PORTLAND EXPLOSION-FINE
Oregon company fined $4,900 for Portland natural gas blast
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon safety officials have fined a company nearly $5,000 for its role in a Portland natural gas explosion that caused an estimated $17 million in damages and seriously injured a firefighter.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division faulted Loy Clark Pipeline Co. for digging on the north side of a street near where the October explosion took place after notifying authorities it intended to dig on the south side.
Loy Clark spokeswoman Andrea Fonkert says the Tualatin-based company is reviewing the citation.
The Oct. 19 error caused a NW Natural gas pipeline to become disengaged, which led to explosions that destroyed a building and damaged several others.
Several people were injured, including a firefighter who underwent surgery for a broken leg.
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DOG ATTACK
Salem dog dies after protecting 5-year-old boy from attack
(Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A Salem family is mourning the loss of their pet after they say it was mauled to death by another dog in their neighborhood.
The Statesman Journal reports Amanda Reyna says her 9-year-old Chihuahua named Fifi was protecting her 5-year-old son from the other dog when it was attacked. Fifi was bit several times.
The other dog’s owner eventually came out and broke up the fight but it was too late.
Reyna took Fifi to a veterinary clinic and found out the dog had blood in its lungs.
She said the other dog’s owners paid $120 for Fifi’s euthanization.
Reyna said she later contacted animal control about the other dog, which had been spotted wandering the neighborhood.
Marion County Dog Services is investigating Monday’s attack and will determine whether to take action.
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SECRET RECORDINGS-SENTENCE
Man who secretly filmed co-workers gets 15-year sentence
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man charged with secretly recording women and children at his apartment and his job has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 38-year-old Leighton Olson of Aloha, just outside Portland, was sentenced Thursday. He had pleaded guilty to recording two female co-workers in an employee bathroom at Little Caesars and another girl while she was in his apartment bathroom.
Authorities say they found the recordings after obtaining a search warrant for Olson’s apartment and discovering a large collection of women’s underwear while responding to a suspicious circumstance call.
It’s not clear where he got all the underwear, but investigators say he stole some from his female neighbor’s apartment.
Olson did not make any statements at his sentencing.
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OREGON CHILD DEATH
Oregon couple indicted in death of 5-year-old girl
BEND, Ore. (AP) — A grand jury had indicted a Central Oregon couple accused of causing the death of 5-year-old girl.
Court records show Estevan Garcia and Sacora Horn-Garcia of Redmond are charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal mistreatment. Garcia is the girl’s father and Horn-Garcia her stepmother.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says paramedics responding to a 9-1-1 call on Dec. 21 found the girl unconscious and not breathing. She was pronounced dead at a Redmond hospital.
Hummel says investigators pieced together the girl’s final months. He says: “Suffice it to say she went through hell.”
Garcia and Horn-Garcia are scheduled to make their initial court appearance Friday. Court records do not list a defense attorney to speak on their behalf.
PORTLAND HOMELESS CAMP
Portland homeless camp gets new spot just before eviction
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland homeless camp known as Right 2 Dream Too has found a new location.
The camp has been at the entrance to Chinatown since 2011. Recently given an eviction notice, it will move to a piece of city-owned land between the Willamette River and the arena that’s home to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mayor Ted Wheeler said Thursday the move will be completed within 60 days.
He says the camp will stay at the new location for up to two years while the city looks for a longer-term solution.
FIRE ENGINE CRASH
Fire engine crashes in NW Oregon; 4 taken to hospitals
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say four firefighters were taken to hospitals after an engine crashed into a ditch northwest of Portland.
Division Chief Ian O’Connor of Columbia River Fire & Rescue says none of the injuries are life-threatening.
According to O’Connor, the firefighters trained Wednesday night and were returning to station in St. Helens when the engine went too far to the right, left the pavement and overturned. One firefighter briefly lost consciousness.
Scappoose firefighters were behind the Columbia River engine after attending the same training. They stopped to help and were later assisted by other firefighters and paramedics.
The crash investigation remains active. O’Connor did not have a damage estimate for the wrecked engine.
LOGGING-SALMON
Groups warn of lawsuit over logging Oregon forests
PORTLAND, (AP) — Fishing and conservation groups are threatening to sue the Oregon Department of Forestry, alleging it has failed to reform logging practices in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests that harm coho salmon.
One of the groups filing the intent to sue Thursday is the Center for Biological Diversity. It filed a similar notice three years ago, but held off on the lawsuit.
Its endangered species director, Noah Greenwald, says the group was assured by the Forestry Department in 2014 that it would work with conservationists and the timber industry on a new management plan that would potentially protect salmon and streams. He says that has not materialized.
A Forestry Department spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
SEATTLE MAYOR-SEX ABUSE LAWSUIT
Lawsuit accuses Seattle mayor of molesting boy in 1980s
SEATTLE (AP) — A lawsuit accuses Seattle’s mayor of sexually molesting a teenage high-school dropout in the 1980s, and in interviews with The Seattle Times, two other men claim he also abused them.
Mayor Ed Murray’s personal spokesman, Jeff Reading, said in a statement that the allegations are false, politically motivated and that Murray would fight them.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, a 46-year-old man, identified only by his initials, said the abuse began in 1986 when he was 15.
Separately, the newspaper reported that two other men said they knew Murray when they lived in a Portland, Oregon, center for troubled children. They accuse Murray of abusing them in the 1980s.
The Times said one of them talked with a social worker and detective at the time. No charges were filed.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press
