OR–3rd NewsMinute/233
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Sen. Jeff Merkley says a proposed budget cut would surrender national forests to illegal marijuana growers. He recently wrote a letter in opposition to the Obama administration’s proposed two-thirds cut in the National Guard Counterdrug Program. It pays for National Guard helicopter flights in support of local sheriff’s looking for marijuana in remote areas.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Two members of an Eastern Oregon ranching family have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to set fires on federal grazing lands. The trial for 70-year-old Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven Hammond is set for June 12 in Pendleton. They ranch near Diamond. Court papers suggest the Hammonds were unhappy at how long it took the BLM to conduct environmental studies before setting controlled fires to promote the growth of grass.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A teacher has been arrested at Newberg High School. KOIN reports the 29-year-old man is accused of furnishing alcohol to a former female student in December when she was a minor. He was booked by Newburg-Dundee police and released.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Gladstone man who posted ads on Craigslist inviting strangers to his ex-girlfriend’s Portland home for sex was sentenced to four years in prison. Andre Flom apologized yesterday in court. He pleaded guilty last week in Multnomah County to identity theft and computer crime.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.