Free Republic

The patient needed just a nip and a tuck — nothing three experienced plastic surgeons couldn't handle. But the patient in this case was a 12-foot Pacific giant squid, and already dead. On Friday, surgeons hunched over a gelatinous carcass, laid out like a wet dress on a stainless steel table outside the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Their mission: Stitch up its battle wounds and reattach its head. OIMB's director, Craig Young, said the goal was to make the creature a presentable attraction at the future Charleston Marine Life Center. Plans call for a 6,000-square-foot, two-story public museum and...

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - A bill passed by lawmakers on Saturday would make Oregon the first U.S. state to require a doctor's prescription for cold medicines containing an ingredient that can be used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine. "We hope this will reduce the supply" of meth, Democratic state Sen. Ginny Burdick told Reuters after the Senate passed the bill. Oregon's House of Representatives approved the measure earlier this month and Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski was expected to sign it. The bill has widespread support, but critics say it would hurt people without medical insurance who cannot afford to...