Smoke in plane cabin — A plane carrying 75 passengers from Southern Oregon to Salt Lake City reported smoke in the cabin a few minutes after takeoff and returned to the airport, where it landed safely. The manager of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, Bern Case, said a couple of passengers on the Delta Air Lines flight operated by Sky West were affected temporarily by smoke before they got off the plane. He says Flight 4674 took off at about 6:15 a.m. Monday and was back at the airport within about 10 minutes. Sky West spokeswoman Marissa Snow says mechanics were going over the CRJ 900 jet to determine the cause of the smoke, and passengers were booking new flights. Snow adds that smoke in the cabin can sometimes be caused by air conditioner units.

Train death — Marion County sheriff’s officers say a 17-year-old girl is dead after she was hit by an Amtrak train north of Salem. KATU-TV reports the train was bound from Portland to Klamath Falls on Monday afternoon when the crew spotted the young woman on the tracks. Deputies say the engineer sounded the train whistle and rang emergency bells. The victim was not immediately identified pending notification of relatives. The train carrying more than 350 passengers was delayed a little more than an hour.

Guilty plea in barista murder — A neighbor and fellow church-goer has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and related charges in the October slaying of a 21-year-old Gresham barista. Jonathan Holt entered his pleas Monday in Circuit Court in Oregon City and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of Whitney Heichel. Police say Holt waited outside the young woman’s apartment the morning of Oct. 16, 2012, then talked her into giving him a ride on the way to her job at Starbucks. Investigators say he then ordered her at gunpoint to drive him to Rosyln Lake in Clackamas County, where he sexually assaulted her and shot her. Holt addressed the court, saying, in his words, “I want to say that I’m sorry, but at the same time I know that doesn’t mean anything.”

— From wire reports