News from around Oregon and the Northwest

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

MADRAS, Ore. (AP) - A central Oregon wildfire sparked by
lightning has expanded quickly in windy conditions, sweeping across
nearly 5 1/2 square miles - or 3,500 acres - of juniper, sagebrush and
grass east of U.S. Highway 97. A fire spokeswoman tells KTVZ that
structural protection crews have been called in to protect one home
threatened by the fire. It's thought to have started after some 800
lightning strikes hit the state on Monday.

WAKARUSA, Ind. (AP) - Navistar International Corp. plans to
shift some production work for its Monaco RV subsidiary from an
Oregon factory to northern Indiana, where it will hire up to 400
workers in the coming year. Navistar says 450 Monaco jobs will be
cut in Coburg. In the restructuring, some executive functions from
Monaco's Coburg headquarters also will move to Navistar's corporate
office in Illinois.

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon woman has been found in the
Umpqua National Forest east of Roseburg after she was reported
missing last weekend. Douglas County sheriff's deputies say they
found 59-year-old Linda Lonie of Roseburg near Hemlock Lake. Lonie
was reported missing Sunday night by her husband, who said they
were walking on a trail to check a game camera. When the trail
became too rough, he told her to wait. When he returned, she was
gone. Her condition was not immediately known.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon public health official says a
baby girl from Multnomah County was among the 77 people nationwide
infected with a strain of salmonella apparently linked to ground
turkey. Dr. William Keene says the child was hospitalized for eight
days in June, and has now recovered.

SEATTLE (AP) - Casper Wells hit a two-run homer in his third
game with Seattle and Felix Hernandez pitched into the seventh
inning to help the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 4-2 last
night. Wells connected on a full-count pitch from Rich Harden in
the sixth inning. The drive to left was his first homer since he
went deep on June 24 for the Tigers against Arizona. Hernandez
allowed two runs and five hits, struck out nine and walked three in
6-and-a-third innings.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Prosecutors say an Oregon woman has
pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing more than $850,000 in
government money during a 26-year theft of her missing father's
retirement benefits. Sixty-three-year-old Martha McCrae of Cottage
Grove yesterday admitted theft of benefits paid by the Social
Security Administration and two government agencies. Her case came
to light thanks to the agency's program of contacting beneficiaries
over age 100 to confirm they're still alive.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - More than 300 military veterans are
gathering in Portland this week for the annual conventions of
Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, two groups
that oppose the nation's wars. The Oregonian reports that the vets
will discuss post-traumatic stress disorder and efforts to free
Bradley Manning, a former military intelligence analyst who was
imprisoned following accusations by the government that he provided
secret military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A woman who spent three nights in the
Mount Hood National Forest after tumbling off a cliff says she ate
berries, drank from a creek and tried to scoot to safety on her
bottom because she couldn't walk. Hood River County sheriff's
Detective Matt English says 28-year-old Pamela Salant of Portland
was in serious condition late Tuesday with a possible broken left
leg after an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter rescued her.

SEATTLE (AP) - Sue Bird scored 17 points and Swin Cash added 16
to help the Seattle Storm beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 78-64
last night. Tanisha Wright added 12 points and seven assists for
Seattle, which has won four of five and moved into a tie for third
place in the Western Conference with Phoenix.

WARREN, Ore. (AP) - Fire officials say children playing with a
lighter started the barn fire that killed a 3-year-old boy at
Warren. KATU reports Scappoose Fire Department investigators found
bits of the lighter in the debris. Oregon State Police identified
the boy who was killed Monday as Nathan Hines. Firefighters say he
was with three other children, ages 4 to 8, who made it out of the
burning barn.

WILSONVILL, Ore. (AP) - Some Wilsonville city councilors say
they'd like to review the city's relationship with former transit
director Cynthia Thompson whose consulting firm has won nearly $1.4
million in no-bid contracts in the past four years. No councilors
are challenging the quality of Thompson's work but Steve Hurst and
Richard Goddard say they'd like to know more about the contracts.

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Bowmer
Theatre has reopened after six weeks of structural repairs. KDRV
reports (http://bit.ly/nJlhIf ) the first play Tuesday was
"Measure for Measure." Since a cracked beam was discovered in
June at the 600-seat theater, 62 performances were moved to a tent
in Lithia Park and other locations.

RENTON, Wash. (AP) - The Seattle Seahawks have agreed to terms
with free agent tight end Zach Miller and defensive end Jimmy
Wilkerson. Miller's signing reunites him with former Oakland coach
Tom Cable, now Seattle's offensive line coach. Miller was a Pro
Bowl selection last season after catching 60 passes and five
touchdowns. Wilkerson was the second defensive free agent to reach
a deal with Seattle in as many days.


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