OREGON NEWS

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• Hillsboro program will track kids at risk of delinquency
The Hillsboro branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs will launch a program to statistically track its efforts to help young people in western Washington County.

• Medical Teams International lays off nine as donations drop
Medical Teams International laid off nine people Tuesday -- 10 percent of its staff -- as donations have dropped with the economy.

• Portland police honor heroes
Rory Almanza was heading home last winter, walking to a bus stop, when a man ran past, chasing and yelling at a woman. He saw the man strike the woman down in the middle of Southeast Gladstone Street.

• Storm Large, collectors sing praises of Oregon's new stamp
She attracted a cult following after breaking out on the CBS reality show "Rock Star: Supernova." On Wednesday, Oregon's Storm Large sang the national anthem for a different kind of crowd: philatelists.

• That's superhero Obama to you, fans
%%deck%%Comic books - Collectors snap up new Spidey issue featuring the president-elect

• Woman who hit Portland to Coast High School Challenge runner last summer gets five-year prison term
Arlene Green told the judge who was about to sentence the doped-up driver who crashed into her 18-year-old daughter last summer that the teenager's life now is anything but easy.

• A Portland family aims for a new lifestyle to manage their weight
Kathy Laskowski has always dished out ample love -- and ample portions -- to her five children.

• Benefits of human cord blood drive OHSU effort to bank it
After Thomisha Harris gave birth to twin boys in 2004, she never really thought about the umbilical cord that had connected with her babies. It went out with the medical waste, as most umbilical cords do.

• Benefits of tanning: True or false?
1. Indoor tanning cures seasonal affective disorder.

• Class aids families of mentally ill vets
Families of military veterans with mental illness are invited to a free 12-week class in Portland beginning Tuesday.

• Collector's artifacts returning to Panama
Artifacts believed to have been smuggled out of Panama by an Oregon man who fancied himself an Indiana Jones type were returned Tuesday to representatives of the Central American country.

• Colleges rushing to fill state grant shortfall
Oregon's public universities are rushing to help students who are losing some of their state grant money by coming up with cash to keep them in school.

• Hard-hat stretching
Two stories below ground, in a gray basement bunker that one day will contain the city of Portland's archives, about 120 construction workers gather at 7 a.m. to begin their work day with a routine called "stretch and flex."

• Lecture on tinnitus causes, care kicks off Brain Awareness series
Ringing in the ears -- medically known as tinnitus -- is the subject of a free March 2 lecture, part of Oregon Health & Science University's lecture series called Brain Awareness Season. Tinnitus can be an annoying buzz or a symptom of a serious problem, such as an ear injury. During the lecture, OHSU hearing expert William Martin will discuss the causes of tinnitus and new treatments.

• PEOPLE'S
and TERESA GRAEDON

• THE YOU DOCS
On cups of instant coffee, caffeine and creamers

• Trial begins in fatal capsizing on Tillamook Bar
TILLAMOOK -- Jurors heard opening arguments Tuesday in a case that will ask them to decide whether drugs were to blame for a fatal capsizing.

• A Capitol party? Not with new ethics laws chaperoning
SALEM -- The Capitol Club eschewed its biennial party for lobbyists and legislators this year, saying the shindig wasn't worth the hassle of figuring out what was OK under new ethics laws.

• Crab Krack raising restoration funds in Newport
NEWPORT -- How do you raise $10 million in one of the worst economies in recent memory?

• Science "pubs," "cafes" draw inquiring Portlanders Top experts in a variety of fields give lectures, but quizzes are not on the menu
Recent college grads, retirees and working folks stream into the Mission Theater and fill their tables with pizza, burgers and pitchers of beer. Getting ready to watch a football game? Nope. A live band? Not quite. The topic of the night is engineering.

• Traffic fatality
Cody S. Lohr, 30, died about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in a head-on crash in Stayton, the Marion County Sheriff's Office reported. A car driven by a 16-year-old female from Salem crossed the centerline in the 9000 block of Golf Club Road Southeast and collided with a car driven by Melissa A. Porter, 27, of Salem. Lohr was riding with Porter. The drivers had minor injuries.

• Could you give up life in the cash lane?
Regence Blue Cross employees will tell you that getting one of the "premium" parking spots inside the company's downtown Portland building is like unwrapping a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

• A man with a gift for helping

• Former state Rep. Bob Tiernan to lead Oregon GOP
LAKE OSWEGO -- Former state Rep. Bob Tiernan, who earned a political reputation for his tough attacks on organized labor and the Democratic establishment in Oregon, on Saturday made his political comeback by winning the chairmanship of the state Republican Party.

• Oregon hamlet of Frenchglen asks why junipers were cut down
FRENCHGLEN -- A federal project to thin junipers has upset residents in tiny Frenchglen, a high-desert hamlet at the base of Steens Mountain.

• Planning for the day light rail runs north of the Columbia
VANCOUVER -- Light rail is coming to Vancouver. Deal with it.

• Rivers recede after week of floods, slides
Rivers receded in western Washington on Saturday after a week of floods, mudslides and avalanches that officials said could have been much worse.

• Traffic fatality Anna Urban, 27, of Clatskanie died about 6 p.m. Friday when her car crossed the center line and collided with a sport utility vehicle on U.S. 30 between Rainier and Clatskanie, the Oregon State Police reported. The SUV driver, James Aydelotte, 33, of Eagle, Idaho, had non-life-threatening injuries.

• Weather quirk doused Washington
For 72 hours, the rain pounded down on western Washington but missed much of Oregon.

• Corrections
The automobile Web site Edmunds.com was misspelled in a story in Thursday's Business section.

• Flood effects around the Northwest
Southwest Washington: Eliecia Hale surveyed options at her home in Naselle, Wash. She could try to walk through the knee-high Naselle River that covered her driveway. She could try it in her SUV. Or she could head back to her mom's house to retrieve her hip waders.

• Flood victims weather water, landslides
MORTON, Wash. -- Jim Ecklund maneuvered his backhoe and pushed away some rocks, redirecting water gushing down a hill.

• Oregon runs out of money for college grants
Oregon has run out of money for college grants halfway through the school year, with 1,500 students still on the waiting list -- a blow to the state's goal of helping more students afford college.

• Panel fails to agree on transfer for killer
A state panel could not agree this week whether convicted killer Christopher Darrell Persyn of Beavercreek should be transferred to a secure residential facility in Pendleton.

• Portland police insist secret list is not profiling
The question of whether a secret list of petty criminals disproportionately targets African Americans in Portland was debated during the second day of testimony into the constitutionality of the Portland Police Bureau's program.

• Sand rail driver indicted in dune crash
TILLAMOOK -- The driver of a sand rail that crashed into another Sept. 26, killing the driver and one passenger and gravely injuring two others, was indicted Thursday on two counts each of second-degree manslaughter and third-degreeassault, as well as driving under the influence.

• AROUND THE REGION
A 6-inch-deep "sink" appeared in the roadbed of Oregon 202 between Astoria and Jewell, limiting traffic, said Adam Torgerson, Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman. He said crews were placing gravel into the sink to allow traffic to pass.

• Church shooting suspect arrested
Homicide detectives Wednesday interviewed the 30-year-old suspect in a Dec. 12 North Portland church shooting, a day after he was arrested outside his mother's house in Hayward, Calif.

• Corrections
Jared Stohl, University of Portland Pilots guard, is 6-foot-1. An article in Tuesday's Sports section reported an incorrect height.

• Deluge cuts off Washington
MORTON, Wash. -- A Pacific storm packed with subtropical moisture dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on parts of Washington on Wednesday, forcing officials to close Interstate 5 and hundreds of other roadways in the state.

• Flooding drives some to shelters in Washington
MORTON, Wash. -- Arlene Black only wanted to pop in and out of town, picking up some medicine for her family.

• 'Most arrested' list faces legal challenge
For the first time since Portland police created a secret list five years ago identifying the 35 most-frequently arrested petty criminals in the city's core, the American Civil Liberties Union and a trio of defense attorneys are challenging its constitutionality.

• Vernonia hustles, holds breath
VERNONIA T he rain fell as Jason Carlson and Nick Trammell filled sandbags at Vernonia Middle School on Wednesday, part of a 20-man crew of inmates from Northeast Portland.

• Weather pros call the play as storm arrives
As a storm lumbered into the region Wednesday, a quiet drama played out inside a bland Northeast Portland building. There, National Weather Service forecasters sifted data so authorities across the area could decide whether to close roads or schools, evacuate homes or place sandbags.

• Critical-care nurses
honor OHSU unit Oregon Health & Science University Healthcare's unit for cardiac and surgical intensive care has won a Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, which was given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

• FBI picks Sherwood lawman for D.C. post
The FBI on Tuesday named a former Oregon State Police superintendent and current small-town public safety director to head coordination efforts between federal and local law enforcement agencies nationwide.

• Mayoral race could be Vancouver's costliest
Pollard Vancouver mayor since 1996 Leavitt City Council member since '03

• PEOPLE'S
and TERESA GRAEDON

• Portland auditor to quit job in May
Portland Auditor Gary Blackmer plans to resign in May to clear the way for someone else to work with the new mayor and City Council members coming on board with long-term agendas, including new performance measures.

• Sleep on it! Extra rest helps lower heart risks
An extra hour of sleep per night helps lower risk of coronary artery calcification, an early sign of heart disease, University of Chicago researchers report.

• THE YOU DOCS
Using eggs, organic skin-care products depends

• Traffic fatality
The Oregon State Police on Tuesday identified Heidi R. Johnson, 20, a Lane Community College student from North Bend, as the person killed in a four-vehicle crash about 2:50 p.m. Saturday on Oregon 38 east of Scottsburg. Her dog also died in the crash. A sport utility vehicle driven by John T. Flaxel, 72, of Coos Bay crossed the centerline, sideswiped a pickup, collided head-on with Johnson's car and forced a minivan off the road. Six people were injured: Flaxel and his wife, Joy C. Flaxel, 73; the pickup driver, Konrad W. Kennelly, 50, and his passenger, Martha Xitco, 50, both of Port Angeles, Wash.; and the minivan driver, Shirley A. Powell, 59, and her husband, Evert Powell, 59, both of Sutherlin.

• Former foster dad gets 21/2-year sentence in attack on little girl
Stephen Kuntupis and Monique Peals had long awaited Monday -- the day the man who beat or shook their 2-year-old daughter blind was sentenced to prison.

• Courts untangle non-indictment of former central Oregon man
BEND -- A convoluted case in which a central Oregon man was jailed for an alleged crime he was never indicted on could be over soon.

• Not so summery in Oregon's Summerville
Days turn not so summery in Oregon's Summerville

• Portlanders agonize over families' fates
When things get this bad in Gaza, Kanaan Kanaan doesn't try to call his family.

• Portland wins almost all arguments in David Douglas urban renewal case
The city has -- mostly -- won a legal challenge to its decision to divert urban renewal money from downtown to east Portland.

• She awoke, heard a pop and felt her arm burning
Sandra Howell was awakened about 3:30 a.m. from a deep sleep Sunday.

• Top challenges for new Oregon state officers
John Kroger

• Traffic fatality
Robert James Rankin, 21, of Astoria died about 12:05 a.m. Monday when his pickup ran off U.S. 30, flew into the air and rolled down an embankment in the Knappa area, the Oregon State Police reported.

• Neighbors warned in slide's aftermath
The day after a landslide and fire destroyed a house in the Twin Islands area of rural Clackamas County, the Estacada Rural Fire District notified residents of three nearby houses that they also might be in danger.

• Oregon could set standards for diet and exercise at day cares
When parents call Desiree Newberry of Knappa looking for day care, they ask about her hours.

• Teachable moments amid the road carnage
On Zach Majors' graveyard shift, predawn apparitions of cars and suspicious figures are part of the job.

• Noted Oregonians who died in 2008
Nancy Neighbor Russell, David Lett and Douglas C. Strain are among those who left us

• Traffic fatalities
Shalae Rae Mortensen, 16, of Redmond died about 7:35 a.m. Friday after her pickup went out of control in icy conditions and collided with another pickup on U.S. 97 about eight miles north of Bend, the Oregon State Police reported. The second pickup's driver, Jose Alex Mendoza, 33, of Terrebonne was seriously injured.

• Two Oregon leaders propose prepaid college tuition
Two Oregon elected officials are proposing a new way for parents to save for their children's college tuition -- and they're billing it as a safer bet than the state's hard-hit college savings plan.

• NEWS IN BRIEF
Portland