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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
STATE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 O REGON IN B RIEF From wire reports Man gets 15 years for dragging worker by hair, stealing safe Woman struck and killed in pedestrian crosswalk in Salem PORTLAND — A 39-time convicted felon racked up six more felony convictions Tues- day for dragging a Southeast Portland BottleDrop em- ployee by the hair to a back offi ce and then fl eeing with a safe containing thousands of dollars. The Oregonian/Oregon- Live reported 47-year-old Gerald Greenwood Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his latest crimes. His prison term also includes time for robbing a Bottle- Drop in Gresham and driv- ing away with a safe full of more than $45,000. Greenwood and two accomplices wore masks during both robberies at the can and bottle redemption centers in 2018. Police linked Greenwood to the fi rst robbery after the safe he stole came tumbling out of his car trunk on a freeway off-ramp on the day of the heist. Greenwood pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun, kidnapping, assault, burglary and two counts of robbery. SALEM — Police say a 60-year-old woman was struck and killed by a motor- ist while crossing a Salem street. The Salem Police Depart- ment said Josephine Watkins was struck Monday evening as she was crossing Portland Road in a marked crosswalk. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say a 19-year-old driver stopped at the scene and was cooperative. Wit- nesses told police that warn- ing lights at the crosswalk were not activated at the time of the crash. The cause of the crash remains under investigation and no citations have been issued. Bend man arraigned on attempted murder charges BEND — A 51-year-old man is facing attempted murder charges in con- nection with an alleged argument that ended in the shooting of another man. The Bulletin reported Christopher Honey was arraigned Tuesday in Deschutes County Circuit Court. The judge assigned Honey a public defender and set bail at $260,000. At about 2:46 p.m. Sat- urday, police were called to a shooting at the 3 Sisters Equine Rescue. Ben Goodwin had been hit in the back and head with birdshot and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threat- ening injuries. A probable cause affi davit says Honey told police he and his friend Goodwin were watching a college football game when an argument erupted that turned physical. The affi davit says Good- win told police Honey threatened to kill him before going to get a shotgun and that Goodwin was shot as he tried to fl ee. Lawsuit aims to kill stalled $2B methanol refi nery project SEATTLE — A federal lawsuit fi led Tuesday aims to keep one of the world’s biggest methanol refi neries from being built along the Columbia River in Washing- ton state. Plans for the $2 billion re- fi nery, shipping terminal and pipeline project in the small city of Kalama are already stalled after a state board required further environ- mental review. Conservation and public health groups, including Columbia Riverkeeper, the Sierra Club and Washington Physicians for Social Respon- sibility, sued in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to invali- date key federal permits as well. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which issued the permits, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. “The urgency of our climate crisis demands the highest level of scrutiny, and we cannot allow massive new fracked gas projects to move forward based on outdated science and fl awed evaluation,” Joan Crooks, chief executive of Washing- ton Environmental Council, said in a news release an- nouncing the lawsuit. GOP mailer to Oregon voters mimics US Census form PORTLAND — The Republican National Com- mittee is sending mailers to some Oregon voters that mimic the look of a U.S. Cen- sus form and solicit dona- tions for President Trump’s re-election. KGW-TV reported that the mailers are labeled “2019 Congressional District Cen- sus” but are not from the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey asks the per- son’s age, political preference and whether they plan on supporting Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential elec- tion. The mailer also includes questions about domestic issues, national defense and immigration. Offi cials in Montana last month issued a warning about the mailers. Legitimate census survey documents are postmarked from the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau. In an email to KGW, a Republican National Com- mittee says the mailers are clearly marked as being from the GOP. Burgerville settles credit card lawsuit PORTLAND — Burger- ville has an initial agree- ment to settle a class-action lawsuit against them over a hack that potentially exposed thousands of customers’ credit and debit card infor- mation. The Oregonian/Oregon- Live reports the Vancouver, Washington-based restau- rant chain was one of over 100 businesses mostly in the restaurant or hospital- ity markets attacked by an international gang of cyberthieves last year. In most cases federal law enables customers to be reimbursed by banks or merchants for such fraud reported within 60 days. Last year Burgerville offered cus- tomers a free, one-year credit monitoring service to guard against intrusions. — The Associated Press THE OBSERVER — 9A Trooper describes car’s plunge ■ Donald Jordan’s SUV went off Kleinschmidt Grade on Nov. 5 By Chris Collins Idaho State Police photo EO Media Group BAKER CITY — A Portland man who was seriously injured when his vehicle landed in the bottom of a ravine off Kleinschmidt Grade on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon last week is no longer a patient at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, Mark Snider, hospital spokesman, said Tuesday. Snider had no other details about the condition of the victim, 44-year-old Donald B. Jordan. He was trapped in his 2011 Chevy Tahoe overnight after he drove off the left shoulder of the steep winding road, about 75 miles east of Baker City, and rolled to the bottom of the ravine the night of Nov. 5. Jordan was rescued early the next morning by members of the Baker County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team and other volunteers from the Halfway and Oxbow areas. Members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Depart- ment, ABT Towing and the Idaho State Donald B. Jordan’s Chevrolet Tahoe SUV after it plunged off the Klein- schmidt Grade on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon. Police also were involved in the rescue. Idaho State Trooper Andrew Fisher, resident trooper at Meridian, provided a few more details of the crash and rescue effort in an email to the Herald. The rescue effort got underway about 1:30 a.m. PST on Nov. 6 when he received a call reporting the single- vehicle crash. Fisher said Jordan went off the road about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday about 1.8 miles up the grade. The unpaved road starts at the Snake River Road below Oxbow and leads to Cuprum, Idaho. Fisher said Jordan was traveling with a friend, whose name was not available in time for this story. The friend, who was in a separate vehicle, began looking for Jordan after Jordan failed to arrive at their hunting camp. Jordan and his crashed Chevy Tahoe were found at about 12:30 a.m. PST at the bottom of a ravine. Once he and his vehicle were found, a GPS spot locator was activated and emergency resourc- es were notifi ed, Fisher said. Jordan was trapped in his vehicle for about 9-1/2 hours, Fisher said. The Baker County Search and Rescue Team was activated at 2 a.m. to help bring Jordan up the steep grade. Sheriff Travis Ash and SAR mem- bers responded and began a technical rope rescue to reach Jordan. The SAR team and volunteers with the Halfway Fire and Halfway-Oxbow Ambulance worked together using a rope-and-winch system to carry Jordan up the hillside. Jordan next was taken by ground ambulance to Hells Canyon Park where an air ambulance was waiting to transport him to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. Merkley, Wyden introduce bill to create wilderness in Malheur County By Brad Carlson Capital Press ONTARIO —Legislation introduced by Oregon’s two U.S. senators to designate as wilderness 1.1 million acres of Owyhee River Canyon- lands in Malheur County was created by collaborating with various groups and would allow continued graz- ing and road usage. The area is important to the local economy because it includes signifi cant grazing land, recreation destinations and other assets. Recent research there has focused on preserving sage grouse and other wildlife habitat, and native grasses. The Malheur County Community Empower- ment for the Owyhee Act — largely a result of ranchers, business people, conservation groups, univer- sity researchers and others working together — aims to maintain and improve rangeland, preserve grazing and protect areas important to wildlife and recreation. The legislation supports science-based adaptive man- agement of federal lands “to make effi cient ranching a continued conservation tool and ensure real-time management responses to threats on the ecological integrity of the lands,” Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk- ley, both Democrats, said in a joint statement. To help ensure manage- ment actions produce eco- logical improvements, the FOOTBALL CONTEST WINNERS! Week 9 1 st - BEATRICE MEADERDS LA GRANDE (5 misses) 2 - JERRY ANDERSON LA GRANDE (7 misses, closest tiebreaker) ND 3 RD - MATT WOLCOTT LA GRANDE (7 misses, 2nd closest) Congratulations! From The Observer. legislation calls for creating a monitoring network of ranchers, businesses, envi- ronmental groups and land managers. Grazing would be allowed to continue in newly desig- nated wilderness areas. The legislation would provide funding for re- search, active-management activities and monitoring as well as enforcement of anticipated uses. It would maintain exist- ing roads, and establish “loop roads” to encourage tourism while improving access for fi refi ghting. The legislation would not create a national monu- ment, amend the Taylor Grazing Act, impede current projects, impact water rights or irrigation districts, or affect management of the Owyhee Reservoir. TREASURE VALLEY STEEL, INC. Manufacturing Zee & Cee Purlins In-HouseCustom Cut Exact Lengths HouseCustom C *VSVYZ *\Z[VT;YPT ¹*VYY\NH[LK +LSP]LY`(]HPSHISL -\SS:Vɉ[[3PUL M[.\SM*VHZ[7HULS M[7)97HULS M[4LZH7HULS M[;\Ɉ9PI7HULS :[HUKPUN:LHT DELIVERY M[+LS[H9PI AVAILABLE M[7YV7HULS 40 Year Full Paint Warranty • WeatherX Paint System ONTARIO 541-889-4214 BOISE 208-336-7505 1460 N. Verde Dr. Toll Free 1-866-887-8335 6619 S. Supply Way Toll Free 1-888-717-8335 WWW.TREASUREVALLEYSTEEL.COM
