Latest Oregon news, sports, business and entertainment

WOLF BILL

3 lawmakers hit with ethics complaint over wolf bill

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Three Oregon lawmakers have been hit with an ethics complaint filed by environmentalists, arguing they broke state law by deliberately misrepresenting the purpose behind House Bill 4040, the so-called wolf delisting bill, during the legislative session earlier this year.

Environmentalists filed the complaint Monday with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission against Republican Reps. Greg Barreto, Brad Witt and Sal Esquivel.

The Oregon Court of Appeals cited the bill last month when tossing out a lawsuit filed by environmentalists trying to reverse a state decision to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list.

The ethics complaint says the lawmakers in February repeatedly denied that the bill’s purpose was to intervene in the courtroom.

HIKERS FALL

3-year-old survives fall from cliff that kills his mother

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 3-year-old boy survived a 50-foot fall at a popular Oregon hiking trail that killed his 37-year-old mother.

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Alexander says deputies responded late Sunday afternoon after learning that two hikers had fallen off a cliff at Horsetail Falls along the Columbia River Gorge.

The woman and the boy fell about 50 feet and then tumbled another 20-to-30 feet down a slope.

The woman was brought up to the trailhead, but died at the scene. The medical examiner’s office identified her as Stephanie Cohen of Portland.

An ambulance took her son to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Alexander described the boy’s injuries as serious.

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s spokesman’s name in the second paragraph.

WARM SPRINGS-MARIJUANA

Warm Springs tribe breaks ground on marijuana grow facility

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has broken ground on a new marijuana-growing facility that is set to be Oregon’s first tribal-owned marijuana grow operation.

The construction work on the 36,000-square-foot greenhouse started Friday and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The tribe plans to open three retail stores, with sales slated to begin in early 2017.

Tribal officials expect the project to create more than 80 jobs and generate about $11 million in the first year and $27 million by the fifth year of operation.

Members of the tribe had voted in December to approve the marijuana grow operation.

The tribe is working with Denver-based company Sentinel Strainwise to train employees and get the greenhouse up and running.

CANBY FATAL SHOOTING

Canby man convicted in 2014 killing gets life in prison

(Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Canby man convicted of aggravated murder for shooting and killing a marijuana dealer in 2014 has been sentenced to life in prison.

The Oregonian/OregonLive.com reports that that 29-year-old Michael Orren was sentenced Monday for the second time in the case. In February 2015, he was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison for first-degree robbery. The sentences will run concurrently.

Orren is one of four people that have been convicted in the death of Edward Spangler, who was shot after a plot to steal his marijuana went awry.

Francis Weaver was found guilty of murder in March and sentenced to life in prison. Shannon Bettencourt and Orren’s ex-wife, Brittany Edicott, were convicted of robbery and both received 7 ½-year prison terms.

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CROOK COUNTY JAIL SPACE

Convicted Crook County criminals go free due to crowded jail

(Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com)

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Dozens of convicted offenders in Crook County have been set free due to a lack of jail space.

The Bulletin reports that Crook County’s Public Safety Advisory Committee is recommending the county build a new jail as a study found 70 to 90 people convicted of misdemeanors in any given month are either released early or avoid incarceration entirely.

Based on the study, the committee is recommending a new jail with at least 70 beds.

Currently, the county jail has 16 beds and rents an additional 25 beds for prisoners in the Jefferson County jail. According to the committee’s report, an average of 103 people per month were sentenced to jail time in Crook County between 2014 and 2015.

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DEPUTY CLEARED

Oregon deputy cleared in fatal crash

(Information from: Herald and News, http://www.heraldandnews.com)

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police investigators have cleared a Klamath County sheriff’s deputy who was involved in a fatal traffic collision while trying to catch a suspect last fall.

An OSP report obtained by the Herald and News says the driver who died, 28-year-old Matthew Colligan, caused the collision by pulling out in front of Deputy Derek Randall’s patrol vehicle.

The crash occurred after midnight, and Colligan was leaving a driveway concealed by foliage with his headlights off.

The deputy had been pursuing Colligan after noticing a pickup that had been reported stolen earlier in the evening.

The deputy’s vehicle struck the driver’s side of the pickup at about 70 mph. He told investigators the truck appeared so suddenly he did not have time to stop.

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TRIBAL CHAIRMAN RE-ELECTED

Klamath Tribes chairman wins re-election

(Information from: Herald and News, http://www.heraldandnews.com)

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — The Klamath Tribes chairman has been elected for another three-year term.

The Herald and News reports that Chairman Don Gentry won the April 27 tribal election with 201 votes. Ten candidates ran for the position.

Myra Gail Hatcher was elected vice chairman.

Gentry says he’s looking forward to working with the new elected officials. He says the Tribes are discussing opening an RV park and hotel and expanding the casino.

Gentry and other winners will take office after a period for contesting the election has passed. Gentry says the new tribal council will hold its first meeting May 11 if no complaints are filed.

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SAGE GROUSE-NEVADA MUSTANGS

US agency’s Nevada boss urges roundup of 4,000 mustangs

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management’s Nevada director wants to round up 4,000 wild horses in Elko County this summer in response to the continued deterioration of drought-stricken rangeland.

That’s more mustangs than were gathered across 10 Western states combined last year.

BLM Nevada Director John Ruhs says it won’t be possible to consider lifting livestock grazing restrictions in the northeast corner of the state without removing the mustangs from four herd management areas.

He says the horse gathers also would benefit the greater sage grouse.

Conservationists say the call for more roundups is a misguided attempt to placate ranchers at the expense of horses and grouse. They say cattle do far more damage than mustangs to the parched range and the imperiled bird.