FATAL DUI CRASH
Man gets jail time for causing friend’s death in DUI crash
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Harrisburg man charged with driving drunk and causing a crash that killed his friend last year has been sentenced to six months in jail.
The Register-Guard reports that 46-year-old Thomas Albert Dennis was sentenced Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to charges of intoxicated driving and criminally negligent homicide in connection with the April 2015 crash.
Dennis had been driving when his vehicle drifted off the road and struck a fence near Noti. His 45-year-old passenger, Larry Ryan England, of Albanay, was killed in the crash.
Dennis had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.
Defense Attorney Terri Wood had pushed for Dennis to get probation, arguing that her client is a military veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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FATAL VEHICLE CRASH
2 killed in multiple vehicle crash north of Bend
(Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com)
MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say two people were killed in a vehicle crash north of Bend.
The Bulletin reports that police responded to the crash involving three vehicles on Monday evening just south of Madras on Highway 97.
Oregon State Police say a vehicle was heading north on the highway when it drifted across the median and into oncoming traffic. The vehicle hit one car and then another head-on, police said.
Police say Richard Mullins of Madras and a 10-year-old boy were killed.
Police say two others were flown to a hospital in Bend while an additional two people were taken to a Redmond hospital for lesser injuries.
Police closed the highway for several hours to investigate. Fatigue may have been a factor in the crash, authorities said.
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RAPE-INCAPACITATED VICTIM
Salem man sentenced to prison for rape of intoxicated woman
(Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A 29-year-old man convicted of raping an incapacitated woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
The Statesman Journal reports that Cristobal Felipe Sarmiento was sentenced Monday after a jury found him guilty of rape and sodomy.
Sarmiento was accused of sexually assaulting the woman at a June 2015 house party while she was intoxicated and unable to consent.
Court documents say Sarmiento told investigators both he and another man engaged in sexual acts with the victim. He admitted through a Spanish translator that he knew the woman was drunk but denied allegations that the sex was not consensual.
His attorneys asked a judge to exclude the statements, claiming there were inaccuracies and errors made during the translation. But a judge denied the request.
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GIRL SHOT-ROAD RAGE
8-year-old girl shot in foot in possible road rage incident
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police say an 8-year-old girl suffered minor injuries when a man shot at her mother’s car on Interstate 84 in Portland.
Portland police say officers responded to a report of a shooting Tuesday afternoon. Officers learned the victim was a girl who had a superficial gunshot wound to her foot.
Police say the girl was treated at the scene and that her family was taking her to a hospital.
Officers say the girl was in the back seat of a car being driven by her mother when an unknown person driving a minivan nearly caused their car to crash.
Police say when the woman drove by the van, someone fired a shot at her car, striking her daughter.
Police say a possible suspect was detained by police later Tuesday.
AMTRAK SEMITRAILER CRASH
No injuries in Amtrak train, semitrailer crash
OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say no one was hurt after a semitrailer hit an Amtrak train that was carrying more than 280 passengers.
KATU-TV reports the crash happened Tuesday afternoon on Oregon Route 99 East near South End Road in Oregon City.
Canby Fire officials say the semitrailer was hauling wood chips.
Sheriff’s officials asked that people avoid the area.
INMATE DEATH
Autopsy set for Oregon inmate serving time in Montana prison
(Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com)
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — Officials say an autopsy will be performed on a Montana State Prison inmate who died at a hospital in Missoula.
The Montana Standard reports that the cause of 54-year-old Carey Edwards’ death has not yet been determined. Prison spokeswoman Amy Barton wouldn’t say why Edwards was sent to St. Patrick Hospital, where he died Monday, other than it was for a medical emergency.
Edwards was an Oregon inmate who had been housed at the Montana prison since 2000 as an Interstate Compact Transfer.
He was serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder in Multnomah County, Oregon in 1989.
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KIDS SUE-CLIMATE CHANGE
Judge: Seattle kids can move ahead with climate rights case
SEATTLE (AP) — A judge says eight Seattle children should have “their day in court” to argue that Washington state and others are violating their constitutional rights to a healthy environment by failing to protect them from climate change.
King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill on Monday wrote that there’s a need for coordinated science-based action by the state to “address climate change before efforts to do so are too costly and too late.”
The petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, had asked the judge to find the Department of Ecology in contempt for failing to protect them and future generations from global warming. The judge said Ecology complied with her orders within her timeline and so denied the kids’ request.
But in an unusual move, the judge allowed the youth to amend their petition and move forward with their constitutional rights claims against the state.
CENSUS-POPULATION GROWTH
Utah is fastest-growing state as West bucks sluggish trend
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — New U.S. Census figures show Utah is the fastest-growing state in the country, leading a cluster of Western states with populations on the upswing despite sluggish national growth.
The figures released Tuesday show the state with the country’s highest birth rate grew just over 2 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, followed closely by Nevada, Idaho and Florida. Washington, Oregon and Colorado also took top percentage-growth spots.
Brookings Institution demographer William Frey says the U.S. population posted one of the lowest growth rates since the late 1930s. He says that’s largely because declines in the baby-boomer population haven’t been fully replaced by new births or immigration.
Several Western states are bucking that trend as people are attracted by recovering economies and affordable housing compared with states like California.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
