Date: 09/13/2013 10:59 AM
AP-OR–3rd NewsMinute/247
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Kip Kinkel has lost another attempt to shorten the 111-year sentence he received for the 1998 mass shooting at Springfield’s Thurston High School. A Marion County judge rejected an argument from Kinkel’s attorney yesterday that the prison term amounts to a life sentence that violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment – in part, because Kinkel was 15 years old at the time.
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) – A Forest Grove sex offender has been convicted of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl in a Hillsboro library. A Washington County Circuit Court judge found 70-year-old Douglas Sokell guilty Wednesday of sex abuse, unlawful contact with a child and unlawfully being where children congregate. Sokell was arrested last October after a library employee recognized him from a police flier.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Police recovered a stolen bicycle when the suspect rode right up to officers on a Portland sidewalk. Police say officers recognized the bike as one stolen last Friday from outside the Portland Building. It belongs to new Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat, who had tweeted a photo of the stolen bike she calls Beatrice. Beatrice was returned to her, and the suspect was booked on theft charge.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – Medford City Council members have agreed to fund a $32 million bond project for new police and fire stations without voter approval. They would pay for the projects with a utility fee surcharge over 30 years.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
