AP-OR–2nd Right Now/1058
HORSE SPAYING BACKLASH
Advocates sue to stop plan to spay wild horses
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Advocates for wild horses have sought an injunction to stop researchers from surgically sterilizing more than 200 wild mares at a facility in Hines, Oregon.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has said the research would help determine whether the three methods to be studied could be safely used to control the wild horse population.
But the group Front Range Equine Rescue describes the experiments as unnecessary and barbaric.
Group president Hilary Wood says performing unproven surgeries is contrary to the BLM’s congressional mandate to care for wild horses, especially when an existing vaccine works as effective birth control.
The lawsuit seeking the injunction was filed Monday in Washington D.C.
The BLM did not have an immediate response to the lawsuit Tuesday.
KIDNAPPED FAMILY-THE LATEST
The Latest: Oregonian arrested in Calif. charged with murder
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A district attorney says an Oregon man arrested in California has been charged with murder in the killing of a woman from the central Oregon town of Bend.
Edwin Lara was arrested in Northern California early Tuesday following a high-speed chase on Interstate 5 and after an elderly man was shot and critically wounded in Yreka and a mother and her two sons were carjacked and kidnapped.
In Oregon, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says Lara was charged with killing Kaylee Sawyer, 23, who was last seen around 1 a.m. Sunday in Bend.
Bend Police Chief Jim Porter told a news conference that a body has been found that is believed to be Sawyer’s. He said a coroner would try to confirm the identity.
MISSING OREGON GIRL
Missing Oregon girl found safe
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 13-year-old girl reported missing from a campground west of Portland has been found safe.
Sgt. Bob Ray of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office says Emma Beggs flagged down a truck driver Tuesday morning.
The suburban Portland girl became lost Monday night while running along a trail. Searchers spent all night checking the rugged terrain. Ray says the girl has been reunited with her family.
COVER OREGON-ORACLE LAWSUIT
Oregon invests millions in lawsuit against software company
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon officials say the state has spent nearly $16 million so far building its case against the giant software company Oracle Corp.
The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports that the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office says the money went toward demonstrating that Oracle badly bungled the Cover Oregon health care exchange. The trial begins in January, and the Department of Justice has estimated that the cost of the lawsuit could be more than $27 million by next April.
That would make the lawsuit one of the most expensive in department history.
Not only is the case pricey, it’s mostly been kept under wraps. Oracle has argued for thousands of pages of evidence to be kept confidential and entire court hearings have been closed to the public.
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BROOKINGS PLANE CRASH
2 bodies identified from Oregon Coast plane crash
(Information from: Daily Courier, http://www.thedailycourier.com)
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel says a medical examiner has identified the bodies of a father and son from Grants Pass who died in a plane crash off the Oregon Coast.
The bodies of 46-year-old John Belnap and 17-year-old Max Belnap were recovered last week near Brookings.
The sheriff tells the Grants Pass Daily Courier that the search for the third victim, 17-year-old Ryan Merker, has been halted because of rough seas but will resume when conditions improve.
A memorial service for Merker was held Sunday. He and Max Belnap were friends and fellow athletes at Grants Pass High School.
The Cessna 172 crashed shortly after takeoff on the Fourth of July.
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ROSEBURG-PARKING LOT SMOKING
Roseburg bans smoking at 5 city-owned parking lots
(Information from: The News-Review, http://www.nrtoday.com)
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The Roseburg City Council has voted to ban smoking at five city-owned parking lots.
The News-Review reports six of seven councilors supported the move after a brief discussion Monday night. .
City councilor John McDonald, a longtime smoker, said he supported the new ordinance to save residents from unwanted odors and the effects of secondhand smoke.
The new ban includes electronic cigarettes.
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OREGON WILDFIRE
Firefighters work to contain Gilliam County fire
(Information from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com)
PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — Crews say they’ve gotten the better of a wildfire that has scorched about 56 square miles and threatened homes in eastern Oregon.
A spokeswoman for the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center tells The East Oregonian crews expected to have the Scott Canyon fire fully contained by Monday night.
The blaze started Thursday along the banks of the John Day River and spread toward the community of Mikkalo — halfway between Arlington and Condon.
The fire has been determined to be human-caused, but investigators are working to figure out exactly how it started.
Ground crews had battled the flames with help from six single-engine air tankers and three helicopters, which dumped water and retardant around the perimeter.
The structural damage was limited to one unoccupied homestead, which was completely destroyed.
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DAIRY PROPOSAL-EASTERN OREGON
Proposal could bring second large dairy to eastern Oregon
(Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Officials are considering a proposal for what would be the state’s second largest dairy in eastern Oregon.
The Statesman Journal reports the proposed Willow Creek Dairy would house 30,000 animals. Wym Matthews with the state Department of Agriculture says the dairy would be near Threemile Canyon Farms, which is the state’s largest dairy with 70,000 animals.
The department is accepting public comment on Willow Creek’s plans to manage the nearly 200 million gallons of manure it will produce each year.
Greg te Velde has operated the dairy with 8,000 animals for more than a decade on land leased from Threemile Canyon.
Morrow County officials are holding a public hearing Thursday to discuss water concerns with the project, which is located in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
