1st Oregon News Minute from the AP

OR–1st NewsMinute/337
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) – A 33-year-old man has been booked on a manslaughter charge after the death of an acquaintance during a fight at a camping area. Aaron Earl Curry was booked this week in connection with the death of 46-year-old Alan Eric Platt. Law enforcement officers say they investigated a report of an assault Tuesday night involving two people fishing. Authorities say an autopsy found the Oakridge man’s death was the result of “homicidal violence” during the fight.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) – A member of the Klamath Falls City Council has been arrested on a charge of sexual abuse of a boy under the age of 6. The Herald and News reports that 60-year-old Gregory Alvin Taylor was booked Wednesday at the Klamath County jail and released after posting 10 percent of the $100,000 bail. Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb said Taylor is accused of abusing the boy March 27 in Corvallis. Taylor teaches information technology at Klamath Community College.

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – State officials say four sheep are dead and a lamb is missing in Umatilla County in northeast Oregon, all believed killed by a wolf. The sheep were in pens on private land east of Weston. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says wolves have taken 57 animals statewide since 2009, and these are the first confirmed in Umatilla County. An investigation Wednesday led the department to conclude one wolf was responsible. It occurred near a wildlife area frequented by two wolves.

CARLTON, Ore. (AP) – Oregon’s nursery and grass seed farmers are seeing better times. They were hard hit by the housing bust of the Great Recession – demand for landscape plants and lawns plummeted. But, the Capital Press agricultural publication reports, farmers say things are looking up, at least some. Sales for nursery plants have risen, and grass seed growers are finally clearing out their inventories. But even if the big slump is over, rising fuel prices are taking a bite out of profit margins.

 

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.