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Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
VALE, Ore. (AP) – An eastern Oregon couple pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges in the shooting of their grandchild’s father. The Ontario Argus Observer reports that 61-year-old Lester Reger and 50-year-old Erlene Reger entered their pleas Wednesday in Malheur County courtrooms. A third defendant, John Martin Fritz Jr., had his plea hearing delayed for two weeks. Prosecutors say 19-year-old Ramon Fry was shot and wounded after returning the child to the couple’s Ontario home.
UNDATED (AP) – Oregon officials were successful in getting permission to kill sea lions that feed on protected salmon trying to swim upriver to spawn. Now they want federal approval to shoot double-crested cormorants that eat millions of baby salmon trying to reach the ocean. In an April 5 letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service obtained by the AP, Oregon Wildlife Chief Ron Anglin says harassment has “proved insufficient” to control cormorants, and they want the option of killing some of the birds.
EAGLE POINT, Ore. (AP) – Teachers in the southern Oregon community Eagle Point have notified the state they intend to go on a strike next month if they don’t have a contract. The Mail-Tribune newspaper reports that negotiators for teachers and the Eagle Point School District have talked for more than a year without completing a deal. The employee bargaining team plans to meet with district negotiators again on May 1, a week before the strike date. Issues include salary, benefits and teacher prep time.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A Salem woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for allowing her 17-year-old daughter to work as a nude stripper. Christina Marie Lopez pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted use of a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. The issue came to light in December when the 42-year-old Lopez complained to police and media that a strip club hired her underage daughter. But the Statesman Journal says investigators found video showing the mother giving the girl money.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.