STRIP CLUB SHOOTING
Man pleads guilty in fatal Salem strip club shooting
(Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and firearms charges in connection with a fatal shooting outside a Salem strip club.
The Statesman Journal reports 29-year-old Christopher Lauderdale pleaded guilty last week as part of a plea deal.
Court documents say Lauderdale shot Roderick Adams Jr. of Salem in 2015 in a confrontation over a woman who danced at the club. Medics found the 31-year-old Adams on the ground with a gunshot wound to the forehead. He died several days later.
Lauderdale fled but was arrested by Salem police.
Court documents say Adams went to the club to find Lauderdale and was shot when Adams confronted him.
In his defense, Lauderdale claimed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and the shooting was done in self-defense.
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RURAL VETERANS-TRANSPORTATION
Oregon receives $500K to assist veterans in 10 counties
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has received $500,000 to provide free transportation to medical appointments for veterans living in 10 of the nation’s most rural counties.
The money will go to transportation agencies in Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Lake, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Wallowa and Wheeler counties.
Nearly 9,500 veterans live in these counties, which have a population of fewer than seven people per square mile.
Oregon has secured the grants since 2014 and this year it will receive the maximum amount of $50,000 per county.
The grants allow local transportation agencies to provide free transport for veterans to and from medical appointments that are often hours away from their homes.
Nearly 300 counties in 25 states qualify as “highly rural counties” and can apply for the grant money.
PORTLAND POLLUTION
Air quality improves near Portland glass factory
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — State health officials say air quality has improved near a southeast Portland glass-making company that’s been at the center of pollution concerns.
The Oregon Health Authority says levels of airborne heavy metals near Bullseye Glass are 98 percent lower than when they were first measured last year.
Bullseye officials say they’ve installed filters on 12 of their furnaces and will install another six by the end of the month.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has removed two of its four air quality monitors near the facility. One of the remaining monitors is stationed at a nearby day care center.
State regulators announced in February they discovered hazardous levels of cadmium and arsenic in the air near Bullseye Glass, prompting the company to suspend use of the metals.
REFUNDS-FILING FEES
Multnomah County to issue refunds over incorrect filing fees
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Multnomah County will be issuing $4 checks to thousands of residents after overcharging them for filing fees.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the county said Monday it had incorrectly charged residents, property owners and businesses for certain filings between July 28 and Oct. 17.
The county commission had decreased the filing fee from $10 to $6, but the change wasn’t reflected in the recording office computer system until an employee noticed the discrepancy last week.
About 30,000 documents were mistakenly charged with the higher fee.
The county is reaching out to the parties eligible for a refund.
County spokesman Mike Pullen says title companies that filed documents during the affected period and passed filing costs on to property owners will be responsible for refunding their customers.
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CAR THEFT-ASSAULT-SENTENCE
Portland suspect sentenced for stomping on man’s head
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 50-year-old man charged with stealing a vehicle and an assault on the car owner that left the victim brain damaged has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Nick Allen Lucas was sentenced Monday after pleading no contest in the case.
Lucas had been accused of driving a vehicle reported stolen by 64-year-old Gregory Anderton in June 2015.
Anderton had spotted his 1998 Subaru Legacy in a Safeway parking lot about six weeks later and tried to get it back.
Authorities say Lucas began to attack Anderton, who attempted to run away but fell.
Video surveillance of the incident shows Lucas stomping on Anderton once in the head.
Lucas’ attorney had argued that his client didn’t realize Anderton was the vehicle’s rightful owner.
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CHEESE TRUCK CRASHES
Semi hauling shredded cheese crashes on I-5 near Ashland
(Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/)
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police say a semi hauling more than 40,000 pounds of shredded cheese crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 5 near Ashland.
The semi took out 320 feet of the guardrail and cheese spilled onto the highway
The Mail Tribune reported that the truck driver was hauling the product in a refrigerated box trailer for Papa John’s Pizza. The truck and trailer were totaled in the crash, and a salvage team from a towing company cleared away the spilled cheese.
The California man driving the truck complained of minor back pain, but declined to be taken to a hospital. Police have not said what caused the crash.
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KEN KESEY SQUARE
Eugene residents want plaza named after author Ken Kesey
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A group of Eugene residents wants the city’s public square named after author Ken Kesey, a native Oregonian.
The Register-Guard reports that the square officially known as Broadway Plaza will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Friday. It contains a statue of Kesey reading to his grandchildren and many Eugene residents know it by its informal moniker, Kesey Square.
A group called Friends of Kesey Square asked city officials to change the name last week. The City Council would have to approve the name change.
Jerry Diethelm, a co-founder of the group and retired University of Oregon professor, says he had received no response from Eugene officials as of Thursday.
Kesey grew up in Springfield and graduated from the UO. Diethelm says Kesey’s work represents “real creativity and Northwest focus.”
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AMERICAN SNEAKER FACTORIES
Is sneaker production making a return run to the US?
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Reebok is announcing plans to open a new high-tech manufacturing laboratory in Rhode Island to make sneakers by pouring liquid plastic.
Reebok Head of Future Bill McInnis said Monday that the new facility bucks the practice of most shoe-molding and production work happening in Asia.
Germany’s Adidas, which owns Massachusetts-based Reebok, is also opening its first U.S. factory in Georgia next year as part of a trend of saving costs by bringing goods closer to the people buying them.
McInnis says an industrial robot at the Burrillville, Rhode Island, facility will draw ribbons of liquid that harden into an outsole. It’s a partnership with footwear plastics company The AF Group, Inc., which is headquartered in nearby Lincoln.
Equipment is being installed so that work can begin early next year.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
