Free Republic

CHICAGO (Reuters) - One in five U.S. teenagers say they have engaged in oral sex, an activity that some adolescents view as not sex at all and certainly less risky than intercourse, a report released Monday said. The survey of 580 children with a mean age of 14-1/2 found 20 percent said they had engaged in oral sex, compared to 14 percent who said they had engaged in sexual intercourse. In addition, one-third of the multi-ethnic 9th graders surveyed said they intended to have oral sex within the next six months and nearly one-fourth planned to have intercourse during the...

Flames force evacuations in The Dalles By ANDREW KRAMER The Associated Press 7/27/02 3:27 AM THE DALLES, Ore. (AP) -- A contingent of 125 Oregon National Guard troops headed for the Columbia River Gorge Saturday to help fight a 6,000-acre wildfire threatening 270 homes. The Sheldon Ridge fire spewed smoke over The Dalles and burned to within a few feet of some homes perched on the hillsides, some with dramatic views of the river and Mount Hood. Firefighters parked their red and yellow engines in driveways with lights flashing and prepared to fight house to house if the fire picked...

Kitzhaber Tours Fire Scenes, Guardsmen Arrive 07/22/2002 By kgw.com and AP Staff updated @ 3:20 p.m. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, conducting an aerial tour of Oregon's wildfires Monday afternoon, praised a group of property owners for taking steps to keep their homes from burning in the midst of the devastating Squire Peak Fire. Not one home around the community of Ruch was lost in the fire, although four outbuildings were destroyed. That fire was now 95 percent contained. Gov. Kitzhaber talks with folks in Ruch about fire conditions. (KGW Photo) Kitzhaber also said this year's early and devastating fires show...

Fires: Heat, dryness, lightning, wind fuel wildfire flames 07/22/02 STUART TOMLINSON and ERIC MORTENSON PAISLEY -- Oregon National Guard troops plan to join the battle today as 16 forest fires continue to rage unchecked in Central and Southern Oregon, burning 219,781 acres during the weekend and threatening hundreds of isolated homes and ranches despite the efforts of nearly 8,000 firefighters. Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to visit the Paisley area in south-central Oregon this afternoon, where the Winter and Tool Box fires merged during the weekend into a "megafire" covering more than 87,000 acres, the state's largest. He will also...