PEDESTRIAN KILLED
Female pedestrian struck, killed by vehicle in Gresham
GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) — A 33-year-old woman was struck and killed by a driver in Gresham.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Gresham Police officers were called to the area at 1 a.m. Sunday and determined the pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle and was dead.
Police say the driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. Police say that drugs, alcohol and speed don’t appear to be factors in the accident.
The East County Vehicular Crimes Team is continuing to investigate.
MISSING GIRL
Authorities search for girl, 11, and her father
WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a 11-year-old girl who is missing and possibly endangered.
Police believe Kaitlyn Stofiel is with her custodial father, Thomas Clarence Stofiel, 44.
Stofiel’s truck was found in late February parked on the Warm Springs Reservation about 90 miles southeast of Portland. Neither of them has any connection to the reservation. Authorities say they were living in Portland most recently, and Kaitlyn was being home-schooled.
The FBI, which is involved in the investigation, said in a statement Thomas Stofiel may be distraught, is known to possess various weapons and reportedly has survival skills.
SALMON-DAMS
Report: Restoration efforts in Columbia Basin helping salmon
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Agencies responsible for operating 14 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin say $500 million spent annually on habitat restoration projects and improvements at dams are helping salmon, steelhead and other wildlife.
The Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a report Thursday outlining projects from 2007 to 2015.
The work includes adding 3,000 miles of spawning and rearing habitat as well as 14 square miles of estuary habitat where young fish prepare to enter the ocean.
The agencies say the document will be used as part of a process to develop an environmental impact statement ordered by a federal judge in May.
The court ruled that the massive habitat restoration effort to offset the damage the dams pose to Northwest salmon and steelhead is failing.
STORM DRAIN RESCUE
Man pulled from Eugene storm drain
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A man who authorities say climbed down a storm drain in Eugene for unknown reasons is in critical condition after being pulled out by firefighters.
Eugene Springfield Fire Battalion Chief Lance Lighty tells The Register-Guard that crews used a rope tied to the man’s feet to pull him out at about 6 p.m. Thursday.
Lighty says crews revived the man believed to be in his 60s and he was taken to a local hospital.
Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin says officials investigated and determined the incident was not of a suspicious nature.
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WOMEN’S MARCH-PORTLAND
Money questions raised following Women’s March in Portland
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — State officials say they’re looking into allegations that thousands of dollars in donations brought in by the Women’s March in Portland are missing.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports in a story on Friday that officials with the Oregon Department of Justice stop short of saying an investigation has been launched.
The January march drew up to 100,000 participants to downtown Portland.
But in the weeks following, organizers have begun to fight publicly over potential missing donations.
It’s not clear how much money the event took in through donations and T-shirt sales.
Lead organizer Margaret Jacobsen says PDX Trans Pride is holding at least $22,000 from T-shirt sales.
PDX Trans Pride’s Rebekah Katherine Brewis told the newspaper that allegations that her group is keeping the money “are absolutely unfounded.”
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HONOR KILLING-SENTENCE
20-year sentence for mistaken Washington state honor killing
(Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakimaherald.com)
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing an Oregon man he mistakenly believed impregnated a 13-year-old girl.
The Yakima Herald reports that 21-year-old Yoset Dominguez-Serrano of Outlook, Washington, received the sentence Friday in Yakima County Superior Court.
Dominguez-Serrano in January pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the February 2015 killing of 24-year-old Antonio Hernandez-Ledezma of Boardman, Oregon.
Dominguez-Serrano told police he believed Hernandez-Ledezma had impregnated Dominguez-Serrano’s 13-year-old relative and killed the Oregon man to protect his family’s honor.
But DNA tests showed Hernandez-Ledesma wasn’t responsible for the pregnancy.
A hiker found Hernandez-Ledezma’s skeletal remains in September 2015.
Dominguez-Serrano faces deportation to Mexico once he completes his sentence.
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SUSPICIOUS DEATHS-PORTLAND
Arrest made following death of man, dog in Portland
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with the death of a 59-year-old man whose body was found along with his dog in a Portland apartment.
Portland police say Alexander Rico Ortiz was taken into custody Friday evening in Hillsboro.
Ortiz is being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center and faces charges of aggravated murder, two counts of rape, aggravated animal abuse in the first degree and a parole violation.
Police say they discovered the body of Eleazar “Tony” Herrera Villegas on Monday along with his Jack Russell terrier dog named Max. Villegas’ death was ruled a homicide.
Police sought Ortiz on warrants stemming from the homicide of Villegas and a sexual assault that occurred the same day as the homicide at a hotel.
AP-US-FATAL-FIRE-OREGON-ORGAN-DONATION
Family to donate organs of victims in fatal Oregon fire
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon family that lost six people, including five children, in a fatal fire will donate the organs of the mother and her 13-year-old son.
Legacy Emanuel Medical Center said Friday in a news release that the family will donate the organs of Tabitha Howell and her son, Andrew Hall-Young.
Howell and Hall-Young died at the hospital’s burn center Thursday within an hour of each other.
Howell’s critically burned husband is the only survivor of the fire early Wednesday that also killed four other children aged 4 to 13.
The fire in the tiny timber town of Riddle, about 200 miles south of Portland, was caused by combustible materials placed too close to a portable space heater. The family had purchased the heater to use it until their fireplace could be repaired.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
