OR–2nd NewsMinute/306
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Nike executive is facing charges that he tried to kill his wife and four children with a natural gas leak. The Oregonian reports James Speidel was indicted by a Washington County grand jury on nine charges of attempted murder. Sheriff’s investigators said the line appeared intentionally cut and was placed so that gas could fill the crawl space, potentially leading to an explosion.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Authorities have found $981,000 in Oregon belonging to a fugitive accused of running a scam that collected millions in donations from people who believed they were helping U.S. Navy veterans. The Ohio Attorney General says the fugitive known as Bobby Thompson was arrested in Portland on Monday. Thompson founded the bogus charity United States Navy Veterans Association, believed to have collected nearly $2 million in Ohio and tens of millions from donors in 40 other states since 2001.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Despite being offered the option of receiving a simple citation, a Portland man who took off his clothes to protest airport security measures is insisting on a trial. In court yesterday, 49-year-old John Brennan didn’t accept an offer of taking a misdemeanor charge that would likely result in community service and a letter of apology. His lawyer called that “the easy way out.”
RENO, Nev. (AP) – Conservationists are seeking federal protection for a rare woodpecker that feeds on beetles in burned forests in parts of the West. Four groups filed a petition with the Interior Department to list the black-backed woodpecker as endangered in Oregon’s Eastern Cascades, the Sierra Nevada and the Black Hills. They say the Forest Service has done such a good job stomping out wildfires the past half-century that the bird is in danger of going extinct from lack of post-fire habitat.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
