By James Clark Morrison Tool and Fab owner Ron Wilson has announced a job fair for this coming Saturday. He says he has immediate openings for 60 to 70 full-time employees. Is it just me or is it way too early to go back to school? I think it’s time for Alice Cooper to revise…

McMinnville resident Ralph Quinten Grandey, 78, died July 18 at River Park Hospital after an extended illness.A longtime farmer and a member of the Church of Christ, he served his country in World War II, serving as the personal honor guard of Douglas McArthur in Japan.The son of the late Ernest and Ethel Grandey Sr.,…

NEW YORK (AP) — Recent disclosures of massive data leaks at information brokers, banks and retailers have prompted Congress to once again consider tightening access to Social Security numbers, which have evolved into dangerous master keys for fraudsters. But Social Security numbers already have come under a hodgepodge of restrictions over the years, and many…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Technology that helps the military align targets and motorists find their way is being tapped to track some sex offenders forever. Spurred by headlines of released sex offenders accused of murder, some states are mandating use of the Global Positioning System for tracking. Many lawmakers see electronic monitoring as a…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The GOP-controlled Senate voted Friday to make permanent most of the expiring provisions of the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act. Senators, however, set new four-year expiration dates on the most controversial provisions of the law, those allowing federal agents to use roving wiretaps and to search library and medical records. The passage of…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say the variety of tuna, marlin, swordfish and other big ocean predators has declined up to 50 percent over the past half-century due to overfishing. For the first time, ecologists and oceanographers mapped the hotspots with the largest concentrations of many big fish species, then and now. Their findings are reported…

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Roberts would replace the first woman on the Supreme Court at a time when interest groups are more focused than ever on the court’s position on abortion. Only one female lawmaker will question Roberts publicly and then vote on whether his nomination should advance to the full Senate. “It certainly gives…

By TODD PITMAN / Associated Press Writer DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — In Niger, a desert country twice the size of Texas, most of the 11 million people live on a dollar a day. Forty percent of children are underfed, and one out of four dies before turning 5. And that’s when things are normal. Throw…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Astronomers announced Friday that they have discovered a new planet larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun. The discovery in the outlying regions of solar system was made with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory, planetary scientist Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology said in a…

By MATT SLAGLE / AP Technology Writer With traditional pinball machines, keeping the silvery ball from rolling out of play is enough of a challenge. “Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball” ($20, PlayStation 2, rated E) adds a bizarre, psychedelic mix of new obstacles: Alligators, butterflies and flying saucers join the usual flippers and bumpers. It’s an approachable,…