AP-OR–2nd Right Now/1162
WORKER TRENCH DEATH
Authorities: Worker dies in trench collapse
(Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a 27-year-old construction worker died when a trench collapsed and buried him in Portland.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the collapse happened Thursday morning while workers were installing a sewage line at a Portland home.
Authorities say the man had been working at the bottom of an 11-foot deep trench and was outside the temporary walls created to prevent collapse when it caved in.
Portland Fire and Rescue officials say the man had been working for TC Excavating for a little over a year.
It wasn’t clear what caused the trench to collapse. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating.
Authorities haven’t named the man who was killed.
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FUGITIVE SENTENCED
Man accused of kidnapping, rape decades ago pleads guilty
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who had been on the run for more than two decades after being charged with the kidnapping and torture of two prostitutes in Oregon has pleaded guilty to the crimes.
Paul Jackson entered guilty pleas Thursday to kidnapping, rape, sodomy, sex abuse and unlawful sexual penetration as part of a plea deal.
Jackson was arrested last fall in Mexico, where authorities say he had been living for several years under an assumed name.
Jackson disappeared in 1991 while awaiting trial on charges that he and his older brother kidnapped prostitutes and held them captive.
His brother, Vance Roberts, was convicted in 2007 of similar charges. He is serving a 108-year prison sentence.
Jackson faces an 18-year sentence when he’s sentenced Tuesday.
FIRE STATION-MOLD
Toxic mold shuts down Oregon City fire station
(Information from: KPTV-TV, http://www.kptv.com/)
OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — A Clackamas County fire station has closed down after toxic mold was found inside the facility, forcing firefighters to temporarily relocate.
KPTV-TV reports that fire spokesman Steve Hoffeditz says medical response time for residents in Oregon City’s Hilltop District 16 should not be affected by the closure. The station’s five firefighters are being moved to another station in Oregon City a few miles away.
Fire Captain Andy Welks says the mold was discovered after he and some of his crew had been experiencing allergy-like symptoms and noticed a bad odor in the building.
Officials expect the Hilltop station to remain closed for at least another month while it undergoes inspection and the mold is removed.
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SEX ABUSE-SENTENCE
Creswell man sentenced for sexual abuse of girl
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Lane County man charged with sexually abusing a girl more than a decade ago has been sentenced to 29 years in prison.
The Register-Guard reports that 60-year-old Ray Alan Butler, of Creswell, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to sexual abuse and unlawful penetration.
Butler was arrested in March after a woman, now 23, told police he had molested her over the course of several years when she was a child.
Court records say police recorded a phone call between Butler and the victim, during which he allegedly admitted to the abuse.
The Lane County District Attorney’s Office says detectives found he had previously been convicted of sexually abusing another child in Curry County in 1985.
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BILL CLINTON
Bill Clinton makes second Portland stop for Hillary
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton was in Portland after visiting Bend to campaign for his wife and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
His Thursday afternoon Portland visit drew hundreds of people near downtown, marking his second Oregon campaign stop ahead of the state’s May 17 primary.
Hillary Clinton so far hasn’t made a campaign stop in Oregon, where she’s clinched several of the state’s 13 superdelegates, although support for her opponent Bernie Sanders is strong in Oregon. Sanders came to the state for a third time last week.
Bill Clinton’s Thursday visit comes the day before presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s rally in Eugene, which will be his first campaign appearance in Oregon.
OREGON STANDOFF-APOLOGY
1 of the occupiers of Oregon refuge apologizes for rants
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — One of the defendants in the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon earlier this year has apologized for video rants he made that were widely seen during the standoff.
Sean Anderson, 47, told a federal judge Wednesday he was “embarrassed” and “ashamed” by the videos from the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In one Anderson told supporters if police stopped them on their way to the refuge they should “kill them.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Anderson spoke at the urging of U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones, who said he wanted to hear directly from the defendant before reviewing a magistrate judge’s order calling for Anderson’s release before trial.
The judge ruled that Anderson could return to Riggins, Idaho. Jones urged Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddings, who wrote a letter to the court in support of Anderson, to monitor Anderson’s release.
The armed occupiers took over the refuge on Jan. 2, demanding that the government turn over the land to locals. Twenty-six were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to impede employees at the wildlife refuge from performing their duties.
OREGON PRIMARY VOTERS
Unprecedented number of people register for Oregon primary
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An unprecedented number of Oregonians changed their voter registrations to Democrat or Republican this year and can now cast a presidential ballot in the state’s May 17 primary.
The Secretary of State says that about 111,000 voters switched to the two major parties this year, mostly to Democrat, which is more than three times the enthusiasm voters displayed during Obama’s 2008 primary campaign. Back then, Oregon’s presidential primary saw the highest turnout since the mid-1970s.
This year’s data suggests turnout could be even higher, but the excitement that had been building around the role Oregon could play in the nomination process was doused by Tuesday’s game-changing primary in Indiana.
Now with presumptive nominees nearly clenched on both sides, it’s unclear how Oregonians will respond in two weeks.
BANK BOMBING
Oregon Supreme Court affirms Woodburn bombing convictions
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court has affirmed the convictions and death sentences for a father and son who killed two police officers in a bank bombing.
Bruce and Joshua Turnidge were convicted in 2010 of building and planting the bomb that exploded at a bank in Woodburn. The December 2008 blast killed a state police bomb technician who was trying to dismantle the explosive and a Woodburn police captain who was helping.
The high court Thursday rejected assertions that there were errors at trial.
The Turnidges are among more than 30 people on Oregon’s Death Row. The state currently has a moratorium on executions.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
