NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Psychiatric board drops lawsuit
against Malheur newspaper
wheeler, 49, ran a “medical con”
in an effort to stay out of jail after a
1996 conviction for kidnapping.
He was released in December
from the Oregon State Hospital, the
newspaper reported.
According to police, the next
month, Montwheeler allegedly
kidnapped and killed his ex-wife. In
the pursuit with police that ensued,
Montwheeler allegedly hit another
car, killing its driver and injuring the
driver’s wife. Montwheeler is now
back in jail, charged with aggravated
murder, assault and kidnapping.
Calling the circumstances of the
Montwheeler case “extraordinary,”
Gov. Brown said in a statement
that the board agreed to both drop
the lawsuit and release the records
immediately.
“I believe the public is best
served by bringing this matter to an
end now, rather than after a lengthy
and costly litigation,” Brown said.
Unlike the Fish and Wildlife
Commission, for example, under
state law, the governor has limited
means to fire or otherwise direct the
actions of the Psychiatric Security
Review Board.
The Malheur Enterprise reported
Monday that the Psychiatric
Security Review Board had hired
a private attorney to pursue the
lawsuit at a cost of $400 per hour.
In response, the Enterprise
started a social media campaign to
raise money for its legal defense.
Zaitz said Tuesday that he didn’t
know how much the campaign
raised, as they were to be sent to
the Oregon Newspaper Foundation,
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — After intervention
from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, the
state’s Psychiatric Security Review
Board agreed Tuesday to drop a
lawsuit against a rural newspaper
seeking board records pertinent to a
murder case.
The
Malheur
Enterprise
sought records held by the board
concerning Anthony Montwheeler,
who is suspected of committing
murder one month after the board
allowed his release from state care.
Although the state’s attorney
general said March 15 that the
records were public, the board last
week sued the Malheur Enterprise
to keep the records from being
disclosed.
The Enterprise is a weekly news-
paper based in Vale, purchased in
October 2015 by longtime Oregon
journalist Les Zaitz.
Both the governor and Zaitz said
Tuesday the situation exemplified
an issue with the state’s public
records law.
The Psychiatric Security Review
Board is a 10-member independent
board that supervises people who
have asserted “guilty except for
insanity” defenses in criminal cases.
The board determines where to
place people such as Tony Mont-
wheeler. According to the Malheur
Enterprise, Montwheeler was
recently released from state care,
although medical officials said he
was dangerous.
The Enterprise reported Mont-
BRIEFLY
but that the cause garnered support
“from literally all over the country.”
When a state agency denies a
request for records, the requestor
can appeal to the attorney general
for a legal opinion on the matter.
In this case, the attorney general
argued, among other assertions, that
the work of the board was directly
tied to questions of public safety and
personal freedoms, tilting the argu-
ment in favor of transparency; and
that releasing most of the records
would not constitute an unreason-
able invasion of personal privacy.
But the board said it was
worried that releasing medical
records publicly would violate laws
intended to protect patient privacy.
Brown said the situation showed
where the state’s public records
law needed improvement. She said
state law required a state agency
that has “legal concerns” about an
AG’s public records order to sue the
requestor to get a judge’s opinion.
“This is plain wrong,” Brown
said. “I have directed my staff to
explore solutions that would provide
for swift judicial resolution without
filing a lawsuit against a requester.”
In a statement published on the
Enterprise’s website Tuesday, Zaitz
said his paper was trying to hold
state government accountable.
“We appreciate the governor
sparing the taxpayers and our
supporters a lengthy, costly legal
battle,” Zaitz said. “This has
always been a matter of holding
the state accountable, not aimlessly
wandering through private medical
files.”
at Exit 16 that it spent $32 million
renovating to handle casino traffic,
The Columbian newspaper reported.
“This is a triumphant moment for
The Cowlitz Indian Tribe because it
marks the end of a 160-year journey
back to our homeland, and the begin-
ning of a new journey,” Cowlitz
tribal chairman William Iyall said in
a statement Monday.
After treaty negotiations between
the U.S. government and the tribe
failed in the 19th century, Cowlitz
lands were opened to public settle-
ment in 1863 and the tribe was left
without a reservation.
The tribe was formally recognized
by the U.S. government in 2002 and
the Interior Department in 2013
agreed to put the land near La Center
into a federal trust for the establish-
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School district reaches
mascot deal with tribe
THURSDAY
Cloudy
Cloudy, a shower
in the p.m.
67° 47°
60° 46°
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Mostly cloudy, a
shower or two
Mostly cloudy, a
shower or two
NEWS
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REGIONAL CITIES
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
62° 38°
49° 35°
53° 37°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
66° 45°
68° 46°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
62°
59°
79° (1960)
30°
38°
24° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
Trace
0.18"
6.27"
4.02"
4.14"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
62°
62°
81° (1944)
30°
38°
24° (2009)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
Trace
0.09"
4.93"
2.80"
3.20"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
Last
Apr 10
Apr 19
New
Apr 26
54° 39°
58° 38°
Seattle
55/47
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
68° 41°
6:28 a.m.
7:29 p.m.
1:53 p.m.
3:44 a.m.
First
May 2
Today
SUNDAY
Partly sunny and
cool
Spokane
Wenatchee
58/45
57/45
Tacoma
Moses
56/45
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 63/47
60/46
53/47
53/45
65/48
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
54/50
66/49 Lewiston
67/46
Astoria
65/46
53/47
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
57/48
Pendleton 58/41
The Dalles 68/46
67/47
64/49
La Grande
Salem
63/45
57/48
Albany
Corvallis 58/47
58/47
John Day
67/47
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
69/49
59/48
62/41
Caldwell
Burns
69/49
65/39
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
53
63
62
60
65
58
59
65
68
67
62
63
62
68
54
60
69
67
67
57
66
57
58
63
55
66
65
Lo
47
41
41
48
39
41
48
43
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47
39
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44
48
46
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49
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42
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49
48
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NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
Hi
56
58
56
59
56
56
61
60
66
57
53
59
58
66
56
60
64
66
60
60
61
60
57
55
57
66
63
Lo
45
41
41
48
39
39
48
44
45
44
39
43
41
44
46
48
49
45
46
48
42
47
41
41
48
49
44
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
r
c
pc
r
c
c
c
c
c
pc
c
c
c
pc
r
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c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
68
78
79
57
86
51
60
65
59
71
66
Lo
45
70
52
41
55
42
41
46
49
62
56
W
c
pc
s
pc
pc
c
pc
t
r
sh
pc
Thu.
Hi
79
78
75
59
78
59
55
65
58
72
64
Lo
51
71
52
43
52
45
39
47
48
62
58
W
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WINDS
Medford
68/48
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
62/39
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Cloudy today. Periods of
rain across the north; a passing shower in
central parts.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Cloudy today;
warmer in the south and upper Treasure
Valley.
Western Washington: On-and-off rain and
drizzle today.
Eastern Washington: Cloudy today; a pass-
ing shower in the north.
Cascades: Cloudy today. Considerable
clouds tonight with spotty showers.
Northern California: Partly sunny today.
Periods of rain tonight.
Today
Thursday
NNW 4-8
SW 4-8
SW 4-8
SSW 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
SALEM (AP) — A
controversial proposal to ban
most no-cause evictions has
passed the Oregon House.
House Bill 2004 was approved
Tuesday by a 31-27 vote and now
heads to the Senate after weeks
of contentious debate. It attempts
to address Oregon’s housing
crisis by creating protections for
tenants living month-to-month,
who are often most vulnerable
to sudden rent hikes and abrupt
lease terminations.
The proposal offers many
exceptions, but it generally bans
no-cause evictions for month-
to-month tenants after the first
six months and requires 30 days’
written notice. If 90 days’ notice
is provided, landlords would
owe tenants payment equal to
one month’s rent if they provide
reason or three months’ rent if no
cause is stated.
Cities would also be
allowed to set their own rent-
control programs within their
jurisdictions.
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group
TODAY
Proposal to ban
no-cause evictions
passes Oregon House
Corrections
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Forecast
ROGUE RIVER (AP) —
Rogue River High will remain the
Chieftains.
The Grants Pass Daily Courier
reports the school board last week
ratified an agreement that allows
the school to keep the mascot.
The decision comes after two
years of negotiations between the
school district in southwestern
Oregon and the Confederated
Tribes of Siletz Indians.
The agreement beats a July
1 deadline set by the Oregon
Department of Education
that requires schools to retire
Indian-themed sports mascots. An
exception is granted for schools
that get approval from one of the
state’s nine tribes.
The agreement stipulates that
the Rogue River School District
will include further Native
American history in its fourth-
and eighth-grade curriculum.
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regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call
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Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Jail
authorities say two men being
held on charges out of Idaho
have escaped from the county
jail in Yakima.
The Yakima County
Department of Corrections says
officers doing a head count at
4 a.m. Tuesday discovered two
inmates missing.
The men were identified
as Steven Roche, of Spokane,
and Chad Tipton, of Post Falls,
Idaho. Both were being held on
charges from Kootenai County,
Idaho. Douglas is accused of
burglary and forgery, while
Tipton is accused of assault and
other charges.
Corrections officials say
officers searched the facility
and discovered a door from
a recreational yard leading to
the outside was left unsecured.
They say it wasn’t immediately
clear when or who left the door
unsecured.
A search of the surrounding
area did not turn up the inmates.
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP)
— A Kennewick attorney has
been charged with stealing nearly
$263,000 in clients’ money
instead of applying the payments
toward their owed back taxes.
The Tri-City Herald reports
43-year-old Christopher Neal
has been suspended from
practicing law in Washington.
He’s scheduled to appear in court
Thursday on a theft charge.
Court documents say a couple
hired Neal as a retainer in 2014
to help with past taxes they owed
to the Internal Revenue Service.
The couple gave Neal
$65,000 to cover their tax years
2007-09, $28,000 to cover
their 2015 taxes followed by
$170,000.
IRS officials confirmed the
couple still owes taxes for seven
years and payments were never
made.
Documents show the state
bar association noted Neal
was suffering from health and
ment of the tribe’s reservation.
The Grande Ronde Community
tribe of Oregon operates the Spirit
Mountain Casino south of Portland
and had estimated it would lose 41
percent of its revenue if the Cowlitz
tribe’s casino was allowed to open.
It dropped out of the lawsuit chal-
lenging the Cowlitz tribe’s casino last
year, but other opponents maintained
the legal effort and said they were
disappointed with the court’s decision.
“We still believe in the principles
of our fight, and obviously we’re
disappointed,” John Bockmier, a
representative for card room owners
told the newspaper. “We are going to
do our best to ensure the remaining
two cardrooms in La Center continue
to be the number one choice for folks
looking for gaming entertainment.”
Subscriber services:
For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
personal problems that impacted
his ability to deal with ethical
issues.
Kennewick lawyer
accused of stealing
$263,000 from clients
Cowlitz tribe wins casino legal fight
LA CENTER, Wash. (AP) — A
decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
has cleared the way for the Cowlitz
Indian Tribe to open a $510 million
casino in southwestern Washington
state near the border with Oregon.
The court on Monday declined
to hear an appeal from casino oppo-
nents, leaving in place an appellate
court ruling that upheld the U.S.
Department of Interior’s decision to
grant 157 acres to the Cowlitz tribe
for a reservation near the small town
of La Center.
The decision clears the path for
the tribe’s plans for an April opening
of its 360,000-square-foot Ilani
Casino Resort off Interstate 5 about
25 miles north of Portland.
The tribe on Tuesday planned to
officially open a new I-5 interchange
Two being held on
Idaho charges escape
Washington jail
2
3
3
2
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Severe storms, including the risk of strong tornadoes, will extend from
the Ohio Valley to the Southern states today. Rain will fall farther north in the Midwest and
in the coastal Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 101° in Zapata, Texas
Low 5° in Stanley, Idaho
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
61
73
61
69
58
76
70
45
81
76
43
60
72
54
53
71
44
49
86
76
65
88
52
77
60
82
Lo
39
49
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52
39
47
51
38
62
52
33
49
47
30
42
45
26
26
72
51
38
60
38
58
43
56
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Thur.
Hi
70
59
59
64
70
64
66
49
67
53
46
55
76
64
46
81
42
53
85
79
45
74
57
85
67
75
Lo
44
44
46
41
49
43
50
44
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35
33
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50
37
34
54
21
31
72
50
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Today
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
74
68
89
43
55
77
81
65
63
58
69
85
42
53
80
54
72
76
61
62
74
67
55
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70
59
Lo
42
45
76
34
34
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55
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39
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49
60
35
39
62
30
46
52
41
45
58
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38
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Thur.
Hi
50
64
89
44
53
59
72
56
67
57
61
91
42
53
65
61
62
70
57
72
71
68
55
90
65
60
Lo
37
42
64
33
32
41
54
44
42
32
44
63
40
45
43
38
44
52
38
56
57
55
44
55
44
38
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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