Man, dog found dead; Portland police call deaths suspicious
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police are investigating after finding a man and a dog dead inside a Portland residence.
Portland police said in a news release that officers responded to a report of a dead man and dog inside a home in Northeast Portland Monday afternoon.
Officers discovered the man and dog. Police say homicide detectives were called based on observations at the scene.
Police say the cause of death has not been determined but the circumstances are suspicious.
Police gave no further information.
TRAVEL BAN-INFANT
Iranian baby with heart defect impacted by Trump doing well
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Physicians say a 4-month-old Iranian girl with a rare heart condition who was affected by President Donald Trump’s travel ban is “out of the woods” and making good progress after her life-saving surgery.
Fatemeh Reshad and her parents’ plans to enter the United States with a travel visa for the infant’s surgery were canceled last month after Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran.
The girl and her parents arrived in Portland a few days later after being granted a waiver the same day Trump’s ban was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Reshad’s physicians at Oregon Health Sciences University’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital said Monday her surgery Friday was more complicated considering the procedure is usually performed on younger patients, so her recovery may take some time.
IMMIGRATION RALLY-PORTLAND
Immigrants in US illegally stage a rally by ICE building
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Openly defying President Donald Trump’s plans to step up deportations of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, several hundred of them and their supporters staged a rally next to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Speakers at the rally Monday chanted that they were undocumented but unafraid. Security guards at the building kept an eye from behind windows on the peaceful protest but did not intervene. There was no other visible police presence.
Juan Avalos, who came to America from Salamanca, Mexico, when he was 12, said the rally was meant to dispel the cloud of fear that has gripped the immigrant community.
Now 21, Avalos attends community college and works in a body shop. He says he and other rally organizers are encouraging people to stop being afraid.
MARIJUANA-LAWSUIT
Lawsuit targets former Jackson County commissioner, pot shop
(Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/)
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A lawsuit contends a former Jackson County commissioner took cash payments for marijuana consulting while in office and bilked investors to finance a pot shop.
The Mail Tribune reports in a story on Sunday that the lawsuit filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court contends Doug Breidenthal committed elder abuse and breached fiduciary duty.
The lawsuit, filed by Larry and Mary Nelson of Prescott, Arizona, and Greg Allen, seeks $529,000 in damages.
The lawsuit also seeks to freeze American Cannabis Co.’s assets.
Breidenthal didn’t respond to the newspaper’s repeated contact attempts by phone and email.
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COMMUNITY POLICING INITIATIVE
New policing efforts help Oregon city bring down crime
(Information from: Herald and News, http://www.heraldandnews.com)
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — A community policing initiative in the southern Oregon city of Klamath Falls has been deemed a success, as the city has reported a seven-year low in crime statistics.
The Herald and News reported Sunday that city data show a 7.4 percent reduction in crime in 2016, compared to the previous year.
Police Chief Dave Henslee says the police department has focused on using enforcement based on community feedback and current crime trends.
Efforts have included analyzing criminal activity, encouraging officers to interact more with residents and local businesses and patrolling in areas with specific enforcement goals.
According to the crime report, the biggest downward trend was in assaults, robberies, rapes and homicides.
Klamath Falls did see an 8 percent increase in society crimes, which include drug and DUII offenses.
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AP POLL-TEENS-POLITICS
AP-NORC Poll: US teens disillusioned, divided by politics
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A survey of children ages 13 to 17 finds that America’s teens are almost as politically disillusioned and pessimistic about the nation’s divisions as their parents.
But they aren’t quite as quick to write off the future as adults.
The poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 8 in 10 teens feel that Americans are divided when it comes to the nation’s most important values. Six in 10 say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Fifty-six percent of all teens surveyed believe America’s best days are ahead. That compares to 52 percent of adults in an AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2016 who said the nation’s best days are behind it.
SIGN SPINNING CHAMPIONSHIP
Sign spinners bust out handstands, head twirls at contest
LAS VEGAS (AP) — You’ve seen them at intersections and outside strip malls spinning arrow-shaped signs and trying to grab the attention of drivers and passers-by.
Turns out, the sign spinners with the sharpest moves compete every year for the title of World Sign Spinning Champion. Las Vegas hosted the 2017 edition, the 10th competition, over the weekend.
In multiple heats with hip-hop and pop tunes blasting, more than 100 competitors twirled a 5-pound sign with one hand, on their head, while taking off a jacket and even while holding a handstand.
Clint Hartman spins signs between five and nine hours a day at major intersections in Portland, Oregon. The 27-year-old says he thought of the job as temporary at first but has turned it into a career.
TEACHER SENTENCING
Former high school teacher sentenced in sex abuse case
(Information from: Albany Democrat-Herald, http://www.dhonline.com)
ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — A former western Oregon teacher has been sentenced to 100 days in jail in a sex abuse case involving two girls at West Albany High School.
The Albany Democrat-Herald reports in a story on Saturday that 28-year-old James Walter Myrick was also sentenced to three years of probation.
Myrick pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree sexual abuse, third-degree attempted sexual abuse, and two counts of first-degree official misconduct.
Myrick was arrested in July following a six-month investigation.
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Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.