Trooper saves ducklings; marijuana governors seek autonomy; car-tracking cannons
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Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
- Updated
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two young women sued their former elementary school principal in a Portland court on Monday over allegations he sexually abused them for years in his office.
The lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court names Jeff Hays, former principal of Deep Creek Elementary School in Damascus, as a defendant, as well as his former school district. It seeks a jury trial and up to $20 million in damages.
Hays is currently the executive director of City View Charter School in Hillsboro, Oregon, another Portland suburb. He left Deep Creek in 2009.
He did not return an email or phone message from The Associated Press on Monday seeking comment. He told The Oregonian the allegations were false.
The lawsuit alleges he sexually abused two students, identified in the lawsuit as J.J. and K.K., between 2005 and 2009 while he was principal at Deep Creek.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Department completed a criminal investigation into the allegations in January and has presented the case to prosecutors, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Brian Jensen. A charging decision has not been made, Jensen said.
The school is in Multnomah County but the case was investigated in Clackamas County because that's where the police report was filed, he said.
The alleged abuse for both girls began in the second grade and much of it happened in Hays' office with the door closed and the blinds drawn, the lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs are now 16 and 19, respectively.
One of the girls alleges in court papers that Hays would at first put his hand on her knee while giving her math tests and move his hand higher up her leg each time she got a wrong answer, saying "Are you sure about that answer?"
He would praise her for wearing "stretchy" pants and tell her she was "bad" if she missed answers, the suit alleges.
Hays' private meetings with the girl, which numbered between 20 and 25, escalated in severity over the three years, court papers allege.
Hays began abusing the other plaintiff when she was seven, court papers said.
The president of the elementary school's Booster Club, a frequent presence at the school, told Hays that meeting with small children in his office with the door closed and the blinds drawn down was "improper," but the practice continued, the lawsuit alleges.
Athena Vadnais, a spokeswoman for the Gresham-Barlow School District, did not immediately return a call for comment or return an email.
____
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus
- By KEN RITTER Associated Press
- Updated
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada attorney did not kill herself as first determined two years ago, a coroner said Monday, adding a new twist to a case that drew headlines when her husband, a Las Vegas-area psychologist, was accused of killing her with a lethal combination of pain pills and anti-freeze.
New evidence led to a change in the cause of Susan Winters' death from suicide to "undetermined," Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said. The finding wasn't homicide, and Fudenberg declined to describe the new evidence he said he received from Henderson police.
"It will most likely come out in court proceedings," the coroner said.
Winters' husband, Gregory "Brent" Dennis, was arrested in February and charged with her death after her parents hired a private investigator and filed a lawsuit in August 2015 alleging that Dennis was responsible.
The criminal charge alleges that Dennis poisoned Winters, 48, in January 2015.
Dennis, 54, is free on $250,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing, scheduled for Aug. 21.
His lawyers have said he will plead not guilty. Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld said Monday that the coroner's ruling shows that evidence in the case is inconclusive.
"It begs the question, 'Why is Mr. Dennis facing a criminal charge?'" Schonfeld said.
Schonfeld attributed the coroner's action to pressure from Winters' parents, Danny and Avis Winters of Oklahoma City, and to publicity about the case in local media.
A lawyer for Winters' family said they welcomed the coroner's decision.
"They never believed that Susan took her own life," attorney Tony Sgro said. "It took some time, but law enforcement ultimately concluded that Brent Dennis should be arrested and stand trial for murder."
Dennis operated a mental health clinic in Boulder City until his license was suspended by the state Board of Psychological Examiners following his arrest.
- Updated
ENTERPRISE, Ore. (AP) — Six eastern Oregon counties say they are halting the use of cyanide traps to kill coyotes to protect the state's wolf population.
The Baker City Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2nxdd2Y) that the USDA Wildlife Services and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife came to the agreement to stop the use cyanide traps in six counties after the accidental killing of a gray wolf in February.
Officials say cyanide traps to control predators will no longer be used in Baker, Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow and Grant counties.
Officials from both agencies say they are working to improve communication between the entities and share information on future wolf sightings.
___
Information from: Baker City Herald, http://www.bakercityherald.com/
- Updated
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a horse escaped serious injury after falling into a 5-foot-deep hole in Southern California.
Fire officials say the saddled horse and its rider had just left a Taco Bell near downtown Riverside on Saturday when the cover on a utility vault collapsed.
Battalion Chief Jeff DeLaurie says a crane was initially requested to haul the horse from the vault but it wasn't needed. The animal managed to position itself so crews could pull it out using ropes.
A veterinarian said the horse suffered minor cuts to its legs.
DeLaurie tells the Press-Enterprise (http://bit.ly/2nPWf1B ) that it's unusual to see a horse in that part of the inland city of about 300,000 people.
- Updated
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Few of the shootings recorded by a gunfire detection system in four San Diego neighborhoods were reported to police.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2o1R1lw ) that of the 61 shootings that occurred between Nov. 26 and March 27, just 26 percent were reported by residents. The ShotSpotter system was installed in the Valencia Park, Lincoln Park, Skyline and O'Farrell neighborhoods in late 2016.
Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman says the data show that residents are afraid to call police for fear of retaliation.
The sensor system tells officers the location and time of a shooting, how many rounds were fired and, in some cases, the number of shooters and whether they are on the move.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
- Updated
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) — Washington police will now carry cannons that will help them track fleeing suspects without messy car chases.
KXLY-TV reports that Moses Lake police will use the cannons to launch a sticky GPS unit called star chase onto a car before they start any enforcement or attempts to stop the vehicle. The star chase can send real-time tracking information to dispatchers.
The department was awarded a $7,200 grant that mostly covered the cost of two units, priced at about $5,000 each.
Chief Kevin Fuhr says the technology allows police to follow fleeing cars from a safe distance instead of engaging them in a high-speed chase.
Police say the cannons will be paired with patrol cars equipped with automatic license plate readers that look for stolen cars.
___
Information from: KXLY-TV, http://www.kxly.com/
- Updated
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials are investigating nine Oregon hotels which travelers claim cancelled their room reservations and inflated prices ahead of a summer solar eclipse.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2o2uNjA) more than a dozen people filled complaints against nine hotels to the Oregon Department of Justice.
Consumers said on TripAdvisor they had made advanced reservations at the Stafford Inn in Prineville, east of Portland, for about $170. The reservations were later cancelled because of new ownership or rebranding claims. The rooms' price was updated to $600 to $635.
Stafford Inn manager Laurie Romine says the very same thing is going on all over the place.
Department spokeswoman Ellen Klem says hotels are allowed to charge any price, but should not be deceptive in their advertising or marketing.
Klem says the hotels could face a $25,000 fine.
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
- Updated
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials say a Boise man has been taken to a hospital after the dumpster he was sleeping in was emptied into a garbage truck.
The Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/2oC4GxN ) reports that emergency crews were notified that a man was in the truck early Monday morning. The truck had been making its early rounds in Boise when it emptied the container holding the man in an alley.
Police and firefighters then helped dig the man out from the truck, where paramedics took him to a local hospital.
More information about the man was not immediately available.
___
Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com
- Updated
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — To protect and serve and ... rescue ducklings?
The Oregon State Police said Monday on its official Twitter and Facebook accounts that one of its troopers helped pluck two ducklings from a storm drain where they were stranded over the weekend.
Witnesses say a mother duck and her 10 ducklings were crossing the street when two of the babies were swept into the drain.
City workers removed several storm grates and a manhole cover so the trooper could reach the ducklings with a net.
The other eight ducklings successfully navigated the drain pipe and emerged in a nearby canal.
They were reunited with their mother and siblings and waddled away -- apparently unharmed.
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A report finds traffic deaths in Los Angeles jumped sharply despite a high-profile campaign by city leaders to eliminate fatal crashes.
The Los Angeles Times reports Monday (http://lat.ms/2oQKrvc ) that 260 people were killed in traffic crashes on city streets in 2016 — an increase of almost 43 percent over the previous year. And so far in 2017, crash fatalities are 22 percent higher than in the same period last year.
The newspaper says the rising numbers underscore the challenges facing Mayor Eric Garcetti's Vision Zero policy, which went into effect last year. Its goal was a 20 percent drop in traffic deaths by the end of 2017.
Seleta Reynolds of the city's transportation department says the number of fatalities could be connected to booming car sales and an increase in distractions that drivers have in their vehicles.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
- Updated
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal indictment accuses a man of stealing nearly $527,000 by making unauthorized transactions while he worked as a teller for an Arizona credit union.
James Roy Entzminger is charged with nine counts of embezzlement, fraud and aggravated identity theft for criminal activity allegedly committed from late 2009 through early 2014 while he worked for Banner Federal Credit Union's Estrella branch.
The indictment alleges there were multiple victims and that they were targeted because they had accounts with infrequent activity.
The indictment also says Entzminger made cash withdrawals, transferred money between accounts and changed addresses in credit union records so account holders wouldn't get statements.
An attorney listed in court records as representing Entzminger didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
More like this...
- GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two young women sued their former elementary school principal in a Portland court on Monday over allegations he sexually abused them for years in his office.
The lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court names Jeff Hays, former principal of Deep Creek Elementary School in Damascus, as a defendant, as well as his former school district. It seeks a jury trial and up to $20 million in damages.
Hays is currently the executive director of City View Charter School in Hillsboro, Oregon, another Portland suburb. He left Deep Creek in 2009.
He did not return an email or phone message from The Associated Press on Monday seeking comment. He told The Oregonian the allegations were false.
The lawsuit alleges he sexually abused two students, identified in the lawsuit as J.J. and K.K., between 2005 and 2009 while he was principal at Deep Creek.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Department completed a criminal investigation into the allegations in January and has presented the case to prosecutors, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Brian Jensen. A charging decision has not been made, Jensen said.
The school is in Multnomah County but the case was investigated in Clackamas County because that's where the police report was filed, he said.
The alleged abuse for both girls began in the second grade and much of it happened in Hays' office with the door closed and the blinds drawn, the lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs are now 16 and 19, respectively.
One of the girls alleges in court papers that Hays would at first put his hand on her knee while giving her math tests and move his hand higher up her leg each time she got a wrong answer, saying "Are you sure about that answer?"
He would praise her for wearing "stretchy" pants and tell her she was "bad" if she missed answers, the suit alleges.
Hays' private meetings with the girl, which numbered between 20 and 25, escalated in severity over the three years, court papers allege.
Hays began abusing the other plaintiff when she was seven, court papers said.
The president of the elementary school's Booster Club, a frequent presence at the school, told Hays that meeting with small children in his office with the door closed and the blinds drawn down was "improper," but the practice continued, the lawsuit alleges.
Athena Vadnais, a spokeswoman for the Gresham-Barlow School District, did not immediately return a call for comment or return an email.
____
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus
- By KEN RITTER Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada attorney did not kill herself as first determined two years ago, a coroner said Monday, adding a new twist to a case that drew headlines when her husband, a Las Vegas-area psychologist, was accused of killing her with a lethal combination of pain pills and anti-freeze.
New evidence led to a change in the cause of Susan Winters' death from suicide to "undetermined," Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said. The finding wasn't homicide, and Fudenberg declined to describe the new evidence he said he received from Henderson police.
"It will most likely come out in court proceedings," the coroner said.
Winters' husband, Gregory "Brent" Dennis, was arrested in February and charged with her death after her parents hired a private investigator and filed a lawsuit in August 2015 alleging that Dennis was responsible.
The criminal charge alleges that Dennis poisoned Winters, 48, in January 2015.
Dennis, 54, is free on $250,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing, scheduled for Aug. 21.
His lawyers have said he will plead not guilty. Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld said Monday that the coroner's ruling shows that evidence in the case is inconclusive.
"It begs the question, 'Why is Mr. Dennis facing a criminal charge?'" Schonfeld said.
Schonfeld attributed the coroner's action to pressure from Winters' parents, Danny and Avis Winters of Oklahoma City, and to publicity about the case in local media.
A lawyer for Winters' family said they welcomed the coroner's decision.
"They never believed that Susan took her own life," attorney Tony Sgro said. "It took some time, but law enforcement ultimately concluded that Brent Dennis should be arrested and stand trial for murder."
Dennis operated a mental health clinic in Boulder City until his license was suspended by the state Board of Psychological Examiners following his arrest.
ENTERPRISE, Ore. (AP) — Six eastern Oregon counties say they are halting the use of cyanide traps to kill coyotes to protect the state's wolf population.
The Baker City Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2nxdd2Y) that the USDA Wildlife Services and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife came to the agreement to stop the use cyanide traps in six counties after the accidental killing of a gray wolf in February.
Officials say cyanide traps to control predators will no longer be used in Baker, Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow and Grant counties.
Officials from both agencies say they are working to improve communication between the entities and share information on future wolf sightings.
___
Information from: Baker City Herald, http://www.bakercityherald.com/
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a horse escaped serious injury after falling into a 5-foot-deep hole in Southern California.
Fire officials say the saddled horse and its rider had just left a Taco Bell near downtown Riverside on Saturday when the cover on a utility vault collapsed.
Battalion Chief Jeff DeLaurie says a crane was initially requested to haul the horse from the vault but it wasn't needed. The animal managed to position itself so crews could pull it out using ropes.
A veterinarian said the horse suffered minor cuts to its legs.
DeLaurie tells the Press-Enterprise (http://bit.ly/2nPWf1B ) that it's unusual to see a horse in that part of the inland city of about 300,000 people.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Few of the shootings recorded by a gunfire detection system in four San Diego neighborhoods were reported to police.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2o1R1lw ) that of the 61 shootings that occurred between Nov. 26 and March 27, just 26 percent were reported by residents. The ShotSpotter system was installed in the Valencia Park, Lincoln Park, Skyline and O'Farrell neighborhoods in late 2016.
Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman says the data show that residents are afraid to call police for fear of retaliation.
The sensor system tells officers the location and time of a shooting, how many rounds were fired and, in some cases, the number of shooters and whether they are on the move.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) — Washington police will now carry cannons that will help them track fleeing suspects without messy car chases.
KXLY-TV reports that Moses Lake police will use the cannons to launch a sticky GPS unit called star chase onto a car before they start any enforcement or attempts to stop the vehicle. The star chase can send real-time tracking information to dispatchers.
The department was awarded a $7,200 grant that mostly covered the cost of two units, priced at about $5,000 each.
Chief Kevin Fuhr says the technology allows police to follow fleeing cars from a safe distance instead of engaging them in a high-speed chase.
Police say the cannons will be paired with patrol cars equipped with automatic license plate readers that look for stolen cars.
___
Information from: KXLY-TV, http://www.kxly.com/
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials are investigating nine Oregon hotels which travelers claim cancelled their room reservations and inflated prices ahead of a summer solar eclipse.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2o2uNjA) more than a dozen people filled complaints against nine hotels to the Oregon Department of Justice.
Consumers said on TripAdvisor they had made advanced reservations at the Stafford Inn in Prineville, east of Portland, for about $170. The reservations were later cancelled because of new ownership or rebranding claims. The rooms' price was updated to $600 to $635.
Stafford Inn manager Laurie Romine says the very same thing is going on all over the place.
Department spokeswoman Ellen Klem says hotels are allowed to charge any price, but should not be deceptive in their advertising or marketing.
Klem says the hotels could face a $25,000 fine.
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials say a Boise man has been taken to a hospital after the dumpster he was sleeping in was emptied into a garbage truck.
The Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/2oC4GxN ) reports that emergency crews were notified that a man was in the truck early Monday morning. The truck had been making its early rounds in Boise when it emptied the container holding the man in an alley.
Police and firefighters then helped dig the man out from the truck, where paramedics took him to a local hospital.
More information about the man was not immediately available.
___
Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — To protect and serve and ... rescue ducklings?
The Oregon State Police said Monday on its official Twitter and Facebook accounts that one of its troopers helped pluck two ducklings from a storm drain where they were stranded over the weekend.
Witnesses say a mother duck and her 10 ducklings were crossing the street when two of the babies were swept into the drain.
City workers removed several storm grates and a manhole cover so the trooper could reach the ducklings with a net.
The other eight ducklings successfully navigated the drain pipe and emerged in a nearby canal.
They were reunited with their mother and siblings and waddled away -- apparently unharmed.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A report finds traffic deaths in Los Angeles jumped sharply despite a high-profile campaign by city leaders to eliminate fatal crashes.
The Los Angeles Times reports Monday (http://lat.ms/2oQKrvc ) that 260 people were killed in traffic crashes on city streets in 2016 — an increase of almost 43 percent over the previous year. And so far in 2017, crash fatalities are 22 percent higher than in the same period last year.
The newspaper says the rising numbers underscore the challenges facing Mayor Eric Garcetti's Vision Zero policy, which went into effect last year. Its goal was a 20 percent drop in traffic deaths by the end of 2017.
Seleta Reynolds of the city's transportation department says the number of fatalities could be connected to booming car sales and an increase in distractions that drivers have in their vehicles.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal indictment accuses a man of stealing nearly $527,000 by making unauthorized transactions while he worked as a teller for an Arizona credit union.
James Roy Entzminger is charged with nine counts of embezzlement, fraud and aggravated identity theft for criminal activity allegedly committed from late 2009 through early 2014 while he worked for Banner Federal Credit Union's Estrella branch.
The indictment alleges there were multiple victims and that they were targeted because they had accounts with infrequent activity.
The indictment also says Entzminger made cash withdrawals, transferred money between accounts and changed addresses in credit union records so account holders wouldn't get statements.
An attorney listed in court records as representing Entzminger didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
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