NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Man, two daughters dead after
911 call, car fire, police shots
BRIEFLY
Ex-official to get $1.3M in
botched health care rollout case
PORTLAND (AP) — The state has agreed
to pay $1.3 million to a former Oregon Health
Authority official who claims she was made
a scapegoat for the state’s failed health care
exchange website.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported
Wednesday that the authority’s former chief
information officer, Carolyn Lawson, alleges
she had to quit in 2013 to avoid firing. As
part of the settlement, Lawson has agreed not
to sue the state for wrongful termination and
defamation.
Action on her initial 2014 complaint was
put on hold while the state battled Oracle
Corp. in a lawsuit related to the Cover Oregon
website.
The state paid Oracle $240 million to create
the website that never worked and ultimately
abandoned the project.
Lawson’s settlement was negotiated
by the Justice Department. Department
spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson declined to
comment.
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
GRESHAM — The 911
call from a distraught Oregon
mother came in shortly after
midnight.
The father of her two young
daughters was armed and
suicidal, and he had vanished
with the girls early Wednesday
after threatening to kill them.
When an alert officer spotted
the man’s black Range Rover
SUV in a gritty gas station
parking lot outside Portland
more than an hour later, the
situation rapidly unraveled.
As police approached, the
man, who was armed with a
handgun, set his car ablaze with
the 8-year-old and 11-year-old
girls in the backseat.
Moments later, at least
one officer fired his weapon,
Gresham police spokesman
Sgt. John Rasmussen said. The
42-year-old man died at the
scene.
Officers shattered the car’s
windows and dragged the girls
out, only to find they were
already dead, Rasmussen said.
They likely died sometime
before police arrived, he said.
The cause of death for all
three has not been released.
It wasn’t immediately clear if
the man killed himself, was
Everton Bailey Jr. /The Oregonian via AP
Police say victim in Portland
park shooting was boy, 17
Law enforcement work the scene of a shooting in Gresham, Wednesday. An Oregon man
and his two young daughters died after police got word he was threatening the girls, lead-
ing to a shootout with officers.
killed by police gunfire or died
from a combination of both,
Rasmussen said.
Autopsies scheduled for
Thursday should provide more
answers, he said. Their names
have not been released.
Several officers suffered
minor burns, muscle strains and
smoke inhalation from getting
the girls out of the burning car,
he said.
“It’s a horrible and horrific
scene for all involved,”
Rasmussen said.
Crime scene investigators
huddled around the car under a
gray, drizzly sky as a coroner’s
van waited nearby.
Two white tents were set up
over the car and surrounding
area and a one-block area was
cordoned off with police tape.
Customers were turned away
from shuttered businesses at the
strip mall behind the gas station.
Two detectives took aerial
photos from the top of a fire
truck ladder as a visibly upset
man left red roses and candles
PORTLAND (AP) — Police have
identified a teenager as the victim in a fatal
shooting that happened in a park near the
Lloyd Center mall in northeast Portland.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner says
17-year-old Shawn Scott Jr. died Tuesday
of a single gunshot wound. He was from
Vancouver, Washington.
Sgt. Chris Burley of the Portland Police
Bureau says detectives have yet to make an
arrest and believe there are witnesses who
have yet to come forward.
in the parking lot, then hurried
away.
Neighbor Rhonda Paul’s
apartment was roped off by
police tape, but she made her
way out for an appointment.
She said she heard something
in the early morning but didn’t
know what to make of it.
“I was in the laundry room,
and I thought I heard someone
say, ‘Freeze’ and then I heard
a gunshot,” she said. “I just
got my laundry and went back
upstairs.”
Neighbors save 85-year-old
woman from house fire
CENTRAL POINT (AP) — Three people
pulled their 85-year-old neighbor from the
flames as her home burned north of Medford.
The Mail Tribune reports Irene Jones
was saved from more serious injuries after
her neighbors heard her screaming for help
Tuesday morning at her Central Point home.
Albert and Devin Kyne heard Jones
screaming and they, along with Christopher
Currier, rushed to Jones’ aid.
Kyne said he shouted, “Get out of the
house,” but Jones wasn’t moving quickly, so
he pulled her away. Her hair caught fire, as did
clothes on her back, so they rolled her on the
ground to put out the flames.
Jones’ daughter Carin Drake said Jones
had recently undergone surgery on her toe and
couldn’t move very well.
Jones was taken to a hospital and treated
for non-life threatening injuries.
Strip club kingpin pleads guilty to promoting prostitution
By STEVEN DUBOIS
Associated Press
PORTLAND — A man
who authorities say operated a
sprawling prostitution ring at
his Oregon strip clubs pleaded
guilty Wednesday to felony
conspiracy charges and was
expected to be out of prison by
the end of the month.
Lawrence Owen, 75, entered
guilty pleas in federal court
to conspiring to defraud the
Internal Revenue Service and
conspiring to use an interstate
facility — automated teller
machines at the clubs — to
promote prostitution in the
Portland area.
After the pleas were entered,
U.S. District Judge Michael
Simon sentenced Owen to 2 ½
years in prison.
Owen has been behind bars
since he was arrested at the
U.S.-Mexico border more than
two years ago. With credit for
time served and good behavior,
he could be free in two weeks.
Since the 1980s, Owen has
operated more than a dozen
adult-themed
businesses,
mostly strip clubs, in a city
frequently cited as having the
highest number of strip clubs
per capita in the United States.
At Owen’s clubs, customers
could buy a 30-minute private
show from dancers for $160,
and it was understood that the
stripper would engage in an act
of prostitution, prosecutors said.
For each show, prosecutors
said, the owner took a $60 cut.
All transactions were in cash
and ATMs were on the prem-
ises. Throughout the five-year
period cited in the indictment,
more than $10 million passed
through on-site ATMs.
Since 2006, Owen had been
managing the businesses from
Mexico, where authorities say
he built and operated a brothel
and has a 7-year-old daughter.
Defense attorney Noel
Grefenson sought a lenient
sentence, saying his client
might otherwise die in prison
without ever again seeing his
daughter.
“Mr. Owen, your honor, is
quite ill,” the lawyer said. “He’s
had a hard time while incarcer-
ated.”
The judge did not admonish
Owen before handing down
the sentence. However, he
asked Owen if he failed to file
tax returns because he didn’t
feel like it or because he didn’t
want to alert authorities to his
ill-gotten gains.
Owen mumbled a string
of words, one of them was
“disarray,” before saying he
didn’t know.
Three
co-conspirators,
Owen’s adult stepchildren and
the manager of several of the
strip clubs, previously pleaded
guilty to conspiracy charges
and will be sentenced in June.
The case began seven years
ago, when IRS agents and police
seized 85 boxes of records and
$843,000 at the businesses and
residences.
The seized cash has been
forfeited to the United States.
Proceeds from a $2.3 million
sale of strip-club property in
northeast Portland was placed
in trust to pay taxes, penalties,
and interest owed to the IRS.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
FRIDAY
Variably cloudy
with a t-storm
Mostly cloudy, a
shower; cool
57° 41°
54° 34°
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Variable cloudiness
MONDAY
Mostly cloudy
Mostly cloudy
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
57° 38°
64° 45°
60° 44°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
59° 36°
63° 44°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
60°
61°
85° (1934)
48°
39°
23° (1903)
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
0.01"
0.19"
0.51"
6.46"
4.07"
4.47"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
58°
64°
89° (1936)
47°
39°
23° (2011)
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
Trace
0.05"
0.29"
4.98"
2.84"
3.40"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Last
New
Apr 19
Apr 26
6:13 a.m.
7:39 p.m.
10:13 p.m.
7:49 a.m.
First
Full
May 2
66° 47°
66° 44°
Seattle
54/42
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
61° 35°
May 10
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
53/35
57/39
Tacoma
Moses
54/39
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 60/39
50/35
51/42
52/39
61/37
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
53/43
59/42 Lewiston
63/43
Astoria
56/39
51/42
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
53/41
Pendleton 47/31
The Dalles 63/44
57/41
59/40
La Grande
Salem
52/36
53/40
Albany
Corvallis 53/39
54/40
John Day
51/32
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
60/41
54/40
48/28
Caldwell
Burns
57/40
49/28
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
51
51
48
50
49
47
54
55
63
51
46
52
50
52
50
53
60
63
57
53
51
53
53
50
54
59
61
Lo
42
32
28
41
28
31
40
36
44
32
22
36
34
37
41
42
41
40
41
41
27
40
35
31
42
42
37
W
sh
t
c
sh
c
t
sh
t
pc
c
c
t
t
sh
sh
sh
c
pc
t
sh
c
sh
t
t
sh
t
t
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Fri.
Hi
51
46
46
51
44
40
53
51
59
44
45
47
45
54
50
53
53
61
54
52
50
53
50
45
52
55
60
Lo
41
23
24
39
22
23
35
30
36
27
22
29
29
35
39
39
31
37
34
39
24
35
33
27
39
39
33
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
sh
sn
c
sh
sn
sn
sh
c
c
pc
pc
c
c
sh
sh
sh
sh
c
c
sh
c
sh
c
sn
sh
c
c
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
71
73
71
58
77
45
61
68
67
71
59
Lo
46
68
52
42
52
39
46
51
50
58
47
W
pc
c
t
c
pc
r
c
s
s
s
s
Fri.
Hi
82
78
63
61
77
42
61
69
60
73
65
Lo
52
74
49
46
53
27
46
51
48
59
59
W
pc
t
pc
c
pc
sh
c
pc
r
s
s
WINDS
Medford
52/37
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
46/22
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Eastern Washington: Variable clouds today;
showers around, but a snow squall in the
mountains.
Cascades: Snow and rain in central parts
today; rain, mixed across the north with
snow early. A little snow in the south.
Northern California: Showers around today,
but a little snow in the interior mountains.
Friday
WSW 10-20
WSW 10-20
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Coastal Oregon: Mostly cloudy today with
showers; breezy across the north. A couple
of showers tonight.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Variable
clouds today with a thunderstorm in spots;
cooler.
Western Washington: Mainly cloudy today
with showers. Rather cloudy tonight with a
passing shower.
Today
WSW 10-20
WSW 7-14
0
3
4
4
3
1
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: Much of the East will be dry today. Showers and thunderstorms are
forecast from part of southern Michigan to northwestern Texas and eastern New Mexico.
Rain and mountain snow will fall on the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 94° in Presidio, Texas
Low 12° in Embarrass, Minn.
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
78
81
58
69
76
86
56
60
81
78
58
62
81
78
58
87
47
64
84
81
73
80
76
80
81
70
Lo
50
60
45
48
45
63
39
42
58
50
47
49
61
46
47
61
23
48
71
62
54
57
62
54
60
52
W
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
s
pc
pc
r
c
pc
s
c
s
s
pc
c
pc
sh
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
Fri.
Hi
79
82
56
65
59
85
49
57
81
81
66
67
82
77
62
88
48
67
83
80
77
80
77
77
82
72
Lo
48
59
44
50
36
62
32
41
59
55
61
55
63
42
49
58
23
45
71
64
61
61
63
56
60
52
Today
W
s
s
s
s
pc
pc
sh
s
s
pc
c
c
pc
pc
c
pc
s
t
pc
pc
t
pc
t
s
pc
s
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
81
84
81
50
58
86
83
63
75
73
67
94
55
61
78
69
54
62
82
76
70
61
54
93
70
73
Lo
55
63
69
42
46
57
62
46
61
58
48
63
36
41
52
48
30
40
63
39
57
47
42
58
52
61
W
s
pc
pc
r
c
s
pc
pc
t
c
pc
s
pc
s
s
pc
r
sh
pc
pc
pc
sh
sh
s
pc
c
Fri.
Hi
82
84
82
52
60
85
80
62
79
71
66
89
57
62
78
70
56
64
81
56
68
61
51
90
68
75
Lo
64
63
73
49
53
63
63
46
61
61
48
60
35
40
56
39
31
42
65
35
56
46
42
54
54
62
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
c
pc
pc
c
r
pc
pc
s
pc
t
s
s
s
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
s
pc
pc