Date: 02/04/2016 09:27 AM
AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute/293
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A 23-year-old homeless man in Portland has been accused of 54 sexual crimes involving children. The Oregonian reports that police say the man has had several jobs that put him in contact with children. He worked at the Multnomah Education Service District Outdoor School. The district says he was placed on administrative leave in October when police informed the district about the investigation.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – The state could end up paying more than $500,000 to settle an excessive force case brought by a Eugene motorcyclist who was kicked in the chest by an Oregon State Police trooper in 2012. The Register-Guard reports that lawyers for Justin Wilkens are asking a judge to award them more than $343,000 in legal fees. Wilkens was awarded more than $181,000 last month when a federal jury ruled that Capt. Rob Edwards violated Wilkens’ rights by kicking him.
BEND, Ore. (AP) – Authorities have identified the two drivers killed in a head-on collision just east of Burns. The Bend Bulletin reports that State Police say Robert Heath of Christmas Valley and Milton Kowalski Jr. of Redmond collided Monday on U.S. Highway 20.
RENO, Nev. (AP) – The father of one of the four holdouts at the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon says Jeffrey Banta may have learned his distrust of the U.S. government from him growing up in rural Nevada. Willard Banta says he hopes his son and the others leave the refuge soon. But he told The Associated Press that he sympathizes with their frustration with federal land managers and worries how the standoff will end. The elder Banta says he would join them in Oregon if he wasn’t so old.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
