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Woodburn Fertilizer Sued for Age Discrimination

EEOC Says Company Pushed Out Older Worker After 10 Years of Successful Employment.

(WOODBURN) - "Woodburn Fertilizer, a branch of the Wilbur-Ellis Company,
subjected a long-time employee to harassment and unequal treatment because of her age and then forced her to quit", the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The EEOC's suit asserts that Carolyn Arzino, an experienced, 55 year-old accounting secretary, faced age harassment and treatment different from younger co-workers at Woodburn Fertilizer.

According to the EEOC, after ten years of excellent service, Arzino received an unwarranted poor performance evaluation, was put on probation and suffered repeated derogatory comments about her age.

Law Enforcement Program Keeps 300,000 Acres Open to Public Hunting

(NEWPORT) - Nearly 300,000 acres of private timberlands in Lincoln County will remain open to public hunting with help from a $20,000 Access and Habitat Program grant.

The funds will be used toward the cost of hiring a police deputy to conduct law enforcement patrols during the 2006-2007 hunting season.

Traditionally, forest landowners have allowed the public to hunt on their properties. But Lincoln County private forest landowners are experiencing high levels of garbage dumping, trespassing, vandalism and other violations on their land. Without law enforcement support to provide landowners with security, many would close their properties to the public.

Three People Including a State Police Trooper receive Minor Injuries in Crash South of Chiloquin

(CHILOQUIN) - Three people, including an Oregon State Police trooper, received minor injuries Wednesday night during a two-vehicle crash on Highway 97 about five miles south of Chiloquin. The crash investigation is continuing.

Wednesday at approximately 9:10 PM, Oregon State Police Trooper Tyler Lee was responding to a reported domestic disturbance call north of Chiloquin along Highway 97 near milepost 237.

Trooper Lee, operating a marked 2001 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car without emergency equipment activated, was northbound near milepost 254 north of Day School Road when his patrol car crashed into the back of a northbound 2005 Isuzu truck.

Businesses And Governmental Agencies Contribute to The Identity Theft Problem

A few facts you may not know about identity theft.

(SALEM) - Most people think of an identity thief as an unemployed drug-crazed “Methhead” who steals your personal information from your home, car, mail, garbage or computer. This statement is only partially true.

The relationship between methamphetamine and identity theft is true. Over 90% of the persons I arrest for fraud or identity theft are involved with methamphetamine. I believe this arrest statistic would be true anywhere in the United States.

I recently talked with a person in prison who had been the mastermind of a major identity theft ring operating throughout Oregon. I asked him about of the relationship between “meth” and the people who commit identity theft. He told me, “They are as husband and wife.”

Westlund Announces Plan to Restore Police Patrols on State’s Highways

Westlund says $70 Million in Dedicated Funding Per Biennium Would Restore 24/7 State Police Patrols.

(Bend) - Senator Ben Westlund (I-Bend), Independent candidate for Governor, today announced his plan to create a dedicated fund to restore twenty-four hour, seven day-a-week police patrols on Oregon’s highways.

He says the plan would generate $70 million each biennium specifically for Oregon State Police patrols by adding a small State Police surcharge to some fees paid to the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

“While we all agree that restoring twenty-four hour patrols on our highways is important, promising to do so without an actual plan to fund it sells our State Police short and places our citizens at risk,” said Westlund.

Driver`s Arrest Related to Fatal July Traffic Crash South of Florence

The Florence man will face a second-degree Manslaughter charge.

(FLORENCE) - Oregon State Police troopers arrested a Florence-area man Thursday for Manslaughter and DUII charges related to a July 9th two-vehicle traffic crash on Highway 101 three miles south of Florence. The other driver had been in critical condition until she passed away one week later.

53-year old Rodney L. Deris of Florence, was arrested without incident at his home. He was taken to Lane County Circuit Court for Manslaughter in the Second Degree and Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants.

Police say that on July 9th at approximately 12:40 PM, a 2005 Dodge pickup driven by Deris was southbound on Highway 101 when it drove off into a ditch on the right shoulder then came back onto the highway and crossed the centerline.

Oregon Department of Human Services Employee Arrested on Attempted Sodomy Charge

The initial examination of the data storage media on 53-year-old Charles Carrington’s home computer revealed the presence of child pornography.

(CORVALLIS) - In June, the Corvallis Police Department began an investigation after a concerned citizen reported that a Corvallis man named Charles Carrington has sexual interest in children/juveniles.

Corvallis police spokesman Lieutenant Jon Martyr says the concerned citizen engaged in e-mail conversation with Carrington while posing as a 15-year-old boy.

During the e-mail conversation, Carrington communicated his desire to meet with and engage in “deviate sexual intercourse” as defined in O.R.S. 163.305 (1) with the 15-year-old boy.

Stabbing in Sweet Home Leads to Three Injuries

The suspect received a head injury when he was disarmed.

(SWEET HOME) - Reports of an uninvited guest with a gun sent Linn County Sheriff’s deputies scrambling to 44020 Wiley Creek Drive near Sweet Home early Thursday morning at 3:53 AM. The caller informed dispatch that 26-year old Michael Shain Thompson of Foster, had come to the residence uninvited armed with a gun and was threatening people.

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller says that prior to the deputies’ arrival, residents disarmed Thompson. Problems continued though, when Thompson allegedly obtained a knife. Before the scuffle was over, two residents were injured in the altercation.

The knife was taken from Thompson, and an ambulance was called to take care of Thompson and the two residents who were injured and required medical assistance.

Family of Missing Portland Woman Growing More Concerned

Police have been trying to locate Tylia Johnson for the last several days.

(PORTLAND) - The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has an active missing person case for a 60-year-old female missing since July 28th. Theresa Itome, is a black female adult, age 60. She is described as being 5'05" tall, 200 lbs., with brown eyes; gray-short wavy styled hair, with a lightly freckled complexion.

She has dentures, smokes, is a diabetic and wears glasses. Her family says she suffered a stroke in 2002. There is no known clothing description at the time of her disappearance. Theresa Itome lives in Portland, Oregon.

Tylia Johnson, a concerned Granddaughter of Theresa Itome, reports her Grandmother drove her own personal automobile to attend a scheduled doctors appointment in Milwaukie, at 10:00 AM on Friday, July 28th.

Human Skeletal Remains Found in Rural Area East of Salem

Investigators are looking for clues and hoping someone may be able to help.

(SALEM) - Investigators are trying to determine the identity of a man whose skeletal remains were found over the past weekend in rural east Salem.

Marion County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Kevin Rau says that shortly before 4:00 pm on Saturday, deputies were called to 6230 Culver Dr SE, which is in a rural area just east of Salem, by a property owner named Jerry Beckner.

Beckner is the resident on the rural forested area of about 80 acres. He told deputies that he discovered what appeared to be a human skull, but no other remains, while he was walking on his property.