Date: 07/17/2014 09:29 AM
AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute/261
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – A highway through the Ochoco Mountains of central Oregon remains closed by a wildfire, but the threat to about 10 scattered homes and ranches eased. Fire officials say the Bailey Butte fire burned more than 2,000 acres west of Mitchell and was moving south into the Ochoco National Forest. Several fires in the area have burned more than 4,000 acres.
ELKHORN, Wis. (AP) – A former police officer charged with dumping the bodies of women from Oregon and Minnesota along a rural Wisconsin road is due in court to enter a plea today. Authorities say 52-year-old Steven Zelich stuffed the bodies in suitcases. One was of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Zelich’s attorney says Zelich claims the women died accidentally during sexual encounters.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Romanian princess is pleading guilty to operating an illegal gambling business in connection with a cockfighting enterprise in eastern Oregon. Irina Walker and her husband, John, accepted plea deal in which the government dismissed charges of animal fighting and conspiracy to violate the animal welfare act.
MANTECA, Calif. (AP) – A third suspect has been arrested on suspicion of stealing three Volkswagen minibuses that were customized to look like bright orange Tillamook cheese loafs. KCRA-TV reports the man was taken in custody yesterday at his home in San Joaquin County. The $100,000 minibuses were stolen Saturday from a hotel parking lot in Manteca, where they had stopped on a tour promoting the Oregon-based Tillamook County Creamery Association’s dairy products.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.