Odd and interesting news from around the West.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's Portland-area transportation agency wants to extend the length it is allowed to ban people from its services in wake of repeated and deadly transit crimes.
TriMet wants to extend the length to one year and possibly life, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported (http://bit.ly/2vXmS7I ) Tuesday.
The agency's current ban limit is six months, based on the philosophy that people shouldn't be denied access to public transportation. But a notorious offender and a fatal stabbing two months ago have agency officials saying enough is enough.
TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said talks of a longer ban stemmed from the "TriMet Barber" case, named after Jared Walter, a man who has been arrested repeatedly since 2009 after authorities said he cutting women's hair on buses and other behavior.
Walter was last arrested in May on suspicion of harassment and interfering with public transportation, and police said he was again seen cutting a woman's hair on a TriMet bus.
The fatal stabbing left two men dead and critically injured another. TriMet has added police patrols and contracted security workers in response.
The agency has reported that although crime has fallen in recent years, crime reported against TriMet employees increased in 2015. The agency will release its most recent crime statistics, covering 2016, later this week.
The TriMet governing board on Wednesday will look at an ordinance that would allow the agency's general manager to issue long-term exclusions in the case of a "serious physical offense."
The ordinance outlines an exclusion of six months to a year for first-time offenders and a year or more for second offenses. It also would give the general manager discretion to issue a longer exclusion after a single offense if the rider poses a "serious threat" to others.
Such threats would include sexual assault, an assault with a weapon or an attack that resulted in serious injury or death.
The ordinance also would allow the general manager waive a 10-day waiting period before exclusions take effect. The waiting period gives riders a chance to appeal the exclusion.
An offender who's banned for more than a year would have the right to appeal the ongoing exclusion once every 12 months.
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
2
- Updated
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Politics in Washington has reined in an annual recognition of American cowboys backed by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
Enzi's office says despite bipartisan support, a resolution designating July 22 as the National Day of the American Cowboy failed for the first time since 2005.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2eLlgL8 ) that the resolution is normally passed through the Senate's unanimous consent procedure, whereby noncontroversial items like post office names are automatically approved. But because Democrats are forcing debate and roll call votes on every item brought to the floor, the resolution died.
The resolution's co-sponsors this year all hailed from states where cowboys are still part of daily life, including the Dakotas, Idaho and Montana. Six of the 14 co-sponsors were Democrats.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com
3
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — California prosecutors will seek murder charges against a suspected drunken driver with prior DUI arrests who allegedly caused a head-on collision that killed a mother and daughter.
KBAK-TV reported Monday (http://bit.ly/2gZRv9S) that Vincent Moroyoqui was arrested following the deadly wrong-way crash last week in Kern County. Raeleen and Raegan Sorensen, a mother and daughter from nearby Taft, were killed.
Police at the scene said the 34-year-old Moroyoqui was drunk.
It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney.
The news station says he was arrested for DUI three times in the past 15 years. He spent some time in jail after pleading no contest to lesser charges.
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Information from: KBAK-TV, http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/
4
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disney has parted ways with a YouTube star days after a local television news report that revealed some of his Los Angeles neighbors were fed up with his stunts.
Jake Paul posted a note on Twitter over the weekend announcing his departure from the Disney Channel series "Bizaardvark." He says he feels he has "outgrown the channel" and would like to focus more on his personal brand. Disney confirmed the move, calling it a mutual decision.
The split came after KTLA-TV reported that neighbors were angered with Paul's antics for his nine-million follower YouTube account, which included setting furniture on fire in a pool.
Neither Paul nor Disney has mentioned the report in their comments on the split. Disney didn't immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
5
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SEATTLE (AP) — Opponents of safe-injection sites in King County say they will submit more than enough signatures to place an initiative banning the sites on the November ballot.
These sites would allow people to use heroin and other drugs in front of medical personnel, who would encourage treatment options. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine have backed the safe-injection sites.
But The Seattle Times reported (http://bit.ly/2vYhAsq ) Monday that not everyone is on board for allowing it. Initiative 27 would ban public consumption of heroin and all federal Schedule I drugs except marijuana.
The proposed initiative requires signatures from 47,443 valid county voters to qualify for the ballot.
Backers of the initiative say they will turn in nearly 70,000 signatures to the King County Clerk on Monday.
6
- By JOHN ROGERS Associated Press
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barbara Sinatra, the fourth wife of legendary singer Frank Sinatra and a prominent children's advocate and philanthropist who raised millions of dollars to help abused children, died Tuesday at 90.
Sinatra died of natural causes at her Rancho Mirage, California, home surrounded by family and friends, said John Thoresen, director of the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center.
With her husband's help, Barbara Sinatra founded a nonprofit center in 1986 to provide therapy and other support to young victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
In the years since, Thoresen said, more than 20,000 children have been treated at the center in the desert city of Rancho Mirage and hundreds of thousands more throughout the world through videos it provides.
A former model and Las Vegas showgirl, Barbara Sinatra was a prominent Palm Springs socialite in her own right before she married her husband in 1976 when he was 60 and she 49. They remained wed until his death at in 1998 age 82.
She met the singer through her previous husband, Zeppo Marx of the famous Marx Brothers comedy team. Marx and Frank Sinatra had been close friends and neighbors in Rancho Mirage until she left Marx.
It was her third marriage, Sinatra's fourth and the most enduring union for both.
Frank Sinatra had previously been married to Nancy Sinatra (mother of their children Nancy and Frank Jr.), as well as actresses Ava Gardner, who died in 1990, and Mia Farrow.
Over the years, Frank and Barbara Sinatra played an active role in the children's center.
"Frank would come over and sit and read to the kids," Thoresen said of the sometimes volatile entertainer.
"But the best way she used Frank," he added with a chuckle, "was she would say, 'I need a half-million dollars for this, so you do a concert and I get half the money.'"
She remained active at the center until recently, pushing for creation of the video program just last year and making sure the children had anything they needed, Thoresen said.
7
- Updated
SUISUN CITY, Calif. (AP) — Police arrested a man they believe to be the father of a 16-day-old baby who was left in a Northern California strip mall parking lot.
KNTV-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2v4zCwR ) the baby was found on Monday by two barber shop employees who noticed a car seat in the Suisun City strip mall lot. They called police after realizing a baby was in it.
Wendell Cooper, a witness, said she saw somebody pull up, take the baby out and drive away. Police used surveillance video to get the vehicle's license plate.
Police later took 18-year-old Daniel Mitchell into custody on probable cause for child endangerment, child abandonment, committing a felony while on bail and misdemeanor possession of suspected cocaine.
The baby was airlifted to a children's hospital as a precaution due to redness in one eye. Police say the infant is in critical but stable condition.
___
Information from: KNTV-TV.
8
- By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
- Updated
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A new state analysis shows that just 4 percent of reported rapes in Idaho result in a guilty conviction of a sex crime.
According to the Idaho State Police report, rape charges are the most likely to be amended or modified to a lesser offense compared to other sex crime charges.
Furthermore, while the overall rate of reported sex crimes in Idaho has been steadily decreasing since 2009, the majority of sex crimes are committed by someone known by the victim.
The report also found that 24 percent of reported sex offenses statewide resulted in an arrest between 2009 and 2015. Meanwhile, nearly 50 percent of violent crimes lead to an arrest. That disparity only widened in rural Idaho, Nez Perce, Caribou, Minidoka and Teton counties.
9
- Updated
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — An eastern Idaho police chief is defending the arrest of a man who was videotaping the outside of a public building even though the officer who made the arrest cited a law that doesn't exist.
Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand has refused to release the name of the officer involved in the incident but said during a press conference Monday that the officer handled the situation well.
Sean Johnson of Chubbuck was videotaping the exterior of the FBI building in Pocatello when the officer approached and asked for identification, accusing Johnson of "public voyeurism." No such law exists in Idaho.
Johnson was arrested and later charged with resisting an officer, though police declined to release details on any conduct they believe merits the charge. Johnson's attorney, Curtis Smith, says the charge is unfounded and he's asking a judge to dismiss the case.
10
- Updated
SEATTLE (AP) — A former bank manager in West Seattle has been sentenced to four years and five months in federal prison for stealing from elderly customers.
U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says Roberta Castillo embezzled more than $500,000 from the accounts of elderly customers while working as a manager of a JPM Chase bank branch in West Seattle.
Hayes says Castillo acted as a trusted friend to those customers by helping with their financial affairs. Instead she stole their funds by manipulating the bank's electronic records.
Castillo pleaded guilty in March to theft and embezzlement by a bank employee and a charge of aggravated identity fraud.
Chase agreed to restore the funds in those accounts.
In addition to the prison sentence, Castillo must serve five years on supervised release and pay restitution of more than $500,000 to Chase.
11
- Updated
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says agents found over a half-ton of abandoned marijuana after following footprints in a rural area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Agents found 24 packages containing 1,100 pounds (499 kilograms) marijuana Monday after a canine team patrolling mountain roads east of Nogales, Arizona, found dozens of footprint impressions on a known smuggling route.
The agents then tracked the footprints to a wooded area a few miles away.
Agents removed the marijuana after determining that the smugglers were no longer in the area.
The Border Patrol says the marijuana was worth over $550,000.
12
- Updated
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man reversed his plea to guilty in a case that began after police pulled over his vehicle, which was driven by a 12-year-old girl who was high on methamphetamine.
The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/2tWFNOD ) Bengamin Ray Yellow Owl pleaded guilty Monday to sexual abuse of a minor and distribution of meth to a person under 21 years of age. As part of the plea agreement he signed on July 10, prosecutors agreed to drop a third charge, aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.
At his change of plea hearing, Yellow Owl said the victim in the case had been his sexual partner for months, although he knew she was below the age of consent. Yellow Owl said the relationship began after a blackout night of drinking.
13
- Updated
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Free parking could soon be a thing of the past in downtown Eugene.
The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/gHN8Rz ) city councilors debated the topic Monday, and most seem ready to return to parking meters.
The council authorized free parking in 2010 to help downtown businesses following the Great Recession.
Councilor Alan Zelenka said there's no evidence that free parking generated more economic activity. He says it has turned downtown into an employee parking lot, reducing turnover.
The lack of turnover has been a chief complaint of businesses lobbying to end free parking.
The city estimates a return to metered parking would generate $350,000 a year for its parking fund. The city plans to use the money to reduce a backlog of maintenance projects in its parking garages.
___
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
More like this...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's Portland-area transportation agency wants to extend the length it is allowed to ban people from its services in wake of repeated and deadly transit crimes.
TriMet wants to extend the length to one year and possibly life, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported (http://bit.ly/2vXmS7I ) Tuesday.
The agency's current ban limit is six months, based on the philosophy that people shouldn't be denied access to public transportation. But a notorious offender and a fatal stabbing two months ago have agency officials saying enough is enough.
TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said talks of a longer ban stemmed from the "TriMet Barber" case, named after Jared Walter, a man who has been arrested repeatedly since 2009 after authorities said he cutting women's hair on buses and other behavior.
Walter was last arrested in May on suspicion of harassment and interfering with public transportation, and police said he was again seen cutting a woman's hair on a TriMet bus.
The fatal stabbing left two men dead and critically injured another. TriMet has added police patrols and contracted security workers in response.
The agency has reported that although crime has fallen in recent years, crime reported against TriMet employees increased in 2015. The agency will release its most recent crime statistics, covering 2016, later this week.
The TriMet governing board on Wednesday will look at an ordinance that would allow the agency's general manager to issue long-term exclusions in the case of a "serious physical offense."
The ordinance outlines an exclusion of six months to a year for first-time offenders and a year or more for second offenses. It also would give the general manager discretion to issue a longer exclusion after a single offense if the rider poses a "serious threat" to others.
Such threats would include sexual assault, an assault with a weapon or an attack that resulted in serious injury or death.
The ordinance also would allow the general manager waive a 10-day waiting period before exclusions take effect. The waiting period gives riders a chance to appeal the exclusion.
An offender who's banned for more than a year would have the right to appeal the ongoing exclusion once every 12 months.
___
Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Politics in Washington has reined in an annual recognition of American cowboys backed by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
Enzi's office says despite bipartisan support, a resolution designating July 22 as the National Day of the American Cowboy failed for the first time since 2005.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2eLlgL8 ) that the resolution is normally passed through the Senate's unanimous consent procedure, whereby noncontroversial items like post office names are automatically approved. But because Democrats are forcing debate and roll call votes on every item brought to the floor, the resolution died.
The resolution's co-sponsors this year all hailed from states where cowboys are still part of daily life, including the Dakotas, Idaho and Montana. Six of the 14 co-sponsors were Democrats.
___
Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — California prosecutors will seek murder charges against a suspected drunken driver with prior DUI arrests who allegedly caused a head-on collision that killed a mother and daughter.
KBAK-TV reported Monday (http://bit.ly/2gZRv9S) that Vincent Moroyoqui was arrested following the deadly wrong-way crash last week in Kern County. Raeleen and Raegan Sorensen, a mother and daughter from nearby Taft, were killed.
Police at the scene said the 34-year-old Moroyoqui was drunk.
It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney.
The news station says he was arrested for DUI three times in the past 15 years. He spent some time in jail after pleading no contest to lesser charges.
___
Information from: KBAK-TV, http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disney has parted ways with a YouTube star days after a local television news report that revealed some of his Los Angeles neighbors were fed up with his stunts.
Jake Paul posted a note on Twitter over the weekend announcing his departure from the Disney Channel series "Bizaardvark." He says he feels he has "outgrown the channel" and would like to focus more on his personal brand. Disney confirmed the move, calling it a mutual decision.
The split came after KTLA-TV reported that neighbors were angered with Paul's antics for his nine-million follower YouTube account, which included setting furniture on fire in a pool.
Neither Paul nor Disney has mentioned the report in their comments on the split. Disney didn't immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
SEATTLE (AP) — Opponents of safe-injection sites in King County say they will submit more than enough signatures to place an initiative banning the sites on the November ballot.
These sites would allow people to use heroin and other drugs in front of medical personnel, who would encourage treatment options. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine have backed the safe-injection sites.
But The Seattle Times reported (http://bit.ly/2vYhAsq ) Monday that not everyone is on board for allowing it. Initiative 27 would ban public consumption of heroin and all federal Schedule I drugs except marijuana.
The proposed initiative requires signatures from 47,443 valid county voters to qualify for the ballot.
Backers of the initiative say they will turn in nearly 70,000 signatures to the King County Clerk on Monday.
- By JOHN ROGERS Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barbara Sinatra, the fourth wife of legendary singer Frank Sinatra and a prominent children's advocate and philanthropist who raised millions of dollars to help abused children, died Tuesday at 90.
Sinatra died of natural causes at her Rancho Mirage, California, home surrounded by family and friends, said John Thoresen, director of the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center.
With her husband's help, Barbara Sinatra founded a nonprofit center in 1986 to provide therapy and other support to young victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
In the years since, Thoresen said, more than 20,000 children have been treated at the center in the desert city of Rancho Mirage and hundreds of thousands more throughout the world through videos it provides.
A former model and Las Vegas showgirl, Barbara Sinatra was a prominent Palm Springs socialite in her own right before she married her husband in 1976 when he was 60 and she 49. They remained wed until his death at in 1998 age 82.
She met the singer through her previous husband, Zeppo Marx of the famous Marx Brothers comedy team. Marx and Frank Sinatra had been close friends and neighbors in Rancho Mirage until she left Marx.
It was her third marriage, Sinatra's fourth and the most enduring union for both.
Frank Sinatra had previously been married to Nancy Sinatra (mother of their children Nancy and Frank Jr.), as well as actresses Ava Gardner, who died in 1990, and Mia Farrow.
Over the years, Frank and Barbara Sinatra played an active role in the children's center.
"Frank would come over and sit and read to the kids," Thoresen said of the sometimes volatile entertainer.
"But the best way she used Frank," he added with a chuckle, "was she would say, 'I need a half-million dollars for this, so you do a concert and I get half the money.'"
She remained active at the center until recently, pushing for creation of the video program just last year and making sure the children had anything they needed, Thoresen said.
SUISUN CITY, Calif. (AP) — Police arrested a man they believe to be the father of a 16-day-old baby who was left in a Northern California strip mall parking lot.
KNTV-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2v4zCwR ) the baby was found on Monday by two barber shop employees who noticed a car seat in the Suisun City strip mall lot. They called police after realizing a baby was in it.
Wendell Cooper, a witness, said she saw somebody pull up, take the baby out and drive away. Police used surveillance video to get the vehicle's license plate.
Police later took 18-year-old Daniel Mitchell into custody on probable cause for child endangerment, child abandonment, committing a felony while on bail and misdemeanor possession of suspected cocaine.
The baby was airlifted to a children's hospital as a precaution due to redness in one eye. Police say the infant is in critical but stable condition.
___
Information from: KNTV-TV.
- By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A new state analysis shows that just 4 percent of reported rapes in Idaho result in a guilty conviction of a sex crime.
According to the Idaho State Police report, rape charges are the most likely to be amended or modified to a lesser offense compared to other sex crime charges.
Furthermore, while the overall rate of reported sex crimes in Idaho has been steadily decreasing since 2009, the majority of sex crimes are committed by someone known by the victim.
The report also found that 24 percent of reported sex offenses statewide resulted in an arrest between 2009 and 2015. Meanwhile, nearly 50 percent of violent crimes lead to an arrest. That disparity only widened in rural Idaho, Nez Perce, Caribou, Minidoka and Teton counties.
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — An eastern Idaho police chief is defending the arrest of a man who was videotaping the outside of a public building even though the officer who made the arrest cited a law that doesn't exist.
Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand has refused to release the name of the officer involved in the incident but said during a press conference Monday that the officer handled the situation well.
Sean Johnson of Chubbuck was videotaping the exterior of the FBI building in Pocatello when the officer approached and asked for identification, accusing Johnson of "public voyeurism." No such law exists in Idaho.
Johnson was arrested and later charged with resisting an officer, though police declined to release details on any conduct they believe merits the charge. Johnson's attorney, Curtis Smith, says the charge is unfounded and he's asking a judge to dismiss the case.
SEATTLE (AP) — A former bank manager in West Seattle has been sentenced to four years and five months in federal prison for stealing from elderly customers.
U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says Roberta Castillo embezzled more than $500,000 from the accounts of elderly customers while working as a manager of a JPM Chase bank branch in West Seattle.
Hayes says Castillo acted as a trusted friend to those customers by helping with their financial affairs. Instead she stole their funds by manipulating the bank's electronic records.
Castillo pleaded guilty in March to theft and embezzlement by a bank employee and a charge of aggravated identity fraud.
Chase agreed to restore the funds in those accounts.
In addition to the prison sentence, Castillo must serve five years on supervised release and pay restitution of more than $500,000 to Chase.
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says agents found over a half-ton of abandoned marijuana after following footprints in a rural area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Agents found 24 packages containing 1,100 pounds (499 kilograms) marijuana Monday after a canine team patrolling mountain roads east of Nogales, Arizona, found dozens of footprint impressions on a known smuggling route.
The agents then tracked the footprints to a wooded area a few miles away.
Agents removed the marijuana after determining that the smugglers were no longer in the area.
The Border Patrol says the marijuana was worth over $550,000.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man reversed his plea to guilty in a case that began after police pulled over his vehicle, which was driven by a 12-year-old girl who was high on methamphetamine.
The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/2tWFNOD ) Bengamin Ray Yellow Owl pleaded guilty Monday to sexual abuse of a minor and distribution of meth to a person under 21 years of age. As part of the plea agreement he signed on July 10, prosecutors agreed to drop a third charge, aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.
At his change of plea hearing, Yellow Owl said the victim in the case had been his sexual partner for months, although he knew she was below the age of consent. Yellow Owl said the relationship began after a blackout night of drinking.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Free parking could soon be a thing of the past in downtown Eugene.
The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/gHN8Rz ) city councilors debated the topic Monday, and most seem ready to return to parking meters.
The council authorized free parking in 2010 to help downtown businesses following the Great Recession.
Councilor Alan Zelenka said there's no evidence that free parking generated more economic activity. He says it has turned downtown into an employee parking lot, reducing turnover.
The lack of turnover has been a chief complaint of businesses lobbying to end free parking.
The city estimates a return to metered parking would generate $350,000 a year for its parking fund. The city plans to use the money to reduce a backlog of maintenance projects in its parking garages.
___
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
Vacant Tucson stores could transform into new housing
