERRA, Australia -- A large area of tropical rain forest on Cape York in northern Australia is being returned to the management of the country's indigenous people.The 772-square-mile area contains about one-fifth of the tropical rain forests in Australia. David Claudie told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. his family and 22 other clans will be involved in managing the refuge, doing their best to preserve rare species such as the green tree python and the wenlock ... [full story]

BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called for resumption of production in the earthquake-hit regions as reconstruction efforts get under way.Wen made the appeal to all branches of government, saying bringing normalcy back to the regions and taking care of lives remain the main goals, Xinhua reported.He emphasized agricultural production as a priority, urging transport departments to ensure timely supplies of fertilizer, diesel oil and seed for the summer crops. He called for special ... [full story]

JIXI, China -- Authorities in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang said Tuesday 13 miners were still missing after a coal mine flood.A spokesman for the Jixi Work Safety Bureau said the owner of the Hengda Coal Mine is in custody, Xinhua reported. He allegedly delayed reporting that some miners had been trapped by the flood early Friday, the state-run Chinese news agency said.Rescue attempts did not begin for more than 12 hours until authorities ... [full story]

TAMPA, Fla. -- A federal judge in Florida declined Tuesday to dismiss some of the charges against a producer of pornographic movies.But U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew said that if Paul Little, who uses the business name Max Hardcore, is convicted of sending obscene material by U.S. mail she might throw out the convictions, the Tampa Tribune reported. Little's lawyers argued that prosecutors did not prove he knew his distributor was sending material through the ... [full story]

LOWELL, Mass. -- A Massachusetts state lawmaker is facing allegations he tried to sexually assault a stranger sitting on a park bench in broad daylight.The Boston Herald reported state Sen. James Marzilli, D-Arlington, was arrested in Lowell Monday. Marzilli allegedly gave police a false name and ran away, only to be caught in a parking garage, police told the newspaper.Marzilli, 50, who had been cleared in a separate sexual assault case last month, now is ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. -- Larry Huhn has been promoted to Fire Chief by City Manager Eric King. Huhn replaces the retiring Larry Langston, whose last day as chief is slated for June 15.   Larry Huhn has been named the new Fire Chief by Bend City Manager Eric King - submitted photo  “Larry Huhn brings the type of leadership the Fire Department needs at this time,” said newly King. “He’s the ideal candidate to continue the tradition of ... [full story]

MADRAS, Ore. – An 18-year-old Madras man turned himself into police and was charged with nine crimes in connection with numerous shots fired at an unoccupied vehicle in the Strawberry Heights subdivision in southeast Madras on Sunday night.   Isac Jerome Zacarias - JCJ photo  Madras Police officers and Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the subdivision shortly after 9 p.m., June 1, to a report of shots fired. Responding officers found empty shotgun shells in addition ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. – A man who claimed to be carjacked at gunpoint in the Terrebonne area north of Bend last month has said he made up the story to cover his admitted drunk driving and subsequent car crash, deputies said. In a letter of apology, the man explained he was distraught over the death of his brother and began drinking while parked in a gated community. He wrote that he was “sincerely sorry”, that his ... [full story]

LA PINE, Ore. – School officials have declined to press charges against several teenagers who admitted to vandalizing school walls, sidewalks, and parking lots with chalk on Sunday.    La Pine High School - photo courtesy of Bend-La Pine Schools According to Deschutes County Sheriff’s Lt. Deron McMaster, an anonymous tip was received just before midnight on June 1 alerting police to the mischief that left no permanent damage to La Pine High School. Several teenagers were contacted and identified, ... [full story]