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Latest Oregon news, sports, business and entertainment
SEA LIONS-SALMON UPDATE
Judge: Sea lion killings to save salmon can resume
A federal judge has ruled that Oregon authorities can resume
killing California sea lions that feast on endangered salmon
bottled up at a dam on the Columbia River, but he limited the
number of sea lions that can be killed.
Washington D.C. federal Judge James Boasberg denied the Humane
Society of the United States request to stop the killing at the
Bonneville Dam while a lawsuit goes forward. But he limited the
killing to 30 animals a year instead of the 92 authorized by
federal authorities, and ordered that none of them may be shot.
California sea lions that hang around the dams eating salmon,
and refuse to leave despite hazing go on a kill list.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Jessica Sall
said the limits should not pose a problem.
T-MOBILE-OREGON
Redmond, Ore., T-Mobile call center closing
REDMOND, Ore. (AP) – One of the seven call centers that
cellphone carrier T-Mobile USA Inc. is closing is located in
Redmond, Ore.
T-Mobile said Thursday it’s cutting 1,900 jobs nationwide as it
consolidates its call centers from 24 to 17 in an effort to reduce
costs and remain competitive. The seven will close by the end of
June.
Oregon’s Department of Community Colleges and Workforce
Development says it has been told 359 workers will be laid off at
the Redmond center.
Roger Lee is the executive director of Economic Development for
Central Oregon. He tells KTVZ that the Redmond center opened in
2004 and at its peak had nearly 900 employees, although that number
has dropped in recent years.
About 3,300 people work at the centers due to be shuttered, but
T-Mobile said it plans to hire up to 1,400 people at the remaining
17 centers. The company says workers whose jobs are eliminated will
have a chance to transfer to the remaining call centers.
T-Mobile is the smallest of the four national carriers and is
dealing with steep subscriber loses.
CHEMICAL EXPLOSION
Chemical explosion at Portland factory injures 2
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Portland Fire spokesman says an
explosion involving a chemical reactor at a silicon factory has
injured two people.
Spokesman Paul Corah says two men were doing maintenance
Thursday night near the chemical reactor at Wacker Siltronics. The
reactor combines chemicals for the manufacturing process.
Corah says reports indicate the explosion occurred when oxygen
entered the atmosphere and interacted with a substance called
trichlorosilane. He says that’s a chemical compound of silicon,
hydrogen and chlorine.
A 56-year-old man and a 58-year-old man reported respiratory
problems after the explosion and were taken to a Portland hospital.
Corah says their conditions are not life-threatening.
Two plant technicians and two Portland Fire hazmat technicians
are assessing the chemical reactor’s condition.
The explosion drew more than 40 Portland Fire personnel.
Corah says the explosion was confined to one part of the plant,
which makes semiconductor wafers.
SALEM FIREFIGHTERS-GUARD
Salem, ex-firefighters settle National Guard suit
(Information in the following story is from: Statesman Journal,
http://www.statesmanjournal.com)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The city of Salem has settled lawsuits with
two former firefighters who alleged they were dismissed during
probation because of their National Guard obligations.
One said he was fired after telling supervisors he might be
deployed to Iraq.
The Salem Statesman Journal reported Thursday the two will get a
total of $130,000.
The city has also reached a settlement with the attorney
general’s office, which says an investigation found a pattern of
retaliation and discrimination against members of the National
Guard and Army Reserves in the fire department.
While reaching the settlements, the city continued to deny
discriminating against employees with military obligations.
A federal judge will oversee what the attorney general’s office
describes as “dramatic reforms” the city must make in dealing
with employees in the military.
GOODWILL-RESELLERS
Goodwill curbs jostling for goods to sell online
(Information in the following story is from: The Oregonian,
http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The management at Goodwill Industries says
it’s cut down on the fierce competition for goods – especially
books – at its outlet stores in such places as Hillsboro and
Milwaukie.
Hard times and Internet sales sites such as eBay have turned
treasure hunting into a living for some, as resellers rush for
goods.
The Oregonian describes a 64-year-old book browser who went to
court for a stalking order against a man she says hit, shoved and
threatened her in his pursuit of large numbers of valuable books.
A judge granted the order, but the Oregon Court of Appeals has
struck it down, saying she hadn’t met stringent requirements under
Oregon law.
Officials of Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette say
the man was banned, and crowds are better controlled.
SKIER KILLED
Man, 37, dies in Ore. skiing accident
GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) – A Clackamas County sheriff’s
officer says a 37-year-old Portland, Ore., man is dead after a
skiing accident at Mt. Hood Skibowl.
Lt. James Rhodes identified the man killed Wednesday evening as
James Malcarne.
Hoodland Fire District Chief Mic Eby says emergency crews
arrived at the mountain to find ski patrol members performing CPR
on the man, who suffered an apparent head injury after crashing on
a run. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rhodes says Malcarne had been skiing with friends, who started
searching for him when he didn’t arrive at the end of a run. They
found him at the base of a tree. He was wearing a helmet and his
friends report he was an experienced skier.
The Oregonian says a 17-year-old Sandy girl died in January at
the ski area after she hit a tree while snowboarding.
CATTLE POLLUTION SENTENCE
Ore. man gets jail, fine for cattle pollution
ST. HELENS, Ore. (AP) – An 86-year-old man has been sentenced to
five days in jail and fined $300,000 for running a sloppy cattle
operation that polluted creeks running into the Columbia River.
William Holdner was sentenced Wednesday in Columbia County
Circuit Court in St. Helens, Ore., on two felony water pollution
counts and 25 misdemeanors stemming from cow manure running into
local creeks.
The case was prosecuted by the Oregon state attorney general’s
office.
Authorities say neighbors had been complaining for years about
Holdner, who ran as many as 400 cattle on a 100-acre pasture, where
he fed them hay, but took no steps to control the runoff of manure.
The judge ordered him to dispose of the cattle within 90 days.
COLUMBIA PLANE CRASH
NTSB: Light plane hit tree near Rainier, Ore.
(Information in the following story is from: The Daily News,
http://www.tdn.com)
RAINIER, Ore. (AP) – A preliminary report from the National
Transportation Safety Board suggests that a light plane that
crashed near Rainier, Ore., collided with a tall tree. Both the
flight instructor and a 17-year-old student aboard that plane died.
The Daily News of Longview reports that an NTSB report released
Thursday suggests the aircraft hit a tree about three miles north
of Goble.
A final report isn’t expected for several months.
The crash apparently happened at about 5:30 p.m. on March 14.
The plane had departed from Pearson Airport in Vancouver.
Killed were 47-year-old flight instructor Todd Norrish of Camas
and student pilot Jimmy Kravets of Vancouver. The preliminary
report does not say who was flying the plane.
The report says a portion of the right wing was found at the
tree while the rest of the damaged plane was found nose-down about
200 feet away in a field.
The single-engine Cessna 150 was owned and operated by Aero
Maintenance Flight Center of Vancouver.
TORTURE DEATH-CUSTODY
Convicted Eugene couple give up custody of son
(Information in the following story is from: The Register-Guard,
http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – The Eugene couple convicted last year in the
torture death of a daughter have given up custody of their
8-year-old son.
Attorneys for Angela and Richard McAnulty told a Lane County
Juvenile Court hearing on Wednesday that they now support finding a
permanent home for the boy.
The Register-Guard reports the move clears the way for the boy
to be adopted. He has been in temporary foster care.
Angela McAnulty is on death row after pleading guilty to
aggravated murder in the torture, abuse and starvation death of
15-year-old Jeanette Maples in 2009. Richard McAnulty is serving a
life prison sentence after pleading guilty to murder by abuse.
OREGON DECAPITATION
No new lights for killing site on Ore. bike path
(Information in the following story is from: The Ashland Daily
Tidings, http://www.dailytidings.com)
ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) – There will be no new streetlights installed
on the bike path in Ashland where a young grocery clerk was nearly
decapitated last fall.
The Ashland Daily Tidings reported that the City Council has
agreed to go along with recommendations from the police chief and
city staff that the lighting could actually be counterproductive,
giving people a false sense of safety, and was likely to draw
complaints about light pollution from neighbors.
The council did agree to move forward on building a memorial
bench and light in honor of David Grubbs, who was killed in
November walking home from work along the path as darkness fell.
Nobody has been arrested.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUST
Medical marijuana business owner arrested again
(Information in the following story is from: Daily Courier,
http://www.thedailycourier.com)
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – The owner of a medical marijuana center
in Grants Pass has been busted again.
The Grants Pass Daily Courier reports that 62-year-old Larry
Lacey was arrested after a regional drug squad seized 15 pounds of
marijuana and 300 small plants at his home Wednesday in the rural
community Wolf Creek.
Officers also found marijuana-laced candy at his Get Your Hemp
On business in Grants Pass, where a hand-written sign says it is
closed until further notice.
Lacey is to go on trial in September on charges he was illegally
selling medical marijuana out of that business in February 2011.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-23-12 0404EDT
