OIL PIPELINE-PROTEST-OREGON
Hundreds rally in Oregon to support Standing Rock Sioux
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of people rallied in the rain in Portland, Oregon, on Thanksgiving Day to show their solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others who have spent months protesting the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that more than 350 people took part in the demonstration at the city’s Pioneer Courthouse Square.
The Portland rally drew families with young children, couples and a smattering of umbrellas amid a sea of soaked rain jackets. Attendees chanted, “Stop the Pipeline” and “Water Rights Are Human Rights.”
Shannon Berger-Hammond co-founded a group called Families for Peaceful Protest, which organized the rally. She said Thanksgiving is “meant to highlight peace and thanks and community and to celebrate indigenous nations, and the indigenous nations are suffering right now.”
TRIBAL REMAINS-SPIRIT CAVE
10,000-year-old remains returned to Nevada tribe’s control
FALLON, Nev. (AP) — Formal control of a mummified set of tribal remains believed to be some of the oldest in North America has been transferred to a Nevada tribe.
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says control of the remains and other funeral-related items found in Spirit Cave east of Fallon was formally transferred last week to the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Indian Tribe.
The Nevada State Museum in Carson City has been serving as the curator of the site, which was discovered by archaeologists Sydney and Georgia Wheeler during a salvage excavation on behalf of the state Parks Commission in 1940.
Carbon dating conducted on textile samples from the cave in the mid-1990s indicated some were more than 10,000 years old.
Jewell says the transfer means the tribe now has full legal control and may take permanent possession of the Spirit Cave Assemblage.
STANDOFF-RETREAT
Eugene police upset over handling of Tuesday standoff
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Police officers in Eugene have taken steps to file a formal complaint over how the department handled a standoff with a potentially armed man.
The Register-Guard reports that the Eugene Police Employees’ Association submitted a letter to the city’s police auditor asking for a formal complaint to be filed against the department’s command staff.
The letter criticized the command staff’s decision to retreat during the Tuesday standoff, calling it “unethical, cowardly and irresponsible.”
The six-hour standoff with a convicted felon suspected of pointing a gun at his girlfriend and threatening to kill her ended abruptly Tuesday afternoon. Despite repeated loudspeaker announcements that officers weren’t going anywhere, Capt. Sam Kamkar says they decided to retreat because the suspect was not posing an active threat.
The suspect has not yet been arrested.
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NAIL GUN ATTACK
Man who shot 9 nails into woman’s head sentenced to prison
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A former firefighter who shot nine 3-inch nails into the back of a woman’s head in a botched suicide pact has been sentenced to two years in state prison.
The Register Guard reports Wednesday that Troy Thompson pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree manslaughter after accepting a plea deal that allowed him to avoid a possible maximum sentence of more than seven years.
The 31-year-old woman suffered permanent brain damage from the nails.
Thompson has previously said he met the woman the day before he hurt her when she approached him and asked for his help to kill herself.
The Register Guard says the woman had bipolar disorder and had stopped her medication three weeks earlier.
COUNTY EMPLOYEE-THEFT
Ex-sheriff’s office employee gets probation for jail thefts
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A former Lane County Sheriff’s Office accounting clerk who admitted to stealing more than $61,000 in public funds has been sentenced to two years of probation.
The Register-Guard reports that Patricia Trocki, of Springfield, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated first-degree theft.
The 64-year-old woman had worked for the sheriff’s office for 17 years before the stolen funds were discovered in September.
Prosecutors say Trocki stole jail booking fees and money that families intended to contribute to inmates’ trust accounts. She was accused of using the money to pay off her partner’s medical bills and to feed a gambling addiction.
The alleged theft took place between June and September.
Trocki has since repaid the money she stole.
She apologized for her actions in court Wednesday.
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HUMAN TRAFFICKING ARREST
Klamath Falls pair arrested on human trafficking charge
(Information from: Herald and News, http://www.heraldandnews.com)
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Two Klamath Falls residents are facing prostitution charges related to what police say could be a widespread human trafficking ring.
The Herald and News reports that a 28-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were arrested last week. According to an indictment, the pair is believed to have forced at least one female victim into prostitution on three separate occasions between Oct. 8 and Nov. 6 in Medford.
Medford Police Department spokesman Lt. Kevin Walruff says the investigation is ongoing. He says the Klamath Falls pair is believed to be part a human trafficking ring with roots in Medford and Bend and connections to Washington and Wyoming.
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MARIJUANA-PESTICIDES
State agencies warn marijuana growers of pesticide use
(Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com)
BEND, Ore. (AP) — State agencies are reminding marijuana producers to limit their use of pesticides in the wake of two recent public health alerts.
The Bend Bulletin reports that a letter from three state agencies wars that cannabis producers whose products test below “action levels” for permitted pesticides may still be violating state regulations if they use pesticides banned by the state Pesticide Control Act.
An action level is a low pesticide measure that the authority requires of testing laboratories as a measure of accuracy. Action levels do not indicate a safe level.
The letter, co-signed Monday by the heads of the Health Authority, Oregon Liquor Control Commission and Oregon Department of Agriculture, says growers that failed test results are referred to the Agriculture Department for futhher investigation.
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COIN FLIP-COUNCIL SEAT
West Jordan Council seat contest settled by coin toss
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials have settled a deadlocked race for a spot on the West Jordan City Council by drawing names from a hat and flipping a coin — a decision-by-chance that Utah and other states allow to settle tied elections or appointments.
Elections Director Mark Thomas said Wednesday that elections are settled by chance every few years in Utah, mostly in small races.
Six members of the West Jordan City Council last week were choosing a seventh council member from 10 candidates. After several rounds of voting, council members were divided 3-3 on Alan R. Anderson and David Pack.
Both men’s names were written on pieces of paper that were placed in a hat. The police chief pulled them out one at a time, designating Anderson as heads and Pack as tails.
Another city employee flipped a coin, giving Anderson the seat.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.