2nd AP – Oregon Minute

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Police are investigating a suspicious death of a woman in a Southwest Portland apartment. The Oregonian reports officers were called to the home last night and cordoned off the apartment with crime scene tape. Police are not releasing any details about how the woman died or why they were initially called to the apartment. State medical examiners will conduct an autopsy on the body today.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A person who tried to alert residents of a Salem home to a house fire was taken to a hospital after suffering smoke inhalation. The Statesman Journal reports that the family wasn’t at home at the time of the fire yesterday. Two Salem firefighters were also taken to a hospital with minor injuries. The fire appears to have started in the home’s kitchen. A dog and a cat were rescued from the blaze.

BEND, Ore. (AP) – The mountain goat population appears to be growing on Central Oregon’s Mount Jefferson, two years after Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs returned the high-climbing animals to the peak. A second release this summer helped increase the number of Rocky Mountain goats on and around the 10,495-foot volcano. The Bend Bulletin reports the goats seem to be successfully breeding and caring for new young.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) – Oregon State University Extension has named a new crop specialist. Paul Marquardt will begin his job in March, when he is expected to graduate with a doctorate in weed science from Purdue University in Indiana. The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports Marquardt grew up in the Pacific Northwest and did several internships in the area, most recently in apple orchards in Washington State in 2003.