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Oil Leak ‘Kill’ Readied
BP w ill begin a
key procedure
to stop the flow
o fa leaking un­
dersea oil well
in the G u lf o f
M e x ic o
on
W ednesday at
the earliest, but the tim ing "could extend on
from there," a com pany executive said T ues-
day. If "top kill" and other short-term efforts
fail, it will take BP several m onths to drill a
re lie f well to stop the leak.
Bus Driver Not Charged
T he T riM et driver w ho hit five pedestrians
near dow ntow n Portland ju st before m id­
night A pril 24 has been cleared o f a crim inal
charge. A M ultnom ah C ounty G rand Jury
voted last w eek not to indict the d riv er o f a
Jll‘ jJortlanh OObsvrucr
crim inally negligent hom i­
cide for tw o deaths in the
accident, but the driver will
face several m isdem eanor
traffic violations.
Week
The
Obama on Diplomacy and Military
T h e U .S . m u s t
shape a w orld o r­
der "as reliant on
the force o f diplo­
m acy as on the
m ight o f its m ili­
tary to lead. Presi­
dent B arack O bam a said Saturday as he
outlined a foreign policy vision that rep u d i­
ated the go-it-alone approach forged by his
predecessor, G eorge W. Bush.
Muslim Family Scare
A bom b scare at a Tigard hom e early Sunday
m orning left a M uslim fam-
ily shaken. M as K am aw al,
30, w as aw akened by foot­
i t
steps and the sm ell o f gaso­
line. H e found a sparking
device and threw it out the door. Police said
it w as not a bom b, but they are not ruling out
the possibility o f a hate crim e.
Ex-Mayor Gets 5 Years
F o r m e r D e tr o it M a y o r
K w am e Kilpatrick was sen­
tenced to up to five years in
prison T uesday for v io lat­
ing the term s o f his p ro b a­
tion stem m ing from his con­
viction for lying under oath
about an affair with his ch iefo f staff. Kilpatrick,
39, asked Judge D avid G ro n er to show him
com passion d u ring the hearing, but G ro n er
May 26. 2010
said "that ship has sailed.
Housing Struggles Grow
In 2007, nearly 13 m illion low -incom e p er­
sons paid m ore than h a lf their m onthly in­
com e for rent, lived in severely substandard
housing, o r both. In a report to C ongress
T uesday, the U.S. Dept. o f H ousing and
U rban D evelopm ent found that these “ w orst
case housing needs" grew significantly be­
tw een 2001 and 2007.
Compromise on Gay Ban
D efense S ecretary R obert G ates gave luke­
w arm support T uesday to a W hite H ouse-
backed plan for a congressional vote as early
as this w eek to repeal the "d o n ’t ask d o n ’t
tell” law against gays serving openly in the
m ilitary. G ates indicated he'd p refer m ore
tim e to study the sw eeping change before
C ongress acts.
Cocaine ‘Kingpin’ gets
a 13 Year Sentence
A Portland m an described by law
enforcem ent as the kingpin o f a Crips
gang co cain e-traffick in g ring has
been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
U .S. D istrict Judge R obert E.
Jo n es on M onday called 58-year-
old Jam es "L onnie" Y oakum the
b rain s b eh in d an o p e ra tio n that
gang investigators say used Y am
Y a m ’s, a w ell-know n P ortland b a r ­
becue restaurant, as a front to laun­
der m oney. A uthorities say that each
m onth the ring sold about 10 kilo­
gram s or $300,000 w orth o f cocaine.
A rrested last A ugust, Y oakum
pleaded guilty in F ebruary to co n ­
spiracy to distribute and possess
w ith the intent to distrib u te m ore
than 5 kilogram s o f cocaine.
Y oakum is the first o f eight d e ­
fendants to be sentenced; the rest
follow ed his lead, pleading guilty to
\
*
James ‘Lonnie ’ Yoakum
various drug conspiracy charges.
Y a m Y a m ’s o w n e r L a rr y
M atthew s w as not indicted in the
c a s e , b u t in v e s tig a to r s say he
helped p rovide m oney for a least
one drug deal.
Crime Rates Fall
FB I s ta tistic s re le a se d M o n ­ last year-seven few er than in 2008
d ay sh o w crim e fallin g in O reg o n 's
T h e d ro p p e d in O re g o n c rim e
fo u r la rg e st c itie s.
fo llo w s a n a tio n a l tren d . T h e FB I
V io le n t c rim e d ro p p e d in P o rt­ say s th e v io le n t c rim e ra te in the
land, E u g en e and G re sh a m in 2009 U n ited S tates has g o n e do w n th ree
w h ile it re m a in e d e ss e n tia lly u n ­ y e ars in a row . T he p ro p e rty crim e
c h a n g e d in S alem . P o rtla n d , E u ­ ra te has fa lle n fo r sev en c o n s e c u ­
g e n e an d S a le m all saw a larg e tiv e y e ars.
d e c lin e in p ro p e rty c rim e w h ile it
T h e s ta tis tic s re le a s e d M o n ­
w as up slig h tly in G re sh a m .
d ay are o n ly p relim in ary . Final fig ­
There were 19 m urders in Portland u re s are d u e th is fall.
Governor Orders Budget Cuts
G ov. Ted K ulongoski has ordered
a c r o s s - th e - b o a r d c u ts in s ta te
spending to m ake up for a jo lt o fb a d
budget new s for O regon.
K ulongoski said T uesday that
state spending w ill be trim m ed 9
p ercent for the rest o f the current
budget period.
T he governor ordered the cuts
after state econom ists said their rev ­
enue forecast has fallen by $500
million.
T he shortfall w as attributed to
g reater jo b losses and low er p er­
sonal incom e than expected last year.
The budget for the O regon D e­
partm ent o f H um an S ervices report­
edly wil 1 be cut by $ 154 mi 11 ion. State
p olice funds w ill be cut by $ 10 m il­
lion. The D epartm ent o f C orrections
w ill get $50 m illion less. A nd the
budget for the D epartm ent o f E du­
cation is being sliced by $252 m il­
lion.