Dog-napped at gunpoint; homeless to valedictorian; Disney apologizes for insults
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BILLINGS, Mont. — A former Colorado attorney and fly-fishing guide was sentenced Friday to 100 years in prison for the 1999 killing of his wife, whose strangled body was found floating in a bay along Montana's Bighorn River.
Brian and Kathryn Laird had been married about five months when she died at 28. Prosecutors say Brian Laird, now 48, killed her during an argument at their house near Fort Smith before her body was found downstream of Yellowtail Dam.
He has no prior history of violence and would be eligible for parole in 25 years under the sentence handed down by state District Judge Michael Hayworth.
Defense attorney Matt Wald had sought a 40-year sentence. He said after Friday's hearing that he will appeal Laird's conviction.
"What we asked for was appropriate," Wald said. "What (Brian Laird) said was, he didn't do this. He still doesn't know how she died and he misses her."
Just hours before her death, Kathryn Laird told friends that she intended to separate from her husband, according to investigators.
The manner of death remained undetermined following an autopsy at the time of her death, and the criminal investigation was largely dormant for more than a decade despite longstanding suspicions of Brian Laird's involvement.
Court documents show Laird was questioned extensively in 2002 when he sought a license to practice law in Missouri.
In 2012, the investigation was revived when FBI agent came across the names of two neighbors who had not been previously interviewed. They testified during Laird's trial in March that they overheard an argument between the couple on the last night Kathryn Laird was seen alive.
Brian Laird later moved to Colorado, where he was arrested for deliberate homicide in 2014 in Fort Collins.
The couple met as students at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and in 1999 were living in a trailer court in Fort Smith. Brian Laird worked as a fishing guide while practicing law part-time in Billings, and Kathryn Laird had several jobs, including one at a fly fishing shop.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BUTTE, Mont. — Several injuries were reported in an Interstate 90 crash in which a semitrailer hauling cherries crossed the median, struck a van and then rolled onto its top in Blacktail Creek west of Butte.
Tammy Dobbs, a nurse from Bentonville, Arkansas, tells The Montana Standard that someone was holding the driver's head out of the water after the crash at 8:30 a.m. Friday. Officials say the driver was trapped in the cab for over an hour before rescue crews were able to free him.
A passenger in the tractor-trailer was able to get out by himself. Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich says the two men in the semi and two of the four people in the van were hospitalized in stable condition.
Boxes of cherries spilled into the creek.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Police in San Leandro are looking for robbers who stole a puppy at gunpoint from a 14-year-old boy.
The San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1XeCPRG ) says it happened Monday night as the boy walked a 3-month-old German shepherd named Maya.
Police say two men rolled up in a car. The passenger got out and tried to snatch the dog but the boy resisted. The driver then got out with a gun.
The men took nothing but the dog and fled.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho health officials say three cats have likely been infected with plague and two have died.
The Central District Health Department in a statement Friday says a second Elmore County cat that died likely had the bacterial infection, but final lab results won't be available until next week.
The cat lived both indoors and outdoors and had contact with ground squirrels before becoming ill. Health officials say family members and other household pets are being monitored.
The Eastern Idaho Public Health District previously said a pet cat in Clark County became infected but has recovered.
Earlier this year dead ground squirrels in southwest Idaho tested positive for plague.
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Information from: KTVB-TV, http://www.ktvb.com/
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BEND, Ore. — With tourism picking up for the summer season in Central Oregon, several rental car agencies are out of vehicles.
Rental car managers said the shortage can be attributed to tourism, population growth and the closure of the Redmond Airport last month, The Bulletin reported (https://is.gd/fpp990 ).
"There's a lot of demand in this area," said Alex Perkins, the manager of an Enterprise in Bend. "There is a supply-and-demand problem where we can't get enough vehicles to sustain the growth of Oregon."
According to the U.S. Census, Oregon's population has increased by 5.2 percent from 2010 to 2015, with Deschutes County seeing an 11 percent increase.
No cars are currently available at the Hertz, Enterprise, Avis or Budget rental car locations in Bend or at the Redmond Airport, though the agencies expect vehicles to be available soon. Bend and Redmond have 10 rental car locations, but many of those locations share fleets.
"Getting into summertime, the demand is a lot higher," said Hertz Location Manager Tanner Davis. "The need is a lot higher especially right now. I do know in the past we haven't been this busy."
Aaron Phelps, with the Redmond Airport Enterprise, said the inventory was impacted by the airport's closure in May.
Without rental cars, there are few options for carless visitors to get around in Central Oregon. Popular rideshare alternatives like Uber, Lyft and Zipcar do not operate in Bend or Redmond.
The tourism agency Visit Bend estimates between 2.5 million and 3 million people traveled to the city in 2015. Of those visitors, about 75 percent traveled by car. Of the ones who flew, 66 percent drove a rental to Bend from other airports, meaning they didn't need a rental car.
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Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
WEST GLACIER, Mont. — A black bear with a penchant for human food has been euthanized in Glacier National Park.
Park rangers killed the 100-pound bear in Apgar Village on Thursday evening, two days after it grabbed food out of an open vehicle trunk a few feet away from where people were picnicking at Fish Creek Campground. An effort to trap the bear failed.
Park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald says the bear was spotted in Apgar Village several times on Thursday and witnesses said it did not appear to fear people.
The bear had an ear tag from when Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens captured it in June 2015 after it got into garbage near Essex. The bear was relocated about 26 miles away and didn't get into further trouble until this week.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
PHOENIX — There is actually more to a nearly week-long closure of a Phoenix-area freeway than meets the eye.
The Arizona Department of Public Transportation says a section of Loop 303 was shut down around 2 a.m. Friday for filming of the next "Transformers" movie.
The area, which spans between Interstate 17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway, will remain closed until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Motorists will be directed to a detour on State Route 74, which is 2 miles north of the Loop 303 alignment.
ADOT officials say Paramount Pictures obtained a permit from them to film there.
"Transformers: The Last Knight" is scheduled to be released next year.
The movie's cast includes Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins and is being directed by Michael Bay.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
PAHRUMP, Nev. — Disney ABC Television has issued an apology after a clip of one of its shows making fun of a Nevada town spread across the Internet.
The Pahrump Valley Times reported that Disney spokeswoman Patii McTeague says the comments about Pahrump have been removed from the Disney XD show "A Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything" and that the comments were unintentionally disrespectful.
The show made a series of disparaging remarks about the town, calling it a "stinkhole," calling residents filthy and referencing a fictional disease called the "Pahrump lump. A Pahrump teen posted a clip of the dialogue on Facebook, where it received more than 39,000 views.
- By TERESA THOMAS Mail Tribune
- Updated
MEDFORD, Ore. — Crystal Tarbell, then 16, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep as Maslow Project staff approached her where she lay in the shade of a tree in Hawthorne Park.
She'd been using the organization's services since she was 11 years old and was ashamed to have Maslow staff see she'd chosen this way of life.
They left her a cup of applesauce and a water bottle, her only meal of the day unless another homeless person offered to share his or her food with her. If she got thirsty, she could always binge on free water at Taco Bell.
Tarbell slept during the day because it was safer, and she walked around town or loitered around 24-hour venues, such as transfer stations and laundromats, at night.
She kept a change of clothes from Maslow Project, as well as her phone charger and any additional food she happened upon, in her gray backpack the nonprofit organization had given her.
Her parents and family would have welcomed her home anytime. But home was a motel room where her two parents, three sisters, brother, two nieces and several other "adopted" siblings lived.
"I felt like it would be easier for all of us if I gave them one less thing to worry about," Tarbell said.
"I tried to avoid my family because I didn't want them to think that I was doing something wrong," she said, adding that she would only return to the motel, posing as her identical twin sister, to shower when they were out. "I didn't want them to think that they made me go out there and stuff like that.
"I chose to be there. No one made me do it."
That was Tarbell's sophomore year. She started her junior year at North Medford High School with only three high school credits and her backpack to her name. On Saturday, the 18-year-old senior will graduate from Central Medford High School with a 3.25 grade point average — the highest GPA in her school — and two scholarships to Southern Oregon University.
"I'm so excited to be done," she said. "I did something no one else thought I could do. That's the best part. And I did it at the top of my class. I'm valedictorian, and I . (finished) early."
For her valedictorian speech, Tarbell will talk about something with which she has firsthand experience: struggles and perseverance.
All told, Tarbell has attended 17 schools and lived in at least 10 houses, the longest for 10 months, and numerous motels, the longest for a year, she said.
Tarbell was born in Medford and, like her parents, attended Jackson Elementary School. Her family later moved to Indiana and Ohio but returned to Southern Oregon when she was in the sixth grade and lived for a short time with her aunt before moving into a motel in Phoenix.
"My parents didn't make enough to pay rent and the utilities, and with five kids, it was difficult," she said. "Or sometimes we had the money, but we just needed an extension, but they weren't willing to give it.
"At one point, there were 11 of us living in one motel room," she said.
Her parents slept on one full-size bed, while her two older sisters, two young nieces and her sister's boyfriend shared the other. Her twin sister slept between the two beds, her brother was against the wall, and she and her best friend were on the floor in the closet.
"It was crowded at times, but it just made us closer," she said, recalling the holidays spent in a motel. "My parents were trying the best they could, and since their rental history wasn't as good, it was difficult to find a house for such a large family."
The parents, who have held various jobs over the years, owned a microwave, small fridge and an electric skillet.
"You can bake anything on an electric skillet," Tarbell said. "But if we made pork or chicken, the room would smell like that for two days."
When she did go to school, Tarbell said she got good grades.
She'd ride the city bus or go with her mom to work at 4 a.m., and then her mom would drop her off at school after work.
"It was difficult to wake up in the morning," she said. "I couldn't set the alarm loud because it would wake everyone up."
During her freshman year at South Medford High School, Tarbell's beloved aunt was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and died six months later. Following her aunt's death, Tarbell became even less motivated to go to school — she had since transferred to North Medford — and, after an argument with one of her teachers, dropped out with only a month left in the school year.
It was shortly after that Tarbell and her best friend started living on the streets and not going to school. Tarbell made some decisions and got into relationships — some for protection — that she now regrets.
"I didn't want to be stuck in that world, so I started going to school," she said, adding that Fallon Stewart, a Maslow Project case manager, enrolled her at North Medford and later connected her with Hearts With A Mission, a shelter for homeless and at-risk youth.
Hearts With A Mission life coach Chelsea Flood, who conducted Tarbell's intake interview, had been her camp counselor in middle school at Wilderness Trails, a nonprofit, Christian camp serving youth from difficult backgrounds. Tarbell said she and Flood spent more than three hours catching up.
On Sept. 16, 2014, Tarbell spent her first night at Hearts With A Mission.
"I was really excited because they gave me sheets and a blanket, and they let me pick them out," she said. "I slept so good that night. The best I'd ever slept. I felt so prepared the next day."
Tarbell realized it was a temporary situation, but "it didn't matter if it wasn't going to be mine forever.
"It was going to be mine for now," she said.
"I had someplace to put my backpack. I didn't have to carry it all the time. And I could shower and not worry about the hot water running out," she said.
Tarbell hadn't eaten a full meal in so long that food made her sick, but the staff at Hearts With a Mission encouraged her to eat.
"That place can make you fat, that's for sure," she joked.
A month later, Tarbell, who "can't do big groups of people," enrolled in Central Medford High School, which is much smaller — about 238 students as opposed to more than 1,600 at North Medford High.
"It was difficult to get back in a routine where I was doing homework and doing work and talking to people," she said.
"I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed a lot, but I loved it every day. I was happy to come to school," she said.
Tarbell took about eight credits last year, and 12.75 this year. And between her junior and senior years, she traveled to Uganda, where she helped in medical clinics, painted houses, planted trees and taught at orphanages and met the little Ugandan girl she is sponsoring.
"(Tarbell) really is one of the most exceptional kids I've ever met," said Central Medford Principal Amy Herbst. "She could have given up pretty easily. We see a lot of kids do."
Herbst said Tarbell attended summer school and managed to make up more than three years of credit in less than two years.
Tarbell admits she wasn't a star student from day one. In fact, she describes herself as a "lil' hellion" who would argue with her teachers and fall asleep in class, exhausted from working between 15 and 43 hours a week at KFC during her junior year.
"The teachers don't give up on you," she said. "They don't. They refuse to. If you're tired enough to fall asleep in class, they don't wake you up right away, but then they wake you up, and you still have to do the work."
One of Tarbell's favorite teachers, Gabrielle Headings, described her as the "full deal."
"(Tarbell) worked hard," Headings said. "You only run into about three of these in your entire teaching career. 'These' being the kind of students you don't have to push."
"When I help a kid, I sometimes have to give them a little bit of my own fire, but with Tarbell, she had her own fire burning. She just needed direction," Headings said.
Tarbell plans to study psychology and art at SOU with the hope of becoming an art therapist one day. She'll be working at Wilderness Trails as a camp counselor and lifeguard this summer and, when she starts school this fall, wants to live with a friend from Hearts With A Mission in an apartment in either Medford or Ashland.
"I'd say, 'Long story short,' but there is no short way to say my story," she said.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
- The Associated Press
- Updated
SEATTLE — Two people have been treated for burns at a Seattle hospital as the number of people injured by exploding e-cigarettes continues to climb.
The Seattle Times reports (http://bit.ly/1UHdTie ) that Seattle's Harborview Medical Center has treated 14 victims for e-cigarette-related burns in the past year, including two this month. On Sunday a 34-year-old Kirkland man was injured when an e-cigarette battery in his back pocket ignited, leaving him with third-degree burns.
Other recent cases include a 2-year-old Seattle boy who was burned in March when his mother's device ignited and a 53-year-old Oak Harbor man whose e-cigarette exploded in his front pocket.
Dr. Elisha Brownson at Harborview says the hospital sees one or two patients for e-cigarette burns a month.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque zoo officials say the facility's only tiger was suffering from liver cancer before being euthanized.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that a necropsy conducted by the ABQ BioPark zoo found that Scout, a Bengal tiger, had a large liver tumor and advanced liver cancer.
The 18-year-old tiger was euthanized Wednesday after showing a loss of appetite and weight over the last few months.
Officials say Scout weighed 325 pounds in his prime but had dropped to 220 pounds.
Zoo curator Tammy Schmidt says the tiger was a "wonderful ambassador."
Scout came to the zoo as a 6-month-old cub from a zoo in North Dakota in 1998.
The animal's death leaves the zoo without any tigers.
Zoo officials are in the process of trying to get new tigers.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
PROVO, Utah — Utah officials say an illegal net placed in the Provo River killed more than 130 white bass.
KSL-TV reported that the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources says an angler discovered the net on May 27 under a bridge where the river enters Utah Lake State Park. They say the angler hooked the net with his line and says it was full of fish.
The department said in a statement that 132 dead bass were in the net and more came loose and were washed downstream, resulting in a loss high enough to be a felony.
Wildlife officer Sean Spencer says netting of any kind is illegal for members of the public in Utah.
Wildlife officers have been watching the area but have not identified those responsible for the net.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland police say they have rescued three teenage girls who were kidnapped by would-be sex traffickers.
Police say a man and a woman were taken into custody after a 14-year-old girl was rescued from a North Oakland apartment Wednesday morning.
Police say two other girls, ages 15 and 16, were later rescued from the same apartment.
The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bayareane.ws/1tfinnb ) that police said the girls were lured to the apartment Monday night, held against their will and pistol-whipped in an attempt to force them to work as prostitutes.
They have been released to their parents.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Police in Glendale have submitted an animal cruelty charge against a dog owner whose animal died on his apartment balcony.
They announced Thursday that detectives have developed probable cause to charge 28-year-old Adrian Gonzalez in the case.
Police say they're submitting one count of felony animal cruelty charge to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review.
Gonzalez allegedly left the puppy outside without shade or water in 113-degree heat.
Officers responded to a Glendale apartment complex to conduct an animal welfare check last Sunday afternoon.
Police could hear a dog in distress outside of a third-story apartment unit.
Officers called firefighters to come with a ladder to get the 1-year-old dog, but police say the puppy died before first responders could get to it.
- The Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — A former Colorado attorney and fly-fishing guide was sentenced Friday to 100 years in prison for the 1999 killing of his wife, whose strangled body was found floating in a bay along Montana's Bighorn River.
Brian and Kathryn Laird had been married about five months when she died at 28. Prosecutors say Brian Laird, now 48, killed her during an argument at their house near Fort Smith before her body was found downstream of Yellowtail Dam.
He has no prior history of violence and would be eligible for parole in 25 years under the sentence handed down by state District Judge Michael Hayworth.
Defense attorney Matt Wald had sought a 40-year sentence. He said after Friday's hearing that he will appeal Laird's conviction.
"What we asked for was appropriate," Wald said. "What (Brian Laird) said was, he didn't do this. He still doesn't know how she died and he misses her."
Just hours before her death, Kathryn Laird told friends that she intended to separate from her husband, according to investigators.
The manner of death remained undetermined following an autopsy at the time of her death, and the criminal investigation was largely dormant for more than a decade despite longstanding suspicions of Brian Laird's involvement.
Court documents show Laird was questioned extensively in 2002 when he sought a license to practice law in Missouri.
In 2012, the investigation was revived when FBI agent came across the names of two neighbors who had not been previously interviewed. They testified during Laird's trial in March that they overheard an argument between the couple on the last night Kathryn Laird was seen alive.
Brian Laird later moved to Colorado, where he was arrested for deliberate homicide in 2014 in Fort Collins.
The couple met as students at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and in 1999 were living in a trailer court in Fort Smith. Brian Laird worked as a fishing guide while practicing law part-time in Billings, and Kathryn Laird had several jobs, including one at a fly fishing shop.
- The Associated Press
BUTTE, Mont. — Several injuries were reported in an Interstate 90 crash in which a semitrailer hauling cherries crossed the median, struck a van and then rolled onto its top in Blacktail Creek west of Butte.
Tammy Dobbs, a nurse from Bentonville, Arkansas, tells The Montana Standard that someone was holding the driver's head out of the water after the crash at 8:30 a.m. Friday. Officials say the driver was trapped in the cab for over an hour before rescue crews were able to free him.
A passenger in the tractor-trailer was able to get out by himself. Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich says the two men in the semi and two of the four people in the van were hospitalized in stable condition.
Boxes of cherries spilled into the creek.
- The Associated Press
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Police in San Leandro are looking for robbers who stole a puppy at gunpoint from a 14-year-old boy.
The San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1XeCPRG ) says it happened Monday night as the boy walked a 3-month-old German shepherd named Maya.
Police say two men rolled up in a car. The passenger got out and tried to snatch the dog but the boy resisted. The driver then got out with a gun.
The men took nothing but the dog and fled.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- The Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho health officials say three cats have likely been infected with plague and two have died.
The Central District Health Department in a statement Friday says a second Elmore County cat that died likely had the bacterial infection, but final lab results won't be available until next week.
The cat lived both indoors and outdoors and had contact with ground squirrels before becoming ill. Health officials say family members and other household pets are being monitored.
The Eastern Idaho Public Health District previously said a pet cat in Clark County became infected but has recovered.
Earlier this year dead ground squirrels in southwest Idaho tested positive for plague.
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Information from: KTVB-TV, http://www.ktvb.com/
- The Associated Press
BEND, Ore. — With tourism picking up for the summer season in Central Oregon, several rental car agencies are out of vehicles.
Rental car managers said the shortage can be attributed to tourism, population growth and the closure of the Redmond Airport last month, The Bulletin reported (https://is.gd/fpp990 ).
"There's a lot of demand in this area," said Alex Perkins, the manager of an Enterprise in Bend. "There is a supply-and-demand problem where we can't get enough vehicles to sustain the growth of Oregon."
According to the U.S. Census, Oregon's population has increased by 5.2 percent from 2010 to 2015, with Deschutes County seeing an 11 percent increase.
No cars are currently available at the Hertz, Enterprise, Avis or Budget rental car locations in Bend or at the Redmond Airport, though the agencies expect vehicles to be available soon. Bend and Redmond have 10 rental car locations, but many of those locations share fleets.
"Getting into summertime, the demand is a lot higher," said Hertz Location Manager Tanner Davis. "The need is a lot higher especially right now. I do know in the past we haven't been this busy."
Aaron Phelps, with the Redmond Airport Enterprise, said the inventory was impacted by the airport's closure in May.
Without rental cars, there are few options for carless visitors to get around in Central Oregon. Popular rideshare alternatives like Uber, Lyft and Zipcar do not operate in Bend or Redmond.
The tourism agency Visit Bend estimates between 2.5 million and 3 million people traveled to the city in 2015. Of those visitors, about 75 percent traveled by car. Of the ones who flew, 66 percent drove a rental to Bend from other airports, meaning they didn't need a rental car.
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Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com
- The Associated Press
WEST GLACIER, Mont. — A black bear with a penchant for human food has been euthanized in Glacier National Park.
Park rangers killed the 100-pound bear in Apgar Village on Thursday evening, two days after it grabbed food out of an open vehicle trunk a few feet away from where people were picnicking at Fish Creek Campground. An effort to trap the bear failed.
Park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald says the bear was spotted in Apgar Village several times on Thursday and witnesses said it did not appear to fear people.
The bear had an ear tag from when Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens captured it in June 2015 after it got into garbage near Essex. The bear was relocated about 26 miles away and didn't get into further trouble until this week.
- The Associated Press
PHOENIX — There is actually more to a nearly week-long closure of a Phoenix-area freeway than meets the eye.
The Arizona Department of Public Transportation says a section of Loop 303 was shut down around 2 a.m. Friday for filming of the next "Transformers" movie.
The area, which spans between Interstate 17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway, will remain closed until 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Motorists will be directed to a detour on State Route 74, which is 2 miles north of the Loop 303 alignment.
ADOT officials say Paramount Pictures obtained a permit from them to film there.
"Transformers: The Last Knight" is scheduled to be released next year.
The movie's cast includes Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins and is being directed by Michael Bay.
- The Associated Press
PAHRUMP, Nev. — Disney ABC Television has issued an apology after a clip of one of its shows making fun of a Nevada town spread across the Internet.
The Pahrump Valley Times reported that Disney spokeswoman Patii McTeague says the comments about Pahrump have been removed from the Disney XD show "A Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything" and that the comments were unintentionally disrespectful.
The show made a series of disparaging remarks about the town, calling it a "stinkhole," calling residents filthy and referencing a fictional disease called the "Pahrump lump. A Pahrump teen posted a clip of the dialogue on Facebook, where it received more than 39,000 views.
- By TERESA THOMAS Mail Tribune
MEDFORD, Ore. — Crystal Tarbell, then 16, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep as Maslow Project staff approached her where she lay in the shade of a tree in Hawthorne Park.
She'd been using the organization's services since she was 11 years old and was ashamed to have Maslow staff see she'd chosen this way of life.
They left her a cup of applesauce and a water bottle, her only meal of the day unless another homeless person offered to share his or her food with her. If she got thirsty, she could always binge on free water at Taco Bell.
Tarbell slept during the day because it was safer, and she walked around town or loitered around 24-hour venues, such as transfer stations and laundromats, at night.
She kept a change of clothes from Maslow Project, as well as her phone charger and any additional food she happened upon, in her gray backpack the nonprofit organization had given her.
Her parents and family would have welcomed her home anytime. But home was a motel room where her two parents, three sisters, brother, two nieces and several other "adopted" siblings lived.
"I felt like it would be easier for all of us if I gave them one less thing to worry about," Tarbell said.
"I tried to avoid my family because I didn't want them to think that I was doing something wrong," she said, adding that she would only return to the motel, posing as her identical twin sister, to shower when they were out. "I didn't want them to think that they made me go out there and stuff like that.
"I chose to be there. No one made me do it."
That was Tarbell's sophomore year. She started her junior year at North Medford High School with only three high school credits and her backpack to her name. On Saturday, the 18-year-old senior will graduate from Central Medford High School with a 3.25 grade point average — the highest GPA in her school — and two scholarships to Southern Oregon University.
"I'm so excited to be done," she said. "I did something no one else thought I could do. That's the best part. And I did it at the top of my class. I'm valedictorian, and I . (finished) early."
For her valedictorian speech, Tarbell will talk about something with which she has firsthand experience: struggles and perseverance.
All told, Tarbell has attended 17 schools and lived in at least 10 houses, the longest for 10 months, and numerous motels, the longest for a year, she said.
Tarbell was born in Medford and, like her parents, attended Jackson Elementary School. Her family later moved to Indiana and Ohio but returned to Southern Oregon when she was in the sixth grade and lived for a short time with her aunt before moving into a motel in Phoenix.
"My parents didn't make enough to pay rent and the utilities, and with five kids, it was difficult," she said. "Or sometimes we had the money, but we just needed an extension, but they weren't willing to give it.
"At one point, there were 11 of us living in one motel room," she said.
Her parents slept on one full-size bed, while her two older sisters, two young nieces and her sister's boyfriend shared the other. Her twin sister slept between the two beds, her brother was against the wall, and she and her best friend were on the floor in the closet.
"It was crowded at times, but it just made us closer," she said, recalling the holidays spent in a motel. "My parents were trying the best they could, and since their rental history wasn't as good, it was difficult to find a house for such a large family."
The parents, who have held various jobs over the years, owned a microwave, small fridge and an electric skillet.
"You can bake anything on an electric skillet," Tarbell said. "But if we made pork or chicken, the room would smell like that for two days."
When she did go to school, Tarbell said she got good grades.
She'd ride the city bus or go with her mom to work at 4 a.m., and then her mom would drop her off at school after work.
"It was difficult to wake up in the morning," she said. "I couldn't set the alarm loud because it would wake everyone up."
During her freshman year at South Medford High School, Tarbell's beloved aunt was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and died six months later. Following her aunt's death, Tarbell became even less motivated to go to school — she had since transferred to North Medford — and, after an argument with one of her teachers, dropped out with only a month left in the school year.
It was shortly after that Tarbell and her best friend started living on the streets and not going to school. Tarbell made some decisions and got into relationships — some for protection — that she now regrets.
"I didn't want to be stuck in that world, so I started going to school," she said, adding that Fallon Stewart, a Maslow Project case manager, enrolled her at North Medford and later connected her with Hearts With A Mission, a shelter for homeless and at-risk youth.
Hearts With A Mission life coach Chelsea Flood, who conducted Tarbell's intake interview, had been her camp counselor in middle school at Wilderness Trails, a nonprofit, Christian camp serving youth from difficult backgrounds. Tarbell said she and Flood spent more than three hours catching up.
On Sept. 16, 2014, Tarbell spent her first night at Hearts With A Mission.
"I was really excited because they gave me sheets and a blanket, and they let me pick them out," she said. "I slept so good that night. The best I'd ever slept. I felt so prepared the next day."
Tarbell realized it was a temporary situation, but "it didn't matter if it wasn't going to be mine forever.
"It was going to be mine for now," she said.
"I had someplace to put my backpack. I didn't have to carry it all the time. And I could shower and not worry about the hot water running out," she said.
Tarbell hadn't eaten a full meal in so long that food made her sick, but the staff at Hearts With a Mission encouraged her to eat.
"That place can make you fat, that's for sure," she joked.
A month later, Tarbell, who "can't do big groups of people," enrolled in Central Medford High School, which is much smaller — about 238 students as opposed to more than 1,600 at North Medford High.
"It was difficult to get back in a routine where I was doing homework and doing work and talking to people," she said.
"I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed a lot, but I loved it every day. I was happy to come to school," she said.
Tarbell took about eight credits last year, and 12.75 this year. And between her junior and senior years, she traveled to Uganda, where she helped in medical clinics, painted houses, planted trees and taught at orphanages and met the little Ugandan girl she is sponsoring.
"(Tarbell) really is one of the most exceptional kids I've ever met," said Central Medford Principal Amy Herbst. "She could have given up pretty easily. We see a lot of kids do."
Herbst said Tarbell attended summer school and managed to make up more than three years of credit in less than two years.
Tarbell admits she wasn't a star student from day one. In fact, she describes herself as a "lil' hellion" who would argue with her teachers and fall asleep in class, exhausted from working between 15 and 43 hours a week at KFC during her junior year.
"The teachers don't give up on you," she said. "They don't. They refuse to. If you're tired enough to fall asleep in class, they don't wake you up right away, but then they wake you up, and you still have to do the work."
One of Tarbell's favorite teachers, Gabrielle Headings, described her as the "full deal."
"(Tarbell) worked hard," Headings said. "You only run into about three of these in your entire teaching career. 'These' being the kind of students you don't have to push."
"When I help a kid, I sometimes have to give them a little bit of my own fire, but with Tarbell, she had her own fire burning. She just needed direction," Headings said.
Tarbell plans to study psychology and art at SOU with the hope of becoming an art therapist one day. She'll be working at Wilderness Trails as a camp counselor and lifeguard this summer and, when she starts school this fall, wants to live with a friend from Hearts With A Mission in an apartment in either Medford or Ashland.
"I'd say, 'Long story short,' but there is no short way to say my story," she said.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
- The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Two people have been treated for burns at a Seattle hospital as the number of people injured by exploding e-cigarettes continues to climb.
The Seattle Times reports (http://bit.ly/1UHdTie ) that Seattle's Harborview Medical Center has treated 14 victims for e-cigarette-related burns in the past year, including two this month. On Sunday a 34-year-old Kirkland man was injured when an e-cigarette battery in his back pocket ignited, leaving him with third-degree burns.
Other recent cases include a 2-year-old Seattle boy who was burned in March when his mother's device ignited and a 53-year-old Oak Harbor man whose e-cigarette exploded in his front pocket.
Dr. Elisha Brownson at Harborview says the hospital sees one or two patients for e-cigarette burns a month.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
- The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque zoo officials say the facility's only tiger was suffering from liver cancer before being euthanized.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that a necropsy conducted by the ABQ BioPark zoo found that Scout, a Bengal tiger, had a large liver tumor and advanced liver cancer.
The 18-year-old tiger was euthanized Wednesday after showing a loss of appetite and weight over the last few months.
Officials say Scout weighed 325 pounds in his prime but had dropped to 220 pounds.
Zoo curator Tammy Schmidt says the tiger was a "wonderful ambassador."
Scout came to the zoo as a 6-month-old cub from a zoo in North Dakota in 1998.
The animal's death leaves the zoo without any tigers.
Zoo officials are in the process of trying to get new tigers.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
- The Associated Press
PROVO, Utah — Utah officials say an illegal net placed in the Provo River killed more than 130 white bass.
KSL-TV reported that the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources says an angler discovered the net on May 27 under a bridge where the river enters Utah Lake State Park. They say the angler hooked the net with his line and says it was full of fish.
The department said in a statement that 132 dead bass were in the net and more came loose and were washed downstream, resulting in a loss high enough to be a felony.
Wildlife officer Sean Spencer says netting of any kind is illegal for members of the public in Utah.
Wildlife officers have been watching the area but have not identified those responsible for the net.
- The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland police say they have rescued three teenage girls who were kidnapped by would-be sex traffickers.
Police say a man and a woman were taken into custody after a 14-year-old girl was rescued from a North Oakland apartment Wednesday morning.
Police say two other girls, ages 15 and 16, were later rescued from the same apartment.
The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bayareane.ws/1tfinnb ) that police said the girls were lured to the apartment Monday night, held against their will and pistol-whipped in an attempt to force them to work as prostitutes.
They have been released to their parents.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- The Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Police in Glendale have submitted an animal cruelty charge against a dog owner whose animal died on his apartment balcony.
They announced Thursday that detectives have developed probable cause to charge 28-year-old Adrian Gonzalez in the case.
Police say they're submitting one count of felony animal cruelty charge to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review.
Gonzalez allegedly left the puppy outside without shade or water in 113-degree heat.
Officers responded to a Glendale apartment complex to conduct an animal welfare check last Sunday afternoon.
Police could hear a dog in distress outside of a third-story apartment unit.
Officers called firefighters to come with a ladder to get the 1-year-old dog, but police say the puppy died before first responders could get to it.
