Date: 10/16/2013 03:59 AM
AP-OR–1st NewsMinute/309
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Western timber companies have gone to court to lift the logging ban on national forests due to the government shutdown, arguing the government has no authority under timber sale contracts to force loggers to stop working. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Medford against the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It argues that direction from the Office of Management and Budget does not require suspension of operations on a federal contract so long as direct supervision is not critical to the contractor’s work.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Authorities say a man wanted in connection with a homicide case in Oregon has been arrested in New Mexico. Albuquerque police say 39-year-old Frank Romero was taken into custody about 5 p.m. Monday. They say Romero was found hiding in an apartment. Police say Romero is wanted on suspicion of murder in Salem, Ore.
OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) – A 20-year-old Oregon City, Ore., man who stabbed three people and bit another on a TriMet transit bus last October has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Austin Vanhagen pleaded no contest yesterday to multiple assault counts in Clackamas County Circuit Court. The judge then imposed sentence. Vanhagen apologized to the victims.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A state board has denied parole to an Oregon man who has spent 21 years in prison since killing a John Day police officer. Sidney Dean Porter was slated to be released after a hearing earlier this year, but Gov. John Kitzhaber asked board members to hold a new hearing to allow law enforcement officers to have their say. The 2-1 decision issued yesterday by the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision means Porter will have to wait until February 2015 for another hearing.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
