OIL TRAIN ACCIDENTS
APNewsBreak: Thousands of defects found on oil train routes
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Inspectors have found almost 24,000 safety defects over the past two years along U.S. railroad routes used to ship volatile crude oil.
Data obtained by The Associated Press shows many of the defects were similar to problems blamed in past derailments that caused massive fires or oil spills in Oregon, Virginia, Montana and elsewhere.
The safety gaps were discovered during targeted federal inspections on almost 58,000 miles of oil train routes in 44 states. The program began two years ago following a string of oil train accidents across North America, including a 2013 derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people.
The inspections resulted in 1,118 recommended violations.
Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Marc Willis says the targeted inspections have improved safety by making railroads more responsive to concerns raised by agency officials.
PRISON FIGHTS-LOCKDOWN
Fights involving dozens of inmates put prison on lockdown
(Information from: KPTV-TV, http://www.kptv.com/)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s only maximum-security prison has been placed on modified lockdown after fights involving about 60 inmates broke out.
KPTV-TV reports the fights started outside the Oregon State Penitentiary dining room Monday afternoon.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Betty Bernt says no one was seriously injured, and all activities and visiting hours were canceled until further notice.
Staff had used chemical spray to control the fighting inmates, including some prisoners who were taken to restrictive housing.
The men’s prison in Salem houses more than 2,000 inmates.
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LAWNMOWER INJURY-CHILD
7-year-old boy injured in Corvallis lawn mower incident
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Police say a 7-year-old Corvallis boy was severely injured when he fell off a riding lawnmower and into the mower blade.
Multiple media outlets reported the boy and his father were on the lawnmower Monday afternoon on the 1500 block of Southeast Bethel Avenue when he fell, suffering leg injuries.
The child was first taken to a local hospital and then flown to a Portland hospital.
His father was apparently driving the mower when the incident occurred.
Police are investigating.
BABY ASSAULTED-TRIAL
Medford man on trial for attack on 1-year-old
(Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/)
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A southwest Oregon man is facing trial on charges that he assaulted a baby left in his care and failed to seek medical care for the child hours after the attack.
The Mail Tribune reports Petey Ray Henthorne of Medford is charged with assault and criminal mistreatment. His trial started Tuesday and is expected to last three days in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors say the child, who is now 3, has cerebral palsy, which limits his ability to move on one side. The baby also suffered bleeding in his brain, broken bones and bruising in the March 2015 attack.
Henthorne had told his girlfriend the baby fell off a bed and landed on his head.
But a Medford officer testified the child’s injuries were extensive and not consistent with a fall.
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HEPATITIS A-PORTLAND
2 Portland restaurant workers contract hepatitis A
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Health officials are investigating after two cases of hepatitis A were confirmed in restaurant workers at two Cup and Saucer Cafes in Portland.
The Multnomah County Health Department said Tuesday that anyone who ate or drank at the Cup and Saucer at 8237 N. Denver from March 22 to 29 should contact a health care provider to see if they should be vaccinated or receive other preventative care. Those who ate or drank at the Cup and Saucer at 3566 S.E. Hawthorne on March 22 or March 25 are urged to do the same.
People who ate or drank at the N. Denver location between February 22 and March 21 should contact their provider if they have hepatitis A symptoms.
The disease can cause fever, loss of appetite, nausea and other ailments.
MISSING BODY HIDDEN
Son of man found in freezer pleads guilty to abuse of corpse
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A 59-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for crimes related to keeping the body of his deceased father inside a freezer south of Portland and collecting his father’s government benefits.
The Marion County District Attorney’s Office says Edward Fitchett pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and six counts of theft and was sentenced Tuesday.
Fitchett was arrested in February after Marion County sheriff’s detectives found the body of 87-year-old Henry Conley Fitchett inside his home in Aurora. Prosecutors say he was last seen in December 2015 and that his son told people his father had gone to live with another son in Eastern Oregon.
Prosecutors say Edward Fitchett collected his father’s retirement and Social Security benefits for the next 13 months. An autopsy determined his father died of natural causes.
XGR-TENANT-RIGHTS
Proposal to ban no-cause evictions passes Oregon House
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A controversial proposal to ban most no-cause evictions has passed the Oregon House.
House Bill 2004 was approved Tuesday by a 31-27 vote and now heads to the Senate after weeks of contentious debate. It attempts to address Oregon’s housing crisis by creating protections for tenants living month-to-month, who are often most vulnerable to sudden rent hikes and abrupt lease terminations.
The proposal offers many exceptions, but it generally bans no-cause evictions for month-to-month tenants after the first six months and requires 30 days’ written notice. If 90 days-notice is provided, landlords would owe tenants payment equal to one month’s rent if they provide reason or three months’ rent if no cause is stated.
Cities would also be allowed to set their own rent-control programs within their jurisdictions.
KIDNAPPING CRASH-PUBLIC RECORDS
Psychiatric board drops suit against Oregon newspaper
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A state agency has dropped its lawsuit against a weekly Oregon newspaper that sought public records about a man charged in the kidnapping and killing of his ex-wife.
The records pertain to Anthony Montwheeler, who was discharged from the state mental hospital in December after telling the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board he had faked mental illness for 20 years to stay out of prison following a 1996 crime.
Montwheeler is now charged with aggravated murder after police say he killed his ex-wife in January and then collided head-on with a vehicle while fleeing police, killing the driver.
The Malheur Enterprise broke the story of Montwheeler’s ruse and sought additional public records about the board’s decision to release him.
After Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum ordered the review board to release the records, the board responded by suing the newspaper. The suit was dropped Tuesday after Gov. Kate Brown intervened.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
