• Beacon, cool head save skier buried alive
Ian Wilson's voice betrayed not a hint of urgency in the telephone message he left his parents Saturday night.

• Home-schoolers gain college acceptance
Jenny Grant's transcript was written by her mom.

• If health's your issue, Wyden's idea is big
WASHINGTON -- Everywhere Sen. Ron Wyden goes these days, people ask him whether he supports Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for president.

• Painkiller abuse hits home for sheriff
CONDON -- Sheriff Gary Bettencourt sank into his swivel chair as the Oregon State Police captain explained over the phone that the sheriff's wife had been arrested, again, for stealing pain pills.

• Poll questions still dog Dozono
When movers and shakers approached Sho Dozono late last year, flashing big money and urging him to run for mayor, the travel agency executive was intrigued, but he wanted to know where he stood with Portland voters before jumping into the race.

• Trains won't get back on Cascades track for weeks
OAKRIDGE -- What is called the worst natural disaster to hit an Oregon rail line -- a January landslide that severed Union Pacific's main route through the Cascades -- will take much longer to repair than anticipated.

• Tsunami threat rises but cash to states is cut
When Congress passed a tsunami preparedness bill and dedicated extra funds after the killer Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, state officials thought they'd get new money to gird for potentially the biggest natural disaster to hit the United States.