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Latest Oregon news, sports, business and entertainment
FINAL FOUR-OREGON ST-UCONN
Tuck and Stewart lead UConn back to the title game
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Morgan Tuck scored 21 points and Breanna Stewart added 16 to help UConn rout Oregon State 80-51 in record fashion Sunday night in the women’s Final Four.
The Huskies are one victory away from a fourth consecutive national championship fulfilling Stewart’s goal. A feat never accomplished before in women’s basketball.
If UConn does win on Tuesday night coach Geno Auriemma will have an 11th national championship moving him past vaunted UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden for the most all time.
The 29-point victory was the biggest margin of victory in women’s Final Four history, surpassing the 28-point win by Tennessee over Arkansas in 1998. It was UConn’s 74th consecutive victory, the second-longest winning streak in NCAA and school history.
HEAT-TRAIL BLAZERS
McCollum has 24 points, Blazers beat Heat 110-93
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – C.J. McCollum had 24 points and made all six of his 3-point attempts to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Miami Heat 110-93 Saturday night for their seventh straight home win.
Despite the loss, the Heat still clinched a playoff spot after the Chicago Bulls fell 94-90 to Detroit earlier in the evening. Miami came into the game tied for the third seed in the East but dropped to sixth with the loss.
The Blazers made 10 3-pointers to break a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season with 808. They are in sixth place in the Western Conference and have not clinched a playoff spot yet.
Damian Lillard did not play in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points for the Blazers. Gerald Henderson came off the bench to score 17 points.
Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 21 points and 13 assists.
WWII VET HONORED
WWII veteran awarded 5 medals for service 70 years after war
(Information in the following story is from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com)
HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) – A 92-year-old Oregon man has been honored for his military service 70 years after he returned home from World War II.
The East Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/1RVSX9j ) that William Jones on Saturday was presented with five medals including a Presidential Citation, Good Conduct Medal, campaign medals for the American and Euro-African-Middle-Eastern campaigns and the World War II Victory Medal.
Jones says he didn’t apply for the medals after returning to the United States in 1945 because he believed he would be reassigned to Japan. When that conflict ended, he forgot about metals as he slipped back into civilian life.
Jones’s niece applied for the medals for him. She received offers to help from the offices of two Oregon Congressmen, Rep. Greg Walden and Sen. Ron Wyden.
IRRIGATION SEASON
Better snowpack but drought concerns linger in Oregon
(Information in the following story is from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com)
BEND, Ore. (AP) – Irrigation season is under way in central Oregon, and while the state’s snowpack is better than it was last year, the effects of last year’s drought linger.
The Bulletin newspaper of Bend reports (http://goo.gl/FYe7dd ) that several reservoirs in the region failed to fill to capacity before irrigation season began Friday, with irrigation districts delivering water to ranchers, farmers and other water rights holders. The irrigation season typically runs into October.
Water managers were unable to fill Wickiup Reservoir to capacity after it was drawn down significantly last year, and they released more water than usual last month to provide higher levels in the Deschutes River for the spotted frog to breed. The frog is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Thanks to the early releases and last year’s draw-down, it could be tough for the Wickiup to be replenished by snowmelt this irrigation season.
RIGHT-TO-DIE-CHEAPER MEDICATION
Right-to-die group comes up with new, cheaper medication
(Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com)
SEATTLE (AP) – Right-to-die advocates in Washington state have come up with a cheaper, alternative mixture of medication to help terminally ill patients end their lives after a drug company abruptly doubled the price commonly used medication.
The Seattle Times reports that doctors with the End of Life Washington advocacy group concocted the alternative for about $500.
Dr. Robert Wood, a University of Washington researcher who volunteers with the group, says the mixture works just as well.
Doctors in Oregon have also adopted the drug mixture. And in California, where a similar law takes effect later this year, officials are considering it as well.
The issue came up last year when Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Quebec acquired the rights to Seconal, the trade name of secobarbital sodium, the most commonly prescribed drug used by terminally ill patients to end their lives under the law. The firm doubled the cost, from $1,500 to more than $3,000.
RAPE KIT TESTING
2,800 Oregon rape kits shipped to Utah for testing
(Information from: KATU-TV, http://www.katu.com/)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Oregon police have shipped nearly 2,800 sexual assault kits to a private lab in Salt Lake City, where they’ll be tested for DNA thanks in part to grants from a district attorney’s office in New York.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office last year awarded $38 million toward the testing of rape kits nationwide. The money, from settlements with international banks that violated U.S. sanctions, is expected to help test more than 57,000 kits across the country, easing a major backlog.
KATU-TV reports that Portland police and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office each received $2 million. On Friday, police sent untested kits from Multnomah, Marion and Lane counties to Utah. More shipments are expected.
Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who has become an advocate for getting old kits tested so that evidence can be matched to perpetrators, says it’s an injustice that the kits have sat untested for so long. But she’s excited it’s being done now.
SEA LIONS-ASTORIA
Astoria port installs rails to keep docks free of sea lions
(Information from: The Daily Astorian, http://www.dailyastorian.com)
ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) – ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) – The Port of Astoria is trying to keep its docks free of sea lions with railings welded and painted by Knappa High School students.
The Daily Astorian reports the teenagers installed the rails at East End Mooring Basin last week, where a state wildlife official says an all-time high of 3,800 sea lions were recently counted.
Knappa High School metal shop students welded the railings and the art class added painted depictions of marine life. Students also installed a hanging metallic salmon sign directing visitors to the area.
Previous attempts to discourage sea lions from using the docks include electrified mats and beach balls.
Sea lions are still expected to congregate at the Columbia River, which contains food sources like smelt and salmon.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
