SALEM — Oregon State Police reported traffic on Interstate 5 northbound near the Enchanted Forest on Saturday evening was restricted to one lane following a motor home fire.

A family used garden hoses to control a fire in the garage of their north Corvallis house Friday night, Corvallis fire officials said.

On June 4, we had a very large thunderstorm that brought heavy rain, high winds and lightning to the mid-valley. In my June 7 column, I asked readers to share stories of the event. I was not disappointed.

Ed Hayes and his daughters have a license to thrill.

The FBI was prepared to install “mobile tracking devices” in the vehicles of Joe LaCoste and his wife, Joene, according to Special Agent Jason S. Cherry.

Coyotes regularly feed on outdoor house cats, the American Bird Conservancy reports.

LEBANON — Were you born in Lebanon between 1936 and 1952, back when the current city library building housed the hospital? Did you work there or go in for surgery?

The Lebanon Rotary Club installed the following officers June 29:

A burned-out HVAC motor was to blame for mid-day smoke Thursday in the Pizza Hut restaurant at 2215 14th Ave. S.E. in Albany.

Two West Albany High School students were elected to office for the 2010 session of Oregon Boys State, to be held at the University of Oregon in June. Both will be seniors this fall.

“Reptile Man,” aka Richard Ritchey, will visit the main branch of the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Ave. S.E., at 4 p.m. Tuesday with crocodiles, lizards, snakes and other reptiles. Seating is limited, and children must be of at least kindergarten age.

Oregon’s state universities have no plans to drop their policy against carrying weapons on campus, including holders of concealed handgun licenses.

orthern Star says Bradwood Landing couldn’t be used

Portland musician and storyteller Jill Trenholm will perform at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 9, at the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Ave. S.E. This is the first of four special events for preschoolers during the library’s regular Thursday morning story times.

Crabtree Daze 2009 Community Yard Sales will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the Crabtree Community Center, 37524 Crabtree Drive. Pick up free maps at any sale site after 9 a.m. and at the community center. There will be a flea market, hot dogs, drinks, snacks and restrooms available.

Toys, games, bikes, clothing and books will be among thousands of items at the annual parking lot sale from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 11, in the north parking lot at the Albany Public Library, 2450 14th Ave. S.E. Children up to age 18 may participate as sellers. Buyers of all ages are welcome. No sale of food or pets is allowed.

Incoming sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are invited to a dance from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 17, at the Boys & Girls Club of Albany, 1215 Hill St. S.E. Cost is $4 with a card and $6 without. The party is sponsored by the 2010 South Albany Senior All-night Party Committee.

PORTLAND (AP) — A popular newborn baby elephant and a dinosaur exhibit have combined to help the Oregon Zoo set a new attendance record.

Warm, sunny weather and a full schedule of events figure to give mid-valley residents plenty of options for celebrating the Fourth of July holiday this week.

SCIO — Oregon Connections Academy, the online charter school based in Scio, will remain as it is for at least the next school year.

Richard Robert Lee will remain on parole while his case is brought before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal court decided Monday.

SWEET HOME — Plastic wrap covers four piles of rubble on former mill property in Sweet Home. Nearby, a few ragged pieces of tape bearing the words “Danger: Asbestos” flutter in the wind.

Sweet Home business donates equipment for installation

MORONI, Comoros (AP) — Despite a fractured collarbone, a teenage girl clung to the wreckage of a plane for more than 13 hours before rescuers found her floating in the Indian Ocean, authorities said Wednesday. She is the only known survivor of the crash.

The Oregon Department of Forestry’s West Oregon District will enter fire season on Thursday. The district encompasses Benton, Lincoln and Polk counties along with the southwestern portion of Yamhill County.

ALBANY (AP) — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given Oregon’s attorney general three months to make the case that an Albany man should remain under parole supervision.

EUGENE (AP) — A Eugene man who pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a Jan. 21 drunken driving crash that killed four people has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

OREGON CITY (AP) — Detectives are expected to take the stand in the third day of testimony in the trial of an Oregon couple whose church shuns doctors and who are accused of manslaughter in the death of their 15-month-old daughter.

WOODBURN (AP) — Chuck Boyce had been auctioning items in front of a crowd of about 80 people at the Woodburn Auction Yard when a young man approached him and slashed his throat with a box knife, a Marion County sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

KLAMATH FALLS (AP) — In a sure sign that summer’s here, the entire 33-mile Rim Drive around Crater Lake is now open.

KEIZER (AP) — An 11-year-old boy has been accused of setting three fires within two weeks at his home in Keizer.

SALEM (AP) — A former newspaper editor has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for sexually abusing a teenager girl he met while teaching at a private school in Salem almost a decade ago.

CENTRAL POINT (AP) — Health officials say a bat found in Central Point last week has tested positive for rabies.

EUGENE (AP) — A man who raped a 62-year-old woman inside a Cottage Grove church has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.

Detectives for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office raided a field of what they called illegal poppies, Sheriff Tim Mueller announced Wednesday afternoon.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger says he’s following a two-part strategy for fighting crime.

SALEM — Against a backdrop of the worst economy in decades, the Oregon Legislature patched a $4 billion deficit while raising taxes and fees to put thousands of people to work through public works projects.

Some of the major bills approved by the 2009 Oregon Legislature:

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Walmart Foundation have teamed up to provide $3,000 “Summer Servings” grants to Boys & Girls Clubs in Lebanon and Sweet Home.

Workers from Edel Designs Inc. of Albany install brightly painted panels around three columns in the children’s section of the Albany main library. Artist Cheryl French of Albany said her works explore three realms children can explore in books: new ideas, exciting places, and scientific and natural wonders of the world. Other art pieces to be placed at the library are an outdoor sculpture and a painting over the main circulation desk.

Drivers in Monroe are getting a new bridge over Price Creek — or, at least, a bridge that is new to them. Benton County public works is using parts from another bridge taken from Linn County to build the structure, at considerable savings.

PORTLAND (AP) — Corvallis High School has been named “America’s Most Eco-Friendly School” in a competition sponsored by Wal-Mart, and was awarded a $20,000 grant to further its environmental efforts.

The East Albany Lions Club’s annual Lumberjack Breakfast will take place Thursday through Sunday at Eleanor-Hackleman Park, 654 Pine St. S.E.

LEBANON — A TEA party, in connection with the American Family Association, will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, July 3, outside Lebanon City Hall, near Maple and Main streets. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.

The Oregon Department of Transportation will close one lane of traffic on Highway 20 at milepost 15.5 (at Elk City Road) for a month starting July 7, to replace a culvert. The closure will be in place 24 hours a day until completed.

The Albany Union High School class of 1969 will hold its 40-year reunion July 10-11. Friday evening will be a no-host gathering at Ciddici’s Pizza, and Saturday evening will be a buffet dinner at Spring Hill Country Club, reservations required.

Washington Federal Savings will host a Red Cross blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 24, at 300 Ellsworth St. S.W., Albany.

If you spot an error, send an e-mail to news@dhonline.com.

OREGON CITY — Lawyers for parents charged in the death of their 15-month-old daughter said Monday the couple never thought the child was dying as they and other members of their church went through rituals such as anointing her with oil and the laying on of hands.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Protests are planned in more than a dozen cities across the country to demand that a group of mortgage companies who benefited from federal bailout money participate in a government program designed to prevent foreclosures.

The annual ryegrass harvest in the mid-valley began in earnest about a week ago.

Most field burning in the Willamette Valley will be banned starting next year, the legislature has decided.

Members of the Service Employees International Union local 49 have not yet reached an agreement with Samaritan Albany General Hospital and Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis after two months of negotiations.

Young artists and thespians interested in honing their respective crafts are invited to weeklong art and drama camps next month in Albany.

The city of Albany has begun buying “Blue Sky” electricity from Pacific Power, and the utility praised the city for its decision, saying it helps support the development of renewable power.

RSVP, the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, will host a free presentation on fire safety and home security, especially as it relates to residents of mobile home and manufactured home communities, starting at noon Tuesday, June 30, at Shorewood Estates Mobile Home Park, 1905 Waverly Drive S.E.

Alicia Jrapko, a founder of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, July 6, at Albany Mennonite Church, 3405 Kizer Ave. N.E.

LEBANON — The city of Lebanon, in conjunction with the governor’s Oregon 150 Committee and the Oregon State Parks Department, will celebrate Oregon’s sesquicentennial at 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, at the Cheadle Lake Recreation Area. The public is invited.

LEBANON — The Linn County Arts Guild will sponsor a Downtown Lebanon Art Walk, Show and Sale from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 16.