Pepper-spray bandit, Cowboy bandit, The Golfer, The Masked Man, & The Hooded Woman are being sought by the FBI as Oregon’s “top five outstanding bank robbery cases in 2006”. The FBI in Oregon has identified the Top Five outstanding bank robbery cases for 2006. These robberies were chosen based on threats made, the type of robbery and/or identifying characteristics that may help the public identify the suspects. Anyone with information about any of these robberies is ... [full story]

Oregonians would reject Measure 37 if it appeared on the ballot today, according to a recent survey of Oregon voters. In a statewide survey of 500 Oregonians conducted in late January by Moore Information, 52% of respondents said they would vote against the measure, while only 37% would support it. In addition, 61% of Oregonians want the Oregon Legislature to either fix or repeal Measure 37, while only 31% of voters want the legislature to “keep ... [full story]

Preliminary analysis shows the State of Oregon ranks 17th for its overall number of bank robberies, bank burglaries and bank larcenies for 2006. It ranks second in terms of the number of solved cases in states with as many or more such crimes. In 2006, Oregon saw 178 bank robberies, three bank burglaries and zero larcenies. Of those, FBI Agents and local police officers have solved approximately 61% of those cases. Washington ranked 9th overall ... [full story]

H.R. 365 passed Wednesday by a vote of 426 to 2 U.S. Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield), Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) and Greg Walden (R-Hood River) are helping communities across Oregon clean up methamphetamine labs and the toxic mess they leave behind.  Reps. DeFazio, Blumenauer and Walden, all members of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, cosponsored H.R. 365, a bill that charges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the development of health-based guidelines to ... [full story]

AG announces annual consumer complaint list as part of the observance of National Consumer Protection Week; 2006 consumer complaint list similar to 2005 top 10; gas price reporter is the exception This week Attorney General Hardy Myers announced the Oregon Department of Justice 2006 Top 10 Consumer Complaint list and reported on the importance of several consumer law proposals currently being considered by the 2007 Oregon Legislature. The announcements are part of the week's events ... [full story]

Across the country, laws are being passed to put an end to the underage drinking parties in which adults provide the booze. Alcohol kills 6.5 times more young people than all illegal drugs combined. It's a factor in nearly half of all teen car crashes and up to 65 percent of teen suicides. It's linked to two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students. And most underage drinking happens at ... [full story]

Authorities arrested six men when they arrived at a decoy house in Clackamas County, expecting to meet for sexual purposes the “children” they had chatted with online.  The children, however, were trained law enforcement officers or civilian volunteers, acting as part of “Operation Cyber Sting 2007”.    Himanshu Upadhyaya, 28, of Mauritius, India, was arrested and charged with coercion and enticement of a minor for the purpose of sexual contact after he flew from Seattle to ... [full story]

A California man stopped for a traffic violation in Klamath Falls early Sunday morning was arrested after police found 14 ounces of crystal methamphetamine and a handgun allegedly concealed in his car, troopers reported.   14 ounces of meth, a handgun, and close to $3,000 cash were allegedly hidden in a hidden compartment of the suspect’s pickup.  OSP photo. Shortly after 12:30 a.m. February 4, Oregon State Police (OSP) Trooper Dave Chambers initiated a traffic stop on a ... [full story]

Three people were seriously injured in a head-on crash on Highway 18, about four miles east of Spirit Mountain, early Sunday morning, and one driver has been cited with numerous chargles related to drunk driving, police reported.   Sean M. McCulloch, 38, of Willamina, was cited for numerous charges related to drunk driving. OSP photos.    Ung Lam and Anh Bui were seriously injured when their Mercedes was hit head-on by an allegedly drunk driver.    The head-on crash occurred at ... [full story]

Good signs for rural counties; Healthcare proposals need work President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Proposal will help advance several Oregon projects, while making “alarming” changes to state and federally run health care programs, U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) noted today.   U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) “We’ve got some good and we’ve got some items that need work,” Smith said.  “On one hand, a one-year county payments extension and funding for the Northwest Forest ... [full story]

Two men died Thursday morning after a driver lost control of his car on an icy, shaded curve of Highway 226 south of Lyons and crashed into a school bus, authorities reported.   The driver and two passengers in the North Santiam School District bus escaped injury. Photos provided by OSP.    The driver and passenger of the 1989 Nissan Sentra were pronounced deceased at the scene of Thursday’s accident on Highway 226.    Gandy lost control of the Sentra ... [full story]

A Medford man is charged with abuse of a corpse following Wednesday’s discovery of a body inside a freezer in the garage of his southwest Medford home, reported police. Construction workers repairing a frozen water pipe found the frozen body shortly after noon and alerted the Medford Police Department, Lt. Tim George said. Responding investigators and officers interviewed Paul Henry Mahanna, 58, in the residence at 1735 Fiona Lane where he was reported to have ... [full story]

(Corvallis, Oregon) – A new economic analysis of biofuels by Oregon State University sets a cautionary tone for the large-scale production of biofuels in Oregon. Results of the study suggest that the “net energy” of biofuel is expensive when all costs of its production and delivery are taken into account. The study was released this week by a team of economists in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences that included William Jaeger, Robin Cross and Thorsten ... [full story]