Latest Oregon news, sports, business and entertainment

 

RANCHING STANDOFF-BUNDY

Ammon Bundy: “We will continue to stand”

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

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The leader of a federal wildlife refuge takeover in Oregon says his group will “continue to stand” after he and six others were acquitted last week of charges in the case.

Ammon Bundy told The Oregonian/OregonLive in a phone call from the Multnomah County Detention Center Monday that it was their duty to stand.

“We did it peacefully,” Bundy said, adding, “We did it legally, and the jury’s verdicts confirmed that.”

Bundy also said the trial ended in “another example of the government not following the law” when U.S. marshals arrested his attorney for challenging the judge’s order to keep him in custody.

He called for prosecutors to drop charges against other occupiers set for February trial on the same conspiracy charge.

Bundy remains in jail because he still faces charges in the standoff at his father’s Nevada ranch. Bundy said he expects he and brother Ryan Bundy will be moved on Tuesday to Nevada.

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JAILHOUSE STABBING-SENTENCE

Springfield gets more prison time for jailhouse stabbing

(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Lane County Jail inmate serving time for burglary has been sentenced to an additional five years for his role in another inmate’s stabbing.

The Register-Guard reports that 22-year-old Cody Zane Brittain, of Springfield, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to felony charges of weapon possession by an inmate and assault. An attempted murder charge was dropped as part of a plea deal.

Authorities say Brittain and another man used plastic toothbrush holders that had been sharpened to stab the 24-year-old victim, who suffered multiple cuts but was not seriously injured.

Brittain apologized in court for the January attack, saying he “made a bad decision.”

Brittain’s five-year sentence will run consecutive to the 3 ½-year sentence he received for stealing $1,000 worth of items from a Eugene apartment.

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CHILD PORN-PLEA

Keizer man admits to 10 child porn charges

(Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A Kaizer man who was arrested after a 13-year-old girl reported that he had been following her and taking photos of her has pleaded guilty to child porn charges.

The Statesman Journal reports 23-year-old Trevor Highsmith pleaded guilty Monday to 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse. Five additional counts were dropped as part of a plea deal.

Authorities began investigating Highsmith in May after the Claggett Creek Middle School student told school staff about a man who had been following her.

Police confronted Highsmith at a Keizer home, where he gave police permission to search his cellphone.

Investigators say they found dozens of images of child sexual abuse on the device as well as images showing girls walking to or from school.

Highsmith will be sentenced later this month.

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SEX ASSAULT-SENTENCE

Man gets life in prison for 2013 sexual assault

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

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 59-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for drugging and raping a homeless woman at a Portland motel in 2013.

The Portland Police Bureau says Kevin Levi Scott was sentenced Friday to life without parole after a conviction in September of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy.

Police say Scott lured into his room a 51-year-old woman who was suffering from an alcohol addiction and looking for a place to sleep.

Scott has a criminal history that includes convictions in 1978 in Multnomah County in two separate sexual abuse cases.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports he was previously convicted of first-degree sex abuse for tying up a 19-year-old female acquaintance, beating her and sexually assaulting her.

He also has a first-degree rape conviction for the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.

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HUNTER SHOOTS CHILDREN

Children wounded in hunting accident near Sweet Home, Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say two children were wounded in a hunting accident east of Sweet Home, Oregon.

Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley says two children, ages 4 and 2, were injured Monday after their 27-year-old father accidentally discharged his rifle while walking back to his pick-up truck.

Capt. Kevin Guilford of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press that the number injured was revised from three children to two after a cut on a 6-year-old’s hand was determined not to be shooting related.

Guilford says the man was hunting with his three children and 54-year-old father at the time.

The victims were transported to hospitals by ambulance, and the 2-year-old with a serious leg injury was transferred to a Portland hospital. Riley says the 4-year-old was struck in the shin and treated at a Corvallis hospital.

Sweet Home is about 35 miles east of Corvallis.

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This story has been corrected, per new sheriff’s office information, to say two children were injured in the shooting.

EUGENE BIKE SHARE

Eugene signs contract with bike rental company

(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The city of Eugene says it has signed a $1.2 million contract with a New York-based bike rental company.

The Register-Guard reports that the city will have to buy the bikes, customized locking bike racks and other items from Social Bicycles. The company will run the rental system and keep the bikes in good repair for five years.

Eugene has received a state subsidy that will pay for most of the equipment, including the $1,870 apiece bicycles.

The program is scheduled to start by October 2017 with 300 bikes and 35 stations. Reed Dunbar, city associate transportation planners, says people can rent the bikes for short trips and return them to the self-service stations.

Portland launched a bike rental program in July and also contracts with Social Bicycles.

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OREGON PROMISE

6,000 students statewide use Oregon Promise grants

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

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Thousands of Oregon students are taking advantage of a new state grant that waives community college tuition for low-income students.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that according to preliminary enrollment figures from state education officials, about 6,000 students statewide are taking community college classes through Oregon Promise.

Officials say that figure is about what was expected for the first-year program.

The Oregon Promise program subsidizes community college tuition for students who graduated from an Oregon high school in the spring or summer with at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA, or have completed their GED this year.

The largest number of Oregon Promise students attend Portland Community College, the state’s largest post-secondary institution. Chemeketa Community College in Salem had the second most enrollees.

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MISSING PORTLAND STUDENT

Deputies searching for missing Portland State student

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Washington County Sheriff’s deputies are trying to find a woman who did not return home after a Thursday night class at Portland State University.

The sheriff’s office says 25-year-old Emily Hooper of Aloha exchanged text messages with family after she left for class, but there has been no contact since then. Family members thought she went to her boyfriend’s house and did not report her missing until Friday night.

Hooper’s employer said she didn’t show up for work Friday.

Hooper is 5-foot-7 and about 135 pounds. She has short brown hair, a large lip ring and a sparkly nose ring. She also has tattoos of a tree branch on her forearm and a cat on her calf.

Hooper may be wearing a light-colored jacket, blue jeans and Doc Martens.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.