Here's a list of local issues that have been covered recently in the Gazette-Times and the status of those stories:

Inavale School

WHAT: Local parents and other residents are trying to create a charter school out of the recently closed Inavale School.

THE LATEST: In October, residents trying to open Muddy Creek Charter School turned in a proposal to the Corvallis School District, which would oversee such a venture.

NEXT UP: A series of hearings on the proposal will start at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the district office, 1555 S.W. 35th St. Proponents of the charter school and a district review committee will make presentations.

Firefox crop circle

WHAT: Members of Oregon State University's Linux Users Group have a history of paying homage to Firefox, a free Internet browser produced by Mozilla. OSU's open source lab stores the servers for Firefox. In August, the student group created a crop circle near Amity to commemorate Firefox's 200 millionth download. Students pressed a 220-foot diameter design based on the Firefox logo into an oat field.

THE LATEST: The crop circle has been incorporated into Google Earth. The image can be viewed by inputting the address 11955 S.E. Eola Hills Road, Amity, OR 97101, then scrolling up a bit.

WHAT'S NEXT: Firefox 2.0 launched in October, and it remains to be seen what - if any - grand plan OSU students will hatch to celebrate the event.

FedEx Theft

WHAT: A Corvallis FedEx employee, Lance Powell, 33, was arrested in September on suspicion of first-degree aggravated theft. Powell, an Albany resident, was found to have over $60,000 of stolen merchandise at his home, all from packages he was supposed to deliver but allegedly took home instead.

THE LATEST: Powell was arraigned Nov. 11 on the theft charge. A search of financial records at two local banks has revealed information about where more stolen property might have been disposed.

WHAT'S NEXT: Law enforcement agencies will determine whether federal charges are warranted because of the sizable total value of the stolen goods.