Oregon

Appeals court OKs 111 years for teen who killed 4, shot 25; lawyer calls him ‘completely harmless’

An Oregon man who fatally shot his parents and two high school classmates and wounded 25 others at the school cafeteria when he was 15 years old can’t further challenge his prison sentence of nearly 112 years, a state appeals court says. After the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miller…

Feb 10, 2016 3:20 PM CST

16 are federally indicted in takeover of Oregon wildlife refuge

Four remaining occupiers of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon have been indicted over the monthlong armed takeover, along with a dozen others. In an indictment (PDF) unsealed Thursday, they are charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers through intimidation, threats or force, a felony, the Oregonian reports. The defendants…

Feb 4, 2016 4:10 PM CST

FBI releases video of occupier’s shooting; judge won’t release defendants until all leave refuge

The FBI says a video it released on Thursday shows an Oregon militant reached for his jacket before he was shot and killed by police. The man who was shot and killed, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, had acted as a spokesman for the group occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon…

Jan 29, 2016 7:43 AM CST

Feds change hands-off approach in Oregon standoff; eight are arrested and another is killed

Nearly a month after militants seized a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, the FBI and police arrested the group’s leader and seven others, while a ninth man who acted as a group spokesman was shot and killed. Authorities arrested group leader Ammon Bundy and four others on Tuesday as they…

Jan 27, 2016 9:35 AM CST

Craft brew fans sue to block planned merger of world’s biggest beer-makers

Nearly two dozen beer drinkers in Oregon, California and Washington state have banded together in a lawsuit seeking to block the planned merger of the two biggest beer-makers in the world on antitrust grounds. Allowing Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA and SABMiller PLC to form one company manufacturing nearly one-third of the…

Dec 3, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Lawyer is federally indicted over $185K in allegedly unpaid payroll taxes

A well-known Oregon criminal defense attorney has been federally indicted over nearly $185,000 in payroll taxes that he allegedly did not pay. The 10-count indictment (PDF) in the Portland case accuses Gary Bertoni of willfully failing to transmit to the feds between 2009 and 2011 income tax, social security and…

Nov 19, 2015 10:40 AM CST

Oregon digitally surveilled Black Lives Matter supporters; state AG is ‘shocked and appalled’

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says she was “shocked and appalled” to learn that a state Department of Justice investigator conducted digital surveillance of Black Lives Matter supporters as part of threat-assessment work. One of the targets was the Oregon Department of Justice’s director of civil rights, Erious Johnson, report…

Nov 12, 2015 10:42 AM CST

Oregon judge accused of screening out same-sex wedding applicants faces disciplinary hearing

An Oregon judge accused of having his staff screen wedding applications to exclude same-sex couples is facing disciplinary proceedings next week. Marion County Circuit Court Judge Vance Day is also accused of hanging a picture of Hitler in the county courthouse; allowing a felon to use a gun; soliciting money…

Nov 2, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Black sheriff’s deputy alleges in lawsuit he was asked to prepay for breakfast at restaurant

A black sheriff’s deputy in Oregon is suing the owner and operator of a Vancouver, Washington, restaurant for allegedly requiring him to prepay for his breakfast. Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy Brian Eason, 44, filed suit last week against Karson Inc., owner and operator of the Elmer’s restaurant franchise location where…

Nov 2, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Nike must turn over Lance Armstrong emails to feds in $100M post office case, judge rules

Hoping to win a civil fraud lawsuit against Lance Armstrong that could reap as much as $100 million in damages, the U.S. government has been seeking access to emails between the famed cyclist and his now-former corporate sponsor, Nike. Armstrong wants the emails produced, too, because they could help bolster…

Sep 30, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Oregon to give second chance to residents with marijuana convictions

As Oregon begins distributing legal marijuana next month, the state is also taking steps to give a second chance to residents convicted of marijuana-related offenses under the old criminal statutes. The New York Times reported Sunday that the state is looking to expand its current record-expungement statute in light of…

Sep 21, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Judge who won’t perform gay weddings also hung Hitler picture in courthouse, ethics complaint says

An Oregon judge who refused to perform same-sex marriages is facing ethics charges that also allege he hung a picture of Adolf Hitler in the courthouse. The judge, Vance Day of Marion County, says he is being targeted because of his Christian beliefs. The Hitler picture, he says, was part…

Sep 9, 2015 7:54 AM CDT

Two judges opposing same-sex marriage react with ‘doozy’ of an opinion, refusal to perform marriages

Judges in Oregon and Tennessee are expressing their opposition to same-sex marriages in different ways. Judge Vance Day of Salem, Oregon, has stopped performing marriage ceremonies because of his religious beliefs against same-sex marriage, the Oregonian reports. He is now taking steps to set up a legal defense fund after…

Sep 4, 2015 8:47 AM CDT

Suit claims climate change is violation of future generations’ constitutional rights

The U.S. government has continued to allow fossil fuels that foster climate change, violating the constitutional rights of future generations, according to a lawsuit filed last week. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, by the California plaintiffs firm Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy and lawyers from Our…

Aug 17, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Former worker sues Safeway, says it did not stop customer’s sexual harassment

A former deli counter worker at the Safeway Inc. supermarket chain is suing the company over a customer’s alleged behavior toward her last year. Daphne Lannan says those in charge of the Safeway at which she worked in Lebanon, Oregon, did not prevent a customer from continuing to sexually harass…

Aug 4, 2015 3:15 PM CDT