Cave dog saved; murder charge in bicycle death; Pokemon lawsuit
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
FRESNO, Calif. — Five students who accused a former principal of molesting them have settled their lawsuits with the Fresno-area school district.
The Fresno Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2asTyhC ) that the students say former superintendent and principal of Orange Center Elementary School District Lance Clement molested them inside his office during the 2013-2014 school year. Clement fatally shot himself in June 2014, just before Fresno County sheriff's officials showed up at his doorstep with a search warrant.
Fresno attorney Jacob Rivas represents four victims he says settled Friday for $3.4 million. He says the fifth student settled her lawsuit several months ago for $2 million.
Clement was married and had two children. He led the school from 2010 until his death.
Orange Center Superintendent/Principal Terry M. Hirschfield declined to discuss the settlements Monday.
___
Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com
- The Associated Press
- Updated
SPOKANE, Wash. — A 23-year-old motorist faces murder charges after Spokane police say he deliberately struck and killed a bicyclist following a dispute.
KREM-TV reports that Billy Dalager, of Spokane, appeared in court Monday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office says 30-year-old Don Meilike died from blunt head injuries. He died at the scene early Sunday.
Witnesses told police the two men argued about a pair of speakers when things turned violent.
Police say at least two vehicles chased the victim on his bicycle. One of the vehicles ran him over, killing him.
Police say the driver fled the scene but was located and taken into custody around 6:20 p.m. Sunday.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho family's excursion to Payette National Forest turned into a rescue mission when they heard a puppy's whine coming from underground.
The Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/2as0cBq ) that brothers Dan Friend of Eagle and Bret Friend of Boise were preparing to enter a little-known, unmarked cave with relatives when they heard Tinker, a young redtick hound.
The brothers helped family members hoist Tinker to the surface in a duffel bag. The puppy disappeared July 16 while being trained to hunt bears.
Dan Friend says Tinker was wearing a tracking collar but the trainer lost the signal. Tinker has been reunited with her owner in Montana.
The hound survived about 20 feet underground without food or water for two weeks. Friend says condensation on the cave walls likely kept Tinker alive.
- By TALIA RICHMAN The Oregonian/OregonLIve
- Updated
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's bottle deposit will soon go from a nickel to a dime, an effort to raise redemption rates that have sagged in recent years.
In 1971, Oregon passed a first-of-its-kind "bottle bill," which added 5 cents to the price of canned and bottled beer and soft drinks. To get the money back, a person had to return the bottle or can instead of throwing it away.
A nickel carried real spending power back then. For the first 15 years, return rates exceeded 90 percent, while the amount of litter along Oregon's roads and in its landfills declined. But by 2009, only about three-quarters of bottles were redeemed, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
To combat that problem, the 2011 Legislature decreed that if the redemption rate were to fall below 80 percent for two consecutive years, the 5 cent bottle deposit would be doubled.
In July, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission announced the latest numbers: about 68 percent for 2014 and 64 percent in 2015. The provision will kick in April 1, 2017.
The eight-month lag is important, said Christie Scott, the liquor commission's spokeswoman. The state plans to use the time to work with manufacturers, beverage distributors and consumers to prepare for the change.
Cans and bottle labeling must be updated to reflect the 10 cent deposit. Redemption centers need to reprogram their machines. And the state has to educate customers.
"We want to make sure people know this is coming and aren't surprised on April 1 when they take their six-pack up to the counter and it's a 60-cent deposit, not a 30-cent one," Scott said. "That's why it's not just snap your fingers and automatically it's 10 cents."
There's also the issue of ridding shelves of bottles labeled with the 5 cent deposit mark before the change kicks in. Even if someone pays the lower rate, they'll still receive 10 cents back come April 1.
"We're going to take a hit as an industry," said Joe Gilliam, president of the Northwest Grocery Association. "A lot of containers out there that are worth a nickel will suddenly be worth a dime the next day."
That's what happened in 2009, when the bill expanded to include bottled water. That change "didn't kill us, but it was a cost to the system," Gilliam said.
The commission will hold a "rulemaking hearing" to go over stakeholders' concerns and questions, Scott said.
Oregon is one of 10 states with a bottle bill. Most have stuck with 5 cents, though Maine and Vermont offer 15 cents for liquor bottles, and California gives 10 cents back for bottles larger than 24 ounces.
Only Michigan has a 10 cent deposit, and its return rates consistently hover above 90 percent.
Oregon will be the first state to increase an established deposit amount, said Cherilyn Bertges, an Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative spokeswoman. The cooperative operates 16 BottleDrop redemption centers across the state and is planning to add four more before April.
"We do expect there to be an increase in return rates, but how much that will be is a good question," Bertges said. "We don't have an exact example, so it's pretty much anybody's guess what will happen."
Though redemption centers handle about 40 percent of returns, Gilliam said, there aren't enough of them to mitigate the soon-to-be increased burden for grocery stores.
He estimates the state needs another 15 centers to absorb what he predicts could be a 20 percent uptick in returns at grocery stores.
"It's going to be tough on the retailer because we're really maxed out at the retail level in the number of cans we take in today," he said, noting that the average Oregon grocery store redeems 7,000 cans and bottles a day.
Doubling the deposit is going to increase the number of people who go through neighborhoods to collect others' cans, Gilliam said, and it also may exacerbate fraud.
Already, he said, people from Washington and Idaho — states without bottle bills — cross the border to redeem cans they didn't pay a deposit on.
"There's concern that would go up as well," he said. "There's always someone angling to make a buck."
Oregon's historic bottle deposit system will soon see additional change. In 2018, it will be expanded to include "all beverage containers except distilled liquor, wine, dairy or plant-based milk, and infant formula."
That means people will be able to get 10 cents back for beverages including tea, coffee, hard cider, kombucha and coconut water.
Part of the reason for the return rate's fluctuation is the evolving purchasing power of the nickel. Though the cost of living has changed over the last 45 years, the bottle deposit hasn't.
If it had, Bertges said, the deposit would be now be up to about 30 cents.
"Obviously we're not jumping all the way to 30 cents, but this is an effort to make up for some of that," she said. "It'll renew that financial incentive a little bit."
Ben Cannon, a former Oregon legislator who sponsored the bill, said he hopes the law he helped put in the books years ago has a positive impact.
"I would've been thrilled if the redemption rate had increased above 80 percent without the deposit going to the dime," he said. "The point wasn't to make a dime, it was to increase the number of containers being recycled."
Frequent visitors to Safeway's downtown bottle return had varying opinions on the upcoming change.
Robert Gimarelli saves his own bottles and comes almost daily to redeem them. He also picks them up at bus stops, on the street and at his apartment building.
"I don't want to see them thrown away — they're money, they're gold," said Gimarelli, 29. "It's a good day, April 1. It's more money in your pocket."
But Deb Stone, 61, said the increase will make her life harder. She "dumpster dives," and often spends three to four hours going through each of the eight trash rooms in her building.
"I'm not excited because I don't see the cans being there anymore," Stone said. "People will save them and take them in themselves now that they're worth more. Sometimes I come here with $15 worth of bottles but I don't think that'll be available anymore."
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
- By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
- Updated
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho health officials have released a list of providers that offer ultrasounds for women seeking abortions as required under a newly enacted law.
The 11 ultrasounds providers that requested to be included on the list are primarily crisis pregnancy centers, which are often operated by anti-abortion advocates. According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the clinics have not been inspected or certified by the state agency. Furthermore, state officials have also posted a warning that the information should not be used as medical advice.
The list will be updated annually each January 1.
Currently, 13 other states require some sort of verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing an ultrasound, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that supports abortion rights.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
ALBUQUERQUE — Authorities canceled an Amber Alert that New Mexico State Police issued Tuesday for a 3-year-old girl, saying the child has been found safe.
New Mexico State Police said the girl, identified as Merleah Guinn, was taken from her home in Santa Rosa, east of Albuquerque. At the time, they said she had been taken by an "unknown abductor."
But the girl's mother told the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/2asnQxv) that she took the girl from her father's house because she was concerned about her.
She says the father may not have remembered that she had picked up the child because he was not fully awake at the time.
Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said state police are continuing to investigate.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Douglas County sheriff's deputies have arrested seven men from six different states accused of attempting to defraud Carson City residents with door-to-door solicitations for an alleged military organization.
The sheriff's office says the suspects claimed to be collecting money to send personal care packages to military personnel overseas through a company named, "Something for Soldiers Sales LLC."
Deputies arrested 24-year-old Cameron Laird of Bartlesville, Oklahoma Saturday evening after he failed to produce a solicitation permit or business license.
They later apprehended six other suspects, including Laird's 19-year-old brother, Trevor Laird, also of Bartlesville. The others listed hometowns in Arkansas, Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas.
All seven were booked on suspicion of felony fraud and a variety of other charges.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
MEDFORD, Ore. — Drinking water has been shut off at two Medford schools after officials said tests revealed it contained too much lead.
The results received late last week showed water from 73 percent of fixtures at Jackson Elementary and 80 percent of fixtures at Roosevelt Elementary exceeded the 20 parts per billion level at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls for cleanup measures.
The findings came after the district completely replaced plumbing at both schools in 2009. Officials said tests taken between 2011 and 2015 showed no indication of elevated lead levels.
"These are the last (schools) that we expected there to be any problems; it just doesn't make any sense to see those elevated levels," said Ron Havniear, the district's facilities and support services manager.
The Mail Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2aiG84H ) school officials sent parents a letter, took additional samples for a retest and distributed water bottles for students and staff to use during the Kids Unlimited summer camp program at Roosevelt and Jackson.
The Medford Water Commission will take samples Wednesday or Thursday to see if the lead is coming from the municipal water supply. If that's eliminated as a source, the district will look at its plumbing to find the source of the lead, Havniear said.
"We're in a holding pattern until we get the next round of samples back," He said.
In the meantime, the district is referring parents with concerns to medical professionals who can determine whether blood tests are warranted.
Without federal mandates for testing water systems in school buildings and with the Flint, Michigan, water crisis at center stage of the debate, Gov. Kate Brown has called on Oregon's 197 school districts to craft procedures for testing lead, radon and other chemicals at their campuses by this fall.
___
Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
- The Associated Press
- Updated
BRIGHTON, Colo. — A hunter who shot at an ultralight pilot flying overhead near Byers will serve two years on probation.
Frank Urban was sentenced Tuesday in Brighton after pleading guilty to illegally discharging a firearm at James Johnson, a farmer who was flying over his neighboring cornfield, in September.
As a result of the felony conviction, Urban will also have to surrender his firearms.
Johnson told investigators that Urban appeared to flip him off and pointed his shotgun at him before shooting him in the leg.
Urban initially told investigators that Johnson buzzed over him and his cousin about six to eight times and denied intentionally shooting at him. Urban's cousin, however, said he thought he was shooting at the plane.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of her baby daughter.
Phoenix police say 30-year-old Natalie Russell was arrested last week on suspicion of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.
They say 22-month-old Adalynn Russell died on April 14 and autopsy results showed she had toxic levels of methadone and methamphetamines in her system at the time.
Police say the toddler consumed methadone from an open container and her mother allegedly gave her methamphetamines in an effort to counteract the medication.
Officers were called to the family's home in response to a child not breathing.
Paramedics worked to revive the girl, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
KALISPELL, Mont. — State wildlife officials have euthanized a female grizzly bear suspected of breaking into three camp trailers east of Fortine and showing other food conditioned behavior in previous years.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley says the bear was captured on July 29 in a culvert trap near one of the unoccupied trailers that had been broken into the night before.
The bear that entered the trailers suffered a cut and the captured bear had a cut on the left front foot pad.
Based on photos, officials believed the bear had gotten into garages, a barn and killed chickens in the same general area during the last two years.
Due to the bear's degree of food conditioning and because she did not have cubs with her, the decision was made to euthanize her on Monday.
- Updated
LOS ANGELES — A woman who was run over by a lifeguard's SUV as she sunbathed on a beach has settled her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
Newlywed Lorae Bermudez of Whittier and her husband were at Venice Beach in September of 2014 when she was run down as she lay on the sand. Court papers say her liver was lacerated.
Her attorney tells City News Service Tuesday that Bermudez and her husband have reached a tentative settlement of their negligence lawsuit.
Details weren't disclosed but their attorney, Robert Glassman, says the deal needs approval from the county Board of Supervisors.
The board must sign off on all settlements above $100,000.
- The Associated Press
FRESNO, Calif. — Five students who accused a former principal of molesting them have settled their lawsuits with the Fresno-area school district.
The Fresno Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2asTyhC ) that the students say former superintendent and principal of Orange Center Elementary School District Lance Clement molested them inside his office during the 2013-2014 school year. Clement fatally shot himself in June 2014, just before Fresno County sheriff's officials showed up at his doorstep with a search warrant.
Fresno attorney Jacob Rivas represents four victims he says settled Friday for $3.4 million. He says the fifth student settled her lawsuit several months ago for $2 million.
Clement was married and had two children. He led the school from 2010 until his death.
Orange Center Superintendent/Principal Terry M. Hirschfield declined to discuss the settlements Monday.
___
Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com
- The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — A 23-year-old motorist faces murder charges after Spokane police say he deliberately struck and killed a bicyclist following a dispute.
KREM-TV reports that Billy Dalager, of Spokane, appeared in court Monday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office says 30-year-old Don Meilike died from blunt head injuries. He died at the scene early Sunday.
Witnesses told police the two men argued about a pair of speakers when things turned violent.
Police say at least two vehicles chased the victim on his bicycle. One of the vehicles ran him over, killing him.
Police say the driver fled the scene but was located and taken into custody around 6:20 p.m. Sunday.
- The Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho family's excursion to Payette National Forest turned into a rescue mission when they heard a puppy's whine coming from underground.
The Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/2as0cBq ) that brothers Dan Friend of Eagle and Bret Friend of Boise were preparing to enter a little-known, unmarked cave with relatives when they heard Tinker, a young redtick hound.
The brothers helped family members hoist Tinker to the surface in a duffel bag. The puppy disappeared July 16 while being trained to hunt bears.
Dan Friend says Tinker was wearing a tracking collar but the trainer lost the signal. Tinker has been reunited with her owner in Montana.
The hound survived about 20 feet underground without food or water for two weeks. Friend says condensation on the cave walls likely kept Tinker alive.
- By TALIA RICHMAN The Oregonian/OregonLIve
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's bottle deposit will soon go from a nickel to a dime, an effort to raise redemption rates that have sagged in recent years.
In 1971, Oregon passed a first-of-its-kind "bottle bill," which added 5 cents to the price of canned and bottled beer and soft drinks. To get the money back, a person had to return the bottle or can instead of throwing it away.
A nickel carried real spending power back then. For the first 15 years, return rates exceeded 90 percent, while the amount of litter along Oregon's roads and in its landfills declined. But by 2009, only about three-quarters of bottles were redeemed, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
To combat that problem, the 2011 Legislature decreed that if the redemption rate were to fall below 80 percent for two consecutive years, the 5 cent bottle deposit would be doubled.
In July, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission announced the latest numbers: about 68 percent for 2014 and 64 percent in 2015. The provision will kick in April 1, 2017.
The eight-month lag is important, said Christie Scott, the liquor commission's spokeswoman. The state plans to use the time to work with manufacturers, beverage distributors and consumers to prepare for the change.
Cans and bottle labeling must be updated to reflect the 10 cent deposit. Redemption centers need to reprogram their machines. And the state has to educate customers.
"We want to make sure people know this is coming and aren't surprised on April 1 when they take their six-pack up to the counter and it's a 60-cent deposit, not a 30-cent one," Scott said. "That's why it's not just snap your fingers and automatically it's 10 cents."
There's also the issue of ridding shelves of bottles labeled with the 5 cent deposit mark before the change kicks in. Even if someone pays the lower rate, they'll still receive 10 cents back come April 1.
"We're going to take a hit as an industry," said Joe Gilliam, president of the Northwest Grocery Association. "A lot of containers out there that are worth a nickel will suddenly be worth a dime the next day."
That's what happened in 2009, when the bill expanded to include bottled water. That change "didn't kill us, but it was a cost to the system," Gilliam said.
The commission will hold a "rulemaking hearing" to go over stakeholders' concerns and questions, Scott said.
Oregon is one of 10 states with a bottle bill. Most have stuck with 5 cents, though Maine and Vermont offer 15 cents for liquor bottles, and California gives 10 cents back for bottles larger than 24 ounces.
Only Michigan has a 10 cent deposit, and its return rates consistently hover above 90 percent.
Oregon will be the first state to increase an established deposit amount, said Cherilyn Bertges, an Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative spokeswoman. The cooperative operates 16 BottleDrop redemption centers across the state and is planning to add four more before April.
"We do expect there to be an increase in return rates, but how much that will be is a good question," Bertges said. "We don't have an exact example, so it's pretty much anybody's guess what will happen."
Though redemption centers handle about 40 percent of returns, Gilliam said, there aren't enough of them to mitigate the soon-to-be increased burden for grocery stores.
He estimates the state needs another 15 centers to absorb what he predicts could be a 20 percent uptick in returns at grocery stores.
"It's going to be tough on the retailer because we're really maxed out at the retail level in the number of cans we take in today," he said, noting that the average Oregon grocery store redeems 7,000 cans and bottles a day.
Doubling the deposit is going to increase the number of people who go through neighborhoods to collect others' cans, Gilliam said, and it also may exacerbate fraud.
Already, he said, people from Washington and Idaho — states without bottle bills — cross the border to redeem cans they didn't pay a deposit on.
"There's concern that would go up as well," he said. "There's always someone angling to make a buck."
Oregon's historic bottle deposit system will soon see additional change. In 2018, it will be expanded to include "all beverage containers except distilled liquor, wine, dairy or plant-based milk, and infant formula."
That means people will be able to get 10 cents back for beverages including tea, coffee, hard cider, kombucha and coconut water.
Part of the reason for the return rate's fluctuation is the evolving purchasing power of the nickel. Though the cost of living has changed over the last 45 years, the bottle deposit hasn't.
If it had, Bertges said, the deposit would be now be up to about 30 cents.
"Obviously we're not jumping all the way to 30 cents, but this is an effort to make up for some of that," she said. "It'll renew that financial incentive a little bit."
Ben Cannon, a former Oregon legislator who sponsored the bill, said he hopes the law he helped put in the books years ago has a positive impact.
"I would've been thrilled if the redemption rate had increased above 80 percent without the deposit going to the dime," he said. "The point wasn't to make a dime, it was to increase the number of containers being recycled."
Frequent visitors to Safeway's downtown bottle return had varying opinions on the upcoming change.
Robert Gimarelli saves his own bottles and comes almost daily to redeem them. He also picks them up at bus stops, on the street and at his apartment building.
"I don't want to see them thrown away — they're money, they're gold," said Gimarelli, 29. "It's a good day, April 1. It's more money in your pocket."
But Deb Stone, 61, said the increase will make her life harder. She "dumpster dives," and often spends three to four hours going through each of the eight trash rooms in her building.
"I'm not excited because I don't see the cans being there anymore," Stone said. "People will save them and take them in themselves now that they're worth more. Sometimes I come here with $15 worth of bottles but I don't think that'll be available anymore."
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
- By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho health officials have released a list of providers that offer ultrasounds for women seeking abortions as required under a newly enacted law.
The 11 ultrasounds providers that requested to be included on the list are primarily crisis pregnancy centers, which are often operated by anti-abortion advocates. According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the clinics have not been inspected or certified by the state agency. Furthermore, state officials have also posted a warning that the information should not be used as medical advice.
The list will be updated annually each January 1.
Currently, 13 other states require some sort of verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing an ultrasound, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that supports abortion rights.
- The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — Authorities canceled an Amber Alert that New Mexico State Police issued Tuesday for a 3-year-old girl, saying the child has been found safe.
New Mexico State Police said the girl, identified as Merleah Guinn, was taken from her home in Santa Rosa, east of Albuquerque. At the time, they said she had been taken by an "unknown abductor."
But the girl's mother told the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/2asnQxv) that she took the girl from her father's house because she was concerned about her.
She says the father may not have remembered that she had picked up the child because he was not fully awake at the time.
Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said state police are continuing to investigate.
- The Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Douglas County sheriff's deputies have arrested seven men from six different states accused of attempting to defraud Carson City residents with door-to-door solicitations for an alleged military organization.
The sheriff's office says the suspects claimed to be collecting money to send personal care packages to military personnel overseas through a company named, "Something for Soldiers Sales LLC."
Deputies arrested 24-year-old Cameron Laird of Bartlesville, Oklahoma Saturday evening after he failed to produce a solicitation permit or business license.
They later apprehended six other suspects, including Laird's 19-year-old brother, Trevor Laird, also of Bartlesville. The others listed hometowns in Arkansas, Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas.
All seven were booked on suspicion of felony fraud and a variety of other charges.
- The Associated Press
MEDFORD, Ore. — Drinking water has been shut off at two Medford schools after officials said tests revealed it contained too much lead.
The results received late last week showed water from 73 percent of fixtures at Jackson Elementary and 80 percent of fixtures at Roosevelt Elementary exceeded the 20 parts per billion level at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls for cleanup measures.
The findings came after the district completely replaced plumbing at both schools in 2009. Officials said tests taken between 2011 and 2015 showed no indication of elevated lead levels.
"These are the last (schools) that we expected there to be any problems; it just doesn't make any sense to see those elevated levels," said Ron Havniear, the district's facilities and support services manager.
The Mail Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2aiG84H ) school officials sent parents a letter, took additional samples for a retest and distributed water bottles for students and staff to use during the Kids Unlimited summer camp program at Roosevelt and Jackson.
The Medford Water Commission will take samples Wednesday or Thursday to see if the lead is coming from the municipal water supply. If that's eliminated as a source, the district will look at its plumbing to find the source of the lead, Havniear said.
"We're in a holding pattern until we get the next round of samples back," He said.
In the meantime, the district is referring parents with concerns to medical professionals who can determine whether blood tests are warranted.
Without federal mandates for testing water systems in school buildings and with the Flint, Michigan, water crisis at center stage of the debate, Gov. Kate Brown has called on Oregon's 197 school districts to craft procedures for testing lead, radon and other chemicals at their campuses by this fall.
___
Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
- The Associated Press
BRIGHTON, Colo. — A hunter who shot at an ultralight pilot flying overhead near Byers will serve two years on probation.
Frank Urban was sentenced Tuesday in Brighton after pleading guilty to illegally discharging a firearm at James Johnson, a farmer who was flying over his neighboring cornfield, in September.
As a result of the felony conviction, Urban will also have to surrender his firearms.
Johnson told investigators that Urban appeared to flip him off and pointed his shotgun at him before shooting him in the leg.
Urban initially told investigators that Johnson buzzed over him and his cousin about six to eight times and denied intentionally shooting at him. Urban's cousin, however, said he thought he was shooting at the plane.
- The Associated Press
PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of her baby daughter.
Phoenix police say 30-year-old Natalie Russell was arrested last week on suspicion of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.
They say 22-month-old Adalynn Russell died on April 14 and autopsy results showed she had toxic levels of methadone and methamphetamines in her system at the time.
Police say the toddler consumed methadone from an open container and her mother allegedly gave her methamphetamines in an effort to counteract the medication.
Officers were called to the family's home in response to a child not breathing.
Paramedics worked to revive the girl, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
- The Associated Press
KALISPELL, Mont. — State wildlife officials have euthanized a female grizzly bear suspected of breaking into three camp trailers east of Fortine and showing other food conditioned behavior in previous years.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley says the bear was captured on July 29 in a culvert trap near one of the unoccupied trailers that had been broken into the night before.
The bear that entered the trailers suffered a cut and the captured bear had a cut on the left front foot pad.
Based on photos, officials believed the bear had gotten into garages, a barn and killed chickens in the same general area during the last two years.
Due to the bear's degree of food conditioning and because she did not have cubs with her, the decision was made to euthanize her on Monday.
LOS ANGELES — A woman who was run over by a lifeguard's SUV as she sunbathed on a beach has settled her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
Newlywed Lorae Bermudez of Whittier and her husband were at Venice Beach in September of 2014 when she was run down as she lay on the sand. Court papers say her liver was lacerated.
Her attorney tells City News Service Tuesday that Bermudez and her husband have reached a tentative settlement of their negligence lawsuit.
Details weren't disclosed but their attorney, Robert Glassman, says the deal needs approval from the county Board of Supervisors.
The board must sign off on all settlements above $100,000.
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