Kacey Montoya - A better gas mileage
Have begun The Memorials, tributes for crash victims
Family members, friends and collegues firefighters have brought their respects to a Southern Oregon University student who died fighting fires to earn college money and become a sports journalist.
Around 300 people gathered Monday at First Baptist Church, home to the family of Scott Charlson.
He was one of nine people who died when a helicopter ferrying firefighters crashed last week in Northern California.
Speakers said that Scott Charlson overcame physical and mental challenges to do the summer work on the fire line.
Eight victims were from Oregon, and more services and events are planned this week, including a tribute to all the victims planned Friday at the Jackson County fairgrounds.
Kacey Montoya
West Nile virus strike again in Western Oregon
One more time West Nile virus has surfaced again in Southern Oregon's Jackson County.
Officials say this is the fifth year that the disease has shown up and mosquitoes caught a few days ago were found to be carrying the virus.
Health officials say most human cases of West Nile virus are relatively mild, and only 20 percent of people bitten by an infected mosquito will experience even mild illness. Ppeople with low immune systems can become seriously sick even die.
In the United States there are 3,404 confirmed cases of West Nile virus and 98 deaths in 2007.
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Kacey Montoya
Agency agrees to add up wildlife kill
The U.S. Department of Agriculture division that kills problem wildlife says it make a report how many wolves, robins, and others it kills each year on a nationwide basis.
Wildlife Services spokeswoman Carol Bannerman said this week that the decision came after the conservation group WildEarth Guardians filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the information.
Wildlife Services has been posting the nationwide totals since 1996, but this year for the first time switched to a state-by-state format, forcing anyone interested in national trends to do the math themselves.
People says this decision was makde to avoid public scrutiny.
Kacey Montoya
A newborn girl, healthy has been taken into protective custody after a man discovered her in a field Sunday.
A Portland Police Bureau spokesman said the man entered the field after his dogs wouldn't stop barking and he heard what he thought might be a kitten.
He contacted the police and officers patrolling nearby found the 29-year-old woman who had just given birth. She has not been charged with a crime, but the investigation remains active.
To prevent unwanted newborns from being abandoned or killed, Oregon passed the "Safe Place for Newborns" law in 2001. The law allows a parent to leave an infant that is 30 days old or younger with an employee of a medical facility or law-enforcement agency - no questions asked unless there are signs of abuse. More…