5-year-old girl abducted in Southern California

STANTON, Calif. -- Detectives investigating the kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl were dispatched Tuesday to nearby Riverside County, where the body of a child about the same age as the missing girl was found.

Authorities said the body is of a girl age 4 to 6 and has similarities to Samantha Runnion, who was abducted kicking and screaming outside her Orange County apartment by a man who drove up and asked for help finding his dog.

"There are enough similarities in the individual who's out there to lead us to believe that it could be Samantha," Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona told reporters Tuesday night.

However, the sheriff said he would not have an identification of the body until Wednesday. The body was found near Highway 74, a major route between the two adjacent counties.

Samantha was snatched Monday evening from a road inside the apartment complex 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Her mother, Erin Runnion, wept Tuesday as she pleaded for the return of her daughter.

Intel to cut 4,000 jobs after poor earnings

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Intel Corp., the chip-making giant that has managed to avoid mass layoffs during the technology downturn, said Tuesday it is cutting 4,000 jobs, or nearly 5 percent of its work force.

The move came after the Silicon Valley company posted lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings.

Intel attributed the job cuts to weak demand for the chips that power personal computers.

"We haven't seen an economic recovery in our business yet," said Andy Bryant, chief financial officer. "We want to be cautious in our spending."

Most of the cuts will be made through attrition, Bryant said.

The world's largest semiconductor company had 83,000 employees worldwide at the end of the first quarter, down from 86,000 at the end of 2000.

Unlike other high-tech companies during the past year, Intel escaped large-scale layoffs and instead cut discretionary spending and postponed raises.

Nevada voters consider marijuana legalization

Nevada thrives on gambling, winks at brothels and gave the world the drive-through wedding. It could soon add another wrinkle to its anything-goes reputation by letting adults smoke marijuana just because they feel like it.

State officials announced recently that a petition drive had succeeded in putting a measure legalizing limited amounts of the drug on the fall ballot. Nevada is one of eight western states that recently decriminalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the new proposal is a bigger step.

If voters approve the proposal, adults in the state would be allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana without risk of criminal charges or fines. Marijuana also would be sold and taxed in stores licensed by the state. Smoking the drug would remain illegal in public places or while driving.

--From wire reports