Kindergarten terrorist; Indians get land back; cat burglars take kitty
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- Updated
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix police say a Peoria man has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and other crimes in a fatal shooting that apparently stemmed from road rage.
They say a vehicle registered to 34-year-old Timothy Elliot Pascale left the scene of the Monday night shooting. Witnesses provided a vehicle description and license plate number.
Police say Pascale was arrested at his Peoria residence.
They say 21-year-old Chris Romo was a passenger in a car and was fatally shot.
The car's 22-year-old driver and an 18-year-old woman who happened to be walking in a nearby parking lot are hospitalized in stable condition after being shot and wounded.
Their names haven't been released yet.
It's not immediately clear Tuesday whether Pascale has an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
- Updated
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Pennsylvania residents have donated more than 30 truckloads of hay this month to eastern Montana ranchers reeling from the effects of severe drought and wildfires.
The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2xKfkti ) that five truckloads of hay were unloaded in Miles City, Montana last weekend after travelling nearly 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) from Eau Clair, Pennsylvania.
The effort to aid the Montana ranchers was spearheaded by Perry Altmire Jr. who owns a trucking company. The rural Pennsylvania resident sent out a post on social media to see if others were interested.
Altmire says the effort just took off from there and people began donating money and hay. Other trucking companies became involved, and the hay donations began to outpace the ability to get the bales across the country.
___
Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
- Updated
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has permanently banned the commercial collection of reptiles in the state.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2xDiazx ) the state commission decided Saturday to effectively end Nevada's policy of allowing unlimited commercial reptile collecting.
The Center for Biological Diversity pushed for a complete ban, sending state wildlife officials a letter signed by four dozen scientists.
The center's Nevada director, Patrick Donnelly, calls the ban a "huge win for the wildlife and ecosystems of Nevada."
State data show nearly 500,000 reptiles have been gathered in Nevada by commercial collectors since 1987.
- Updated
UNALASKA, Alaska (AP) — About 80 huge fishing nets from the Aleutian Island city of Unalaska are on their way to Denmark, where a company will recycle the retired gear into plastic pellets.
The nets weigh between 5,000 to 20,000 pounds (2,270 to 9,070 kilograms) each, making it difficult to ship them — or even find a place to take them, Alaska's Energy Desk reported (http://bit.ly/2xHo17q) Monday. But the company Plastix, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is up for the haul.
Plastix heard about the nets thanks to Nicole Baker, a fisheries observer who in 2010 started making stops in Unalaska. "I just noticed that there was a lot of old, junky nets lying around," Baker said.
Baker spent two years looking for organizations capable of recycling the worn-out gear before finding the winner.
CEO Axel Kristensen said it seemed unreasonable to just throw the nets away. Plastix is the only company in the world recycling fishing nets the way it does, making the nets' usage endless, Kristensen said.
Boaters will package the nets into shipping containers with the help of Trident Seafoods. Plastix is paying for the shipping.
"We cannot do this alone," Kristensen said. "We need someone like Trident (Seafood), Nicole Baker, all kinds of stakeholders to take part in this project."
This is the first year of the collaboration. But Baker said there was high demand from fishermen looking to find a new use for their nets.
"I hope to keep this going somehow," she said.
- Updated
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — A pair of robbers in Northern California has given new meaning to the term cat burglars.
Police say Oleksandr Mirza and Ching Yen literally stole a cat after breaking into an apartment in San Bruno, and pepper-spraying a resident.
The San Bruno Police Department says that hours after the robbery officers in San Francisco arrested Mirza and Yen.
It says one of the suspects used pepper spray on the victim during the home-invasion robbery Saturday.
Both 26-year-old suspects were booked in the San Mateo County jail on robbery, burglary, unlawful use of tear gas and conspiracy charges.
Police did not say if the pet was the intended target of the robbery. A call seeking more details was not immediately returned.
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new city of 58,000 residents could rise in Southern California now that a deal has been reached to end a decades-long development battle.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2hvU8B0) environmental groups on Monday agreed to the pact, clearing the way for the Newhall Ranch project in the Santa Clarita Valley.
It will join other large developments in the works along the Interstate 5 corridor that together are likely to transform one of the last undeveloped sections of Los Angeles County.
Under the deal, developer FivePoint Holdings agreed to provide $25 million for conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered species.
The project was proposed during the development boom of the 1980s and was stalled repeatedly by protests and legal challenges.
Thousands of homes would be built over 30 years.
- Updated
MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — The father of a 5-year-old boy who was suspended from school for a day for allegedly making a "terroristic" threat says school officials have agreed to remove the disciplinary action from his son's record.
Ian Riley tells the Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/2wi52Nj) he and his wife met with officials at Great Valley Academy last week and they all agreed to resolve the issue.
Riley says he and his wife have spoken to their son about following his teacher's instructions.
The boy was suspended for a day last month for allegedly making a terrorist threat when he refused to take his backpack off and told his teacher there was a bomb in it.
His parents say their son was playing around and was accused of something he did not even understand.
___
Information from: The Modesto Bee, http://www.modbee.com
- Updated
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — The Chintimini Wildlife Center near Corvallis has set an unfortunate record two years in a row.
The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2k0lf81 ) the shelter cared for about 1,500 sick, injured or orphaned animals in 2016, the most in its history.
As for this year, it's not even October and the center has already exceeded last year's total by more than 30 animals. That's partly due to an influx that occurred during the temporary closure of the Willamette Rehabilitation Center in Eugene.
Rehabilitation director Mary Estes says things should slow down a little, because fewer juveniles are brought in during the fall. But the shelter sees an uptick in trauma cases because raptors are closer to roads looking for food.
In addition to caring for animals, staff members do releases. Last weekend, for example, they sent a rehabilitated red- tailed hawk into the wild.
___
Information from: Gazette-Times, http://www.gtconnect.com
- Updated
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A 41-year-old Wyoming man has survived an encounter with a grizzly bear in which he was twice mauled but still managed to ride on horseback to rescuers.
James Moore, of Rock Springs, was hunting about 10 a.m. Monday with two others in the Teton Wilderness in northwest Wyoming when a sow with two cubs attacked him.
Teton County Sheriff's Office Lt. Matt Carr tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide (http://bit.ly/2xuNnFO ) that Moore heard the brush rustling right next to him and the next thing he knew the bear was attacking him.
Moore suffered severe lacerations on his head and bite marks on his back and rear hip area.
He was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls for treatment.
The other hunters were not hurt.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
- Updated
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A retired California professor gave $250,000 to a northeastern Utah tribe to compensate for her great-grandparents profiting off land that once belonged to the tribe.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2xJtive ) that leaders of the Ute Indian Tribe accepted the check and welcomed 69-year-old Christine Sleeter to Fort Duchesne, Utah, on Monday.
Sleeter says that her ancestors were given a 160-acre plot outside Craig, Colorado, under the Homestead Act in 1882. The land was previously home to the tribe that was forcibly removed in 1881.
Sleeter and her siblings inherited the money that was invested by her great-grand parents after they sold the Colorado land decades later.
Tribal officials say the money will help fund the construction of new facility to replace the Uintah River High School.
___
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
- Updated
ESSEX, Calif. (AP) — After being closed to the public since 2010, the only limestone caves in California's state park system are set to reopen.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2y4iCZp ) Mitchell Caverns, hidden in a narrow canyon in the eastern Mojave Desert, and the visitor center are scheduled to reopen to the public Nov. 3.
Officials closed the caverns after the two rangers who patrolled the area retired and were not replaced amid budget cuts.
Vandals then ripped out electrical copper wire, stole diesel-powered generators and ransacked the visitor center.
The caverns now boast extensive renovations, including upgrades to the recreation area's water system, a refurbished visitor center, a new pedestrian bridge along a trail leading to the caverns and new LED lights inside the caves.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
- Updated
BEND, Ore. (AP) — The state has posted an online quiz to help people — especially hunters — tell the difference between wolves and coyotes.
The quiz found at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website shows photos of the animals at various ages. In addition to quizzing users on their knowledge, the website gives tips on how to differentiate wolves from coyotes.
The quiz was released last week, and The Bulletin newspaper reports (https://is.gd/WYcMZz ) more than 16,000 people have already taken it.
Wolves are no longer listed under the state Endangered Species Act, but they are considered a special status game mammal and protected by the Oregon Wolf Plan throughout the state.
___
Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com
- Updated
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Police say officers responding to a call about a couple fighting found nearly 700 pounds of psilocybin "magic" mushrooms inside a house in Berkeley, alongside a mushrooms cultivation and sales operation.
Police say the drugs have a street value of $1 million.
The Berkeley Police Department says in a statement police went to the home Saturday night after receiving a call about a domestic disturbance.
A 37-year-old woman and her 35-year-old boyfriend refused to open the door but after a short time exited the house and were detained.
Officers entered and found in plain view psilocybin mushrooms in various stages of cultivation, as well as storage and distribution materials.
The couple, whose names have not been released, were arrested and booked into the Alameda County Jail on narcotics-related charges.
- Updated
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — State officials are asking for the public's help to find the person responsible for the unlawful taking and wasting of a bull elk in eastern Oregon.
The Oregon State Police say on Saturday morning Oregon Police Fish and Wildlife troopers were notified of a dead bull elk on the Silvies Valley Ranch property in Harney County.
Police say a ranch employee discovered the bull elk near Buffalo Reservoir. Police say a trooper found that the bull appeared to have been shot with a high-powered rifle during archery season.
Police say the bull was left to waste and was possibly shot a day or two before being discovered.
The ranch is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
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PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix police say a Peoria man has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and other crimes in a fatal shooting that apparently stemmed from road rage.
They say a vehicle registered to 34-year-old Timothy Elliot Pascale left the scene of the Monday night shooting. Witnesses provided a vehicle description and license plate number.
Police say Pascale was arrested at his Peoria residence.
They say 21-year-old Chris Romo was a passenger in a car and was fatally shot.
The car's 22-year-old driver and an 18-year-old woman who happened to be walking in a nearby parking lot are hospitalized in stable condition after being shot and wounded.
Their names haven't been released yet.
It's not immediately clear Tuesday whether Pascale has an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Pennsylvania residents have donated more than 30 truckloads of hay this month to eastern Montana ranchers reeling from the effects of severe drought and wildfires.
The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2xKfkti ) that five truckloads of hay were unloaded in Miles City, Montana last weekend after travelling nearly 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) from Eau Clair, Pennsylvania.
The effort to aid the Montana ranchers was spearheaded by Perry Altmire Jr. who owns a trucking company. The rural Pennsylvania resident sent out a post on social media to see if others were interested.
Altmire says the effort just took off from there and people began donating money and hay. Other trucking companies became involved, and the hay donations began to outpace the ability to get the bales across the country.
___
Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has permanently banned the commercial collection of reptiles in the state.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2xDiazx ) the state commission decided Saturday to effectively end Nevada's policy of allowing unlimited commercial reptile collecting.
The Center for Biological Diversity pushed for a complete ban, sending state wildlife officials a letter signed by four dozen scientists.
The center's Nevada director, Patrick Donnelly, calls the ban a "huge win for the wildlife and ecosystems of Nevada."
State data show nearly 500,000 reptiles have been gathered in Nevada by commercial collectors since 1987.
UNALASKA, Alaska (AP) — About 80 huge fishing nets from the Aleutian Island city of Unalaska are on their way to Denmark, where a company will recycle the retired gear into plastic pellets.
The nets weigh between 5,000 to 20,000 pounds (2,270 to 9,070 kilograms) each, making it difficult to ship them — or even find a place to take them, Alaska's Energy Desk reported (http://bit.ly/2xHo17q) Monday. But the company Plastix, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is up for the haul.
Plastix heard about the nets thanks to Nicole Baker, a fisheries observer who in 2010 started making stops in Unalaska. "I just noticed that there was a lot of old, junky nets lying around," Baker said.
Baker spent two years looking for organizations capable of recycling the worn-out gear before finding the winner.
CEO Axel Kristensen said it seemed unreasonable to just throw the nets away. Plastix is the only company in the world recycling fishing nets the way it does, making the nets' usage endless, Kristensen said.
Boaters will package the nets into shipping containers with the help of Trident Seafoods. Plastix is paying for the shipping.
"We cannot do this alone," Kristensen said. "We need someone like Trident (Seafood), Nicole Baker, all kinds of stakeholders to take part in this project."
This is the first year of the collaboration. But Baker said there was high demand from fishermen looking to find a new use for their nets.
"I hope to keep this going somehow," she said.
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — A pair of robbers in Northern California has given new meaning to the term cat burglars.
Police say Oleksandr Mirza and Ching Yen literally stole a cat after breaking into an apartment in San Bruno, and pepper-spraying a resident.
The San Bruno Police Department says that hours after the robbery officers in San Francisco arrested Mirza and Yen.
It says one of the suspects used pepper spray on the victim during the home-invasion robbery Saturday.
Both 26-year-old suspects were booked in the San Mateo County jail on robbery, burglary, unlawful use of tear gas and conspiracy charges.
Police did not say if the pet was the intended target of the robbery. A call seeking more details was not immediately returned.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new city of 58,000 residents could rise in Southern California now that a deal has been reached to end a decades-long development battle.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2hvU8B0) environmental groups on Monday agreed to the pact, clearing the way for the Newhall Ranch project in the Santa Clarita Valley.
It will join other large developments in the works along the Interstate 5 corridor that together are likely to transform one of the last undeveloped sections of Los Angeles County.
Under the deal, developer FivePoint Holdings agreed to provide $25 million for conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered species.
The project was proposed during the development boom of the 1980s and was stalled repeatedly by protests and legal challenges.
Thousands of homes would be built over 30 years.
MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — The father of a 5-year-old boy who was suspended from school for a day for allegedly making a "terroristic" threat says school officials have agreed to remove the disciplinary action from his son's record.
Ian Riley tells the Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/2wi52Nj) he and his wife met with officials at Great Valley Academy last week and they all agreed to resolve the issue.
Riley says he and his wife have spoken to their son about following his teacher's instructions.
The boy was suspended for a day last month for allegedly making a terrorist threat when he refused to take his backpack off and told his teacher there was a bomb in it.
His parents say their son was playing around and was accused of something he did not even understand.
___
Information from: The Modesto Bee, http://www.modbee.com
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — The Chintimini Wildlife Center near Corvallis has set an unfortunate record two years in a row.
The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2k0lf81 ) the shelter cared for about 1,500 sick, injured or orphaned animals in 2016, the most in its history.
As for this year, it's not even October and the center has already exceeded last year's total by more than 30 animals. That's partly due to an influx that occurred during the temporary closure of the Willamette Rehabilitation Center in Eugene.
Rehabilitation director Mary Estes says things should slow down a little, because fewer juveniles are brought in during the fall. But the shelter sees an uptick in trauma cases because raptors are closer to roads looking for food.
In addition to caring for animals, staff members do releases. Last weekend, for example, they sent a rehabilitated red- tailed hawk into the wild.
___
Information from: Gazette-Times, http://www.gtconnect.com
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A 41-year-old Wyoming man has survived an encounter with a grizzly bear in which he was twice mauled but still managed to ride on horseback to rescuers.
James Moore, of Rock Springs, was hunting about 10 a.m. Monday with two others in the Teton Wilderness in northwest Wyoming when a sow with two cubs attacked him.
Teton County Sheriff's Office Lt. Matt Carr tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide (http://bit.ly/2xuNnFO ) that Moore heard the brush rustling right next to him and the next thing he knew the bear was attacking him.
Moore suffered severe lacerations on his head and bite marks on his back and rear hip area.
He was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls for treatment.
The other hunters were not hurt.
___
Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A retired California professor gave $250,000 to a northeastern Utah tribe to compensate for her great-grandparents profiting off land that once belonged to the tribe.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2xJtive ) that leaders of the Ute Indian Tribe accepted the check and welcomed 69-year-old Christine Sleeter to Fort Duchesne, Utah, on Monday.
Sleeter says that her ancestors were given a 160-acre plot outside Craig, Colorado, under the Homestead Act in 1882. The land was previously home to the tribe that was forcibly removed in 1881.
Sleeter and her siblings inherited the money that was invested by her great-grand parents after they sold the Colorado land decades later.
Tribal officials say the money will help fund the construction of new facility to replace the Uintah River High School.
___
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
ESSEX, Calif. (AP) — After being closed to the public since 2010, the only limestone caves in California's state park system are set to reopen.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2y4iCZp ) Mitchell Caverns, hidden in a narrow canyon in the eastern Mojave Desert, and the visitor center are scheduled to reopen to the public Nov. 3.
Officials closed the caverns after the two rangers who patrolled the area retired and were not replaced amid budget cuts.
Vandals then ripped out electrical copper wire, stole diesel-powered generators and ransacked the visitor center.
The caverns now boast extensive renovations, including upgrades to the recreation area's water system, a refurbished visitor center, a new pedestrian bridge along a trail leading to the caverns and new LED lights inside the caves.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
BEND, Ore. (AP) — The state has posted an online quiz to help people — especially hunters — tell the difference between wolves and coyotes.
The quiz found at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website shows photos of the animals at various ages. In addition to quizzing users on their knowledge, the website gives tips on how to differentiate wolves from coyotes.
The quiz was released last week, and The Bulletin newspaper reports (https://is.gd/WYcMZz ) more than 16,000 people have already taken it.
Wolves are no longer listed under the state Endangered Species Act, but they are considered a special status game mammal and protected by the Oregon Wolf Plan throughout the state.
___
Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Police say officers responding to a call about a couple fighting found nearly 700 pounds of psilocybin "magic" mushrooms inside a house in Berkeley, alongside a mushrooms cultivation and sales operation.
Police say the drugs have a street value of $1 million.
The Berkeley Police Department says in a statement police went to the home Saturday night after receiving a call about a domestic disturbance.
A 37-year-old woman and her 35-year-old boyfriend refused to open the door but after a short time exited the house and were detained.
Officers entered and found in plain view psilocybin mushrooms in various stages of cultivation, as well as storage and distribution materials.
The couple, whose names have not been released, were arrested and booked into the Alameda County Jail on narcotics-related charges.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — State officials are asking for the public's help to find the person responsible for the unlawful taking and wasting of a bull elk in eastern Oregon.
The Oregon State Police say on Saturday morning Oregon Police Fish and Wildlife troopers were notified of a dead bull elk on the Silvies Valley Ranch property in Harney County.
Police say a ranch employee discovered the bull elk near Buffalo Reservoir. Police say a trooper found that the bull appeared to have been shot with a high-powered rifle during archery season.
Police say the bull was left to waste and was possibly shot a day or two before being discovered.
The ranch is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Vacant Tucson stores could transform into new housing
