Michaelle Dierich (cq) of Hayden was kidnapped, held captive and sexually tortured for 7 days over more than 16 years ago while living in Hillsboro, Oregon. Her alleged tormentors, two brothers, skipped bail as the trial was under way in 1991. Last October , one of the brothers turned himself in. The other is still on the loose here/Kathy Plonka, Spokesman-Review.

Stapilus: Cathy McMorris, Doc Hastings beat out Idaho delegates for most conservative congressmen from the Northwest. Rep. Jim McDermott and Sen. Patty Murray most liberal here.

1. Adam Morrison, a top-three NBA pick last season from Gonzaga, isn't enjoying his first season of pro basketball that much, but he's learning a lot in the school of hard knocks, according to Art Thiel/Seattle PI, here.

2. Montana is about to correct a law that had made it a crime to collect or sell old-time gambling equipment such as a 120-year-old roulette wheel with missing parts here.

3. As the second half of the state Legislature begins, the House will have this puzzler to ponder: What is a wild Montana huckleberry? State Sen. Jim Elliott, D-Trout Creek, thinks he knows and is sponsoring a bill that would bar labeling anything else with the words “Montana” and “huckleberry” here.

4. Hauled to the pokey here and need to post bail? Put it on plastic. The Missoula County Detention Center intends to accept credit-card payments for bail, as part of an effort to get people out of the building sooner and control jail crowding here.

5. After spending eight hours buried face up in the snow, a snowmobiler is facing six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for traveling in an area off-limits to motorized travel here.

6. IMHO-NW: John Blanchette/SR (Zag women dressed for success), Bill Hall/Lewiston Tribune (Why are we laughing over a dead woman?), Rebecca Nappi/SR (Kendall Yards in the cards), Michael Deeds/Idaho Statesman (Copy-protected music should be axed), and Leaning Straight Up (Coulter bad, Maher OK?).

Online Poll: 82% of 787 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll said schools should keep Pizza Hut's Read It program -- which rewards children for reading by providing pizza gift certificates -- although critics say in promotes poor nutritional habits and turns teachers into corporate promoters.

*Nampan who beheaded wife, killed two others, gets life without parole here.

*Portland officer gets OK to be funny here.

*Back-country skier killed in avalanche near Big Sky, Mont., here.

*Idaho gas prices likely to hit $3 here.

Orbusmax Special: Sunriver, Ore., police no longer can ticket for speeding, seatbelts, broken tail lights here.

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