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If you drive a Subaru, you may want to avoid wearing perfume or a sweater treated with fabric softener—they could prevent the engine from starting. Subaru Corp. said Friday it plans to recall as many as 2.3 million Impreza and Forester vehicles world-wide after discovering that certain chemical compounds released by everyday products such as cosmetics, fabric softener or car polish could cause parts to malfunction. These malfunctions could affect a brake-light switch that is also involved in starting the engine or cause a vehicle-stability warning light to flash unnecessarily, the Japanese auto maker said. No accidents related to the...

Hillary Clinton dropped by the resort island of Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend to pick up more than $1 million in campaign contributions during an elegant party at the summer home of one of her most devoted supporters. Thirty people contributed $50,000 apiece to attend the Saturday night function at the home of Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a wealthy investment manager so committed to Clinton that she couldn’t bring herself to vote for then-Sen. Barack Obama after he defeated her candidate in 2008. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were on the island at the time of the Saturday...

While beetles at low levels always exist on Grand Mesa National Forest, some foresters worry the area may be on the verge of a beetle disaster. “It’s at the edge of possibly blowing up and killing a lot of trees,” said forester Kitty Tattersall of the Paonia and Grand Valley ranger districts. “We’re worried it could become a problem.” Mostly, foresters are concerned about the spruce beetle, whose outbreaks are normally triggered by blowdowns. Last October, violent winds toppled trees near the Alexander Lake area on the mesa, creating the potential for a spruce beetle epidemic. Spruce beetles usually emerge...

PORTLAND – Oregon farm and forest representatives urged a USDA panel to fund conservation programs and international trade programs in a 2007 Farm Bill forum here Oct. 25. Also in the listening session that included USDA Undersecretary Eric Bost, participants said it was important that Congress continue to fund price support programs, specialty crop grants and agricultural research in the next farm bill. Barry Bushue, president of the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, said the Farm Bureau supports a 2007 bill patterned after the 2002 bill, and he urged the USDA to back a bill with fully funded price support programs...