UPDATE: Helicopter crash kills firefighters
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nine people are missing and feared dead in the crash of a helicopter that was carrying firefighters over a Northern California forest, officials said this afternoon.

I want to know: About the area's high gas prices
Q: Why are gasoline prices so much higher in this area compared to the rest of the state? Who controls the distribution in the Bay Area? There are approximately 19 stations here that offer gasoline for sale. Who owns, controls and supplies these stations? Can representatives of these companies explain how you can buy gasoline 20 cents a gallon cheaper in Florence, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, etc.?

 Rattle thunk bang clunk
Rocking, jerking, rolling.

Weyerhaeuser chopping 1,500 jobs -” most at HQ
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Ray Oen cleared out his office at Weyerhaeuser Co.’s headquarters on Tuesday, and carried a box of personal items to his car. On top was a photo of the nuclear submarine he served aboard as an officer.

McGowan will give a ‘State of the Oceans’ report in CB
Ocean productivity, ecosystems and climate change — those topics are big in debates these days among scientists and coastal residents.

Iraq’s government faces spending obstacles
BAGHDAD — Iraq is paying for more of its own reconstruction but is still struggling to spend its multibillion dollar surplus as it copes with a flood of oil revenue and a cumbersome approval process meant to curb corruption, U.S. officials said today.

 Have you seen these sex offenders?
Coos County Community Corrections wants your help.

Airport testimony to feds: More residents comment
They filed notices slowly at first, but now faster. One by one public comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation over the impending loss of Portland flights at the North Bend airport have begun to fill pages on the agency’s web site.

CB building manager blames economy for repair delays
The forces that kept Home Depot out of North Bend are the same that have kept the Lockhart Building in disrepair. That was the rationale provided Tuesday by the Lockhart property’s manager, Gary Mountain, who purchased the building at 335 Central Ave., in Coos Bay, in 2005.

Paris Hilton spoofs McCain ad and proposes a solution to nation’s energy crisis
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attention, America: Paris has spoken. Paris Hilton, the blonde, doe-eyed celebrity thrust into the presidential campaign in an ad by Republican candidate John McCain, issued a tart rebuttal Tuesday, albeit in a scantily clad, tongue-in-cheek kind of way.

Bush airs concerns on China’s human rights record
BANGKOK, Thailand  — Bound for the Beijing Olympics, President Bush is carrying a message of “deep concerns” about the state of human rights in China and urging the communist nation to allow political freedoms for its citizens.

Fed on hold for now and perhaps for many more months to come as presidential campaign looms
WASHINGTON (AP) — For a second straight meeting, the Federal Reserve has decided to remain on the sidelines and leave interest rates alone. In the opinion of many economists, that stance may prevail not only for the rest of this year but well into 2009.

Federal airport hearing? Don’t count on it
Government agencies may decide the future of Portland flights at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, but at least one South Coast resident is asking to speak to them before they make decisions.

Gun-control groups fear top activist was NRA spy; NRA silent on reports it planted mole
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.

Relatives miners say company failed them
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine one year ago was so extensive, federal officials found no other mining disaster in the last 50 years to compare to it.

Helicopter rescues last survivor of K2 disaster
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The last survivor of the deadliest mountaineering disaster ever to hit the world’s second-highest peak was rescued by helicopter today, nearly five days after the tragedy, a Pakistani army spokesman said.

Judge OKs unsealing anthrax documents
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief judge of Washington’s federal courthouse on today unsealed hundreds of pages of documents in the FBI’s nearly 7-year investigation of anthrax mailings that killed five people.

After crash, Oregon’s Gearhart asks ‘Why?’
After crash, Oregon’s Gearhart asks ‘Why?’

Wily sea lion slips aboard boat
FERNDALE, Wash. (AP) — No one wants to be stuck with a large, uninvited visitor. Especially a sea lion that makes itself at home on a family sailboat — twice.

Ore. firm monitors Olympic air
PORTLAND (AP) — A Grants Pass company is helping the U.S. Embassy monitor air quality at the Beijing Olympics.

Ore. officer who shot Irish citizen resigns
SILVERTON (AP) — A Silverton police officer cleared in the fatal shooting of an Irish citizen, but later charged with sex crimes in an unrelated case has resigned rather than be put on unpaid leave.

Police shoot a kidnap suspect in standoff
PHILOMATH (AP) — A Philomath police officer fired at least one round Monday at a man accused of kidnapping a woman and holding her elderly mother hostage, the Oregon State Police said.

Weyerhaeuser chops 1,500 -” most at HQ
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) — Weyerhaeuser Co. is laying off about 1,500 employees, the company announced Tuesday. About 1,000 of the job cuts are at Weyerhaeuser’s Federal Way, Wash., headquarters where 2,500 people work. The rest are scattered across the country.

Fire closes Central Oregon highway
REDMOND (AP) — Two teenagers are suspected of causing a brush fire northeast of Redmond that closed the O’Neil Highway for two hours, prompted the evacuation of four homes and burned one vehicle.

Mountain lion takes dog from house
IDLEDALE, Colo. (AP) — A mountain lion crept through an open door into a house in the foothills outside Denver, snatched a Labrador retriever from a bedroom where two people were sleeping and left the dog’s dead body outside, wildlife managers said Tuesday.

Smith to skip convention
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith is skipping the Republican national convention.

Wyden wants commission to delay LNG decision
PORTLAND (AP) — Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wants federal energy regulators to delay a decision on a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the Columbia River.

Security review planned for state mental hospital
SALEM (AP) — The state has hired a consulting firm to help improve security at the Oregon State Hospital following a pair of recent escapes.

Coquille hires new chief of police
COQUILLE — The city of Coquille has offered its top policing job to an Arizona man.

 Coos Bay labels building 'dangerous'
COOS BAY — Gary Mountain once had grand designs for the property where the Lockhart Building stands. He planned to tear down the century-old structure and build a four-story, 46,000-square-foot building in its place.