A woman was rescued after her house slid down this hillside and hit two others in Portland, Ore., Wednesday. A neighbor said the sound woke him up before dawn, and he looked out just in time to see the house occupied by Kathleen Hendrickson starting to "fall over." the neighbor and another man used a ladder to get Hendrickson off the debris. Recent rains were blamed.

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KNOXVILLE — A customer opened fire in a crowded shopping mall Wednesday afternoon, killing a clothing store employee before he was shot and wounded by police officers, authorities said. Witnesses said the gunfire sent people "stampeding" for cover.

The employee was shot multiple times after a confrontation with the man at Knoxville Center Mall, police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. The employee died at the scene.

Two Knoxville police officers confronted the man and exchanged gunfire with him as he left Reno Menswear, DeBusk said.

He was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center and was listed in stable condition. Police didn't release the names of the customer or of the gunman.

GLOUCESTER — The school board in this city where girls reportedly made a "pregnancy pact" will allow contraceptives to be distributed — with parental consent.

Gloucester school board Chairman Greg Verga says the vote Wednesday night was unanimous. It allows contraceptives to be distributed at the high school's health clinic.

Time magazine reported that some of the 17 pregnant girls at the high school had agreed to have kids and raise them together. The mayor and some of the pregnant girls denied any pact existed.

NEW YORK — A court says a man's escapade in New York with a decommissioned missile emblazoned with "Viva Viagra" is a dud.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Arye Sachs' antics infringe on a trademark held by Pfizer Inc. Sachs was ordered to stop displaying anything with Viagra logos.

He towed the 25-foot rocket last month to various spots in Manhattan, including Pfizer's headquarters.

His plan was to invoke Viagra while distributing politically themed condoms. The judge said people would mistake the missile for a Pfizer-approved ad.

LOS ANGELES — Two major railroad freight companies operating in Southern California say they will install new federally required systems at least three years before the deadline.

Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe representatives told a state Senate panel Wednesday that they would have the controls by 2012.

The systems could slow or stop a train if an engineer runs a red light or goes too fast. The controls would be installed on stretches the railroads operate in the Los Angeles area.

New federal legislation requires the technology to be installed by 2015. It comes after a Sept. 12 collision between a freight train and a commuter train that killed 25 people in the San Fernando Valley.

CAMP PENDLETON — A brush-fueled wildfire burned more than 1,000 acres Wednesday on a Marine Corps range used to train service members in explosive-ordnance disposal, officials said.

Maj. Kristen Lasica said she did not know whether there was any unexploded material on the range at Camp Pendleton, between San Diego and Los Angeles.

The fire began in the afternoon and burned uncontrolled, aided by winds as it moved toward the base's golf course, said Capt. Nick Schuler, a spokes-man for the California Department of Forestry and Fire. The fire was not threatening any buildings, but the golf course was evacuated as a precaution.

CHICAGO — A federal judge postponed convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko's sentencing date Wednesday, and one of his lawyers said he is working with federal prosecutors in hopes of getting a break for his client.

The decision to postpone the Oct. 28 sentencing barely stopped short of confirmation that Rezko is spilling his secrets to federal prosecutors. Speculation that Rezko is telling what he knows about Illinois political corruption has swept Chicago's federal courthouse for weeks.

Rezko was a major political fundraiser who bankrolled campaigns of both Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama. But he did not supply any money to Obama's current campaign and the Democratic candidate for president has not been accused of wrongdoing.

FAIRFIELD — An auctioneer says the sale price of a historic Colt Walker pistol has broken a record for all guns made by the company.

The James D. Julia auction house says an anonymous bidder paid $920,000 on Tuesday for the .44-caliber revolver. It was made for U.S. marshals in the 1840s, and its previous owner says he never fired it.

ATLANTIC CITY — The latest casualty of the economic crisis may be the ban on smoking in Atlantic City casinos.

The City Council moved Wednesday to postpone for a year a law that was to take effect next week banning smoking from the gambling floor. A final vote will be held in two weeks.

The casinos and the head of their largest workers union fear deep losses if smokers take their money elsewhere.