THE HILLSBORO ARGUS

Local news from Hillsboro & Washington County - Oregon Newspaper

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Argus will be distributed early this week.

Subscribers and news rack readers can expect to receive the weekday edition of the Argus on Monday, Nov. 24. The weekend edition, including extra advertisements for after-holiday sales, will arrive Wednesday, Nov. 26.

The Argus offices will close Nov. 27 and reopen on Nov. 28.

Authorities are opening the Washington County Courthouse and surrounding buildings and streets after a sweep found no explosive material.

The courthouse and the nearby Juvenile Services Building were closed after a bomb threat was called in shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Also closed were Main and Lincoln streets and Second Avenue.

Courthouse sources said the public will be back in the building at about 1:15 p.m. Case schedules will be adjusted as necessary.

Employees were asked to visually scan their work place and notify court security if they find anything unusual.

For more on this story, see Friday's Argus.

Nick Christensen / The ArgusA Washington County Sheriff's Deputy stands watch on Main Street while authorities work to clear the Washington County Courthouse following a Wednesday morning bomb threat.

Police evacuated the Washington County Courthouse and the Juvenile Services Building, and closed several blocks in downtown Hillsboro, after a bomb threat was called in.

"We just need a chance to get it empty and see if anything is in there," said Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Thompson said the phone call was answered by an unidentified courthouse employee.

The courts will be closed until at least 1 p.m. today as police wait for a bomb sniffing dog to inspect the building.

Also closed were Lincoln Street and Second Avenue in front of the courthouse.

UPDATE 10:55 A.M.: Main Street has been closed from Third to First avenues in downtown Hillsboro.(Click here for a map of closures).

For more on this story, see Friday's Argus.

Because of the Veterans Day holiday, the weekday edition of the Hillsboro Argus, normally delivered on Tuesday, will be delivered to subscribers on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The paper will still be available in newsstands on Tuesday.

Click here for a link to Washington County's election results.

For coverage of tonight's election, see Friday's edition.

More than 113,000 voters have cast ballots so far in Washington County, amounting to about 41 percent turnout. There are 276,553 registered voters in Washington County.

The turnout so far is lower than past presidential elections, county spokesman Philip Bransford said.

"We're really encouraging people to drop off early," Bransford said, citing long lines to drop ballots off at the Washington County Elections Office on Murray Boulevard in Beaverton.

Click here for a map of all Washington County ballot drops.

Ballots can be returned at any of the county's drop sites by 8 p.m. Tuesday -- voters don't need to go to the main drop site in Beaverton as long as they have their ballots in by the 8 p.m. deadline.

"We will ask commuters and other travelers to try and avoid Murray Boulevard and the TV Highway," Bransford said. "It really does get clogged up with cars."

The county will have drive-through service at the elections office, 3700 Southwest Murray Boulevard, starting tomorrow.

Staff will be on hand to collect ballots from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

City Councilor Ed Dennis thinks he has a solution for some of Hillsboro's most dangerous intersections.

Dennis, a member of the Transportation Committee, proposes following the example of Beaverton and Portland, cities that have already installed photo equipment to decrease the number of motorists who ignore red lights.

Lt. Henry Reimann, of Hillsboro Police, reported to the committee Tuesday on research into systems from Redflex Traffic Systems, of Phoenix.

He said the company would install the equipment for free in return for a sliding share of resultant fines.

Michal Thompson / The ArgusPolice detain Donald Askey, the suspect in a Wednesday morning crime spree, after the suspect crashed a car into an electrical box in downtown Hillsboro.

A McMinnville man is in jail Wednesday after police say he stole a car as a getaway vehicle for a bank robbery, then led police on a high-speed chase through Hillsboro before crashing into an electric meter in front of another bank.

Michal Thompson / The ArgusPolice said Donald Askew, of McMinnville, robbed this Bank of the West on Cornell Road near Orenco on Wednesday morning.

Donald R. Askey, 38, fled the scene of the crash on foot, but was captured less than a block away.

Police say he carjacked a Mazda in a parking lot near Cornell and Saltzman roads in Cedar Mill at about 9:30 a.m. He pushed the owner of the car out of the way, then nearly backed over her, causing her to fall and hit her head. (Click here to see a map of the Wednesday morning crime spree.)

At 10 a.m. he allegedly robbed the Bank of the West at 7130 Cornell Road near Orenco. The suspect allegedly demanded the teller put money in a paper bag from McDonalds, making off with an unspecified amount of cash.

No one was hurt in a small fire that occurred on board an aircraft that had just refueled at the Hillsboro Airport Monday afternoon.

Pilot Kenny Thomas, 48, of Utah, said the engine backfired once as he was cranking the engine of his 1956 Beechcraft Bonanza to restart it. When he continued cranking, he noticed flames showing in the passenger and engine compartments.

Thomas told crews he flew from Salt Lake City to Placerville, Calif., to pick up his parents for a trip to Anacortes, Wash.

Thomas and his parents, Wally Thomas, 81, and Marilyn Thomas, 74, all escaped the plane safely, said Hillsboro Fire Department spokesman Storm Smith.

Employees of Hillsboro Aviation put out the main body of the fire with a fire extinguisher, and two HFD engine crews arrived soon after to knock the fire down completely.

The damages were significant, but looked reparable, Smith said.

Family attorneys say they will ask the Oregon Attorney General to conduct an independent review after the Washington County District Attorney's office cleared three Beaverton WinCo employees of criminal responsibility in the death of an Aloha man who stopped breathing during a citizen's arrest for shoplifting.

Mason Stevenson, 38, died Sept. 4.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Rob Bletko said Wednesday he agreed with the findings of Beaverton Police Department detectives, who interviewed several witnesses and the three employees.

According to BPD reports, "The citizen arrest of Stevenson by the three WinCo employees was lawful," and the "force used by the WinCo employees to arrest Stevenson was reasonable."

The controversial Orenco Woods project will have at least one more hearing before the Hillsboro Planning Commission.

Commissioners Wednesday again took up consideration of a comprehensive development plan modification submitted by Venture Properties and WRG Design for the former golf course property at the northwest corner of Northwest Quatama and Cornelius Pass roads. The public hearing, continued after an initial Sept. 10 session, lasted six hours as commissioners heard testimony from city planning staff, developer's representatives and opponents of the project from the historic Old Orenco neighborhood.

Venture seeks to convert five acres of the total 55 acre site, originally approved for an exclusively residential development, to mixed commercial use. Opposition centers on potential traffic increases on already overburdened Cornelius Pass Road and Orenco's narrow, unimproved streets to the west.

They are especially concerned with a possible short-cut drivers might choose to avoid delays on the county arterial: Northwest Quatama, across the narrow bridge to follow 227th Avenue to Northwest Dogwood Street, then west to Northwest 231st Avenue, a city traffic collector. Click here for a map of the area.

On Tuesday, the Hillsboro Argus interviewed Sen. Gordon Smith for a possible endorsement in his re-election campaign against Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley. (Audio from Merkley's interview is unavailable).

In Friday's edition, the Argus endorsed Smith.

Below are audio segments from our interview.

Smith, on Oregon's economy and transportation.

Smith, on the Iraq war.

Smith, on health care and immigration.

Smith, on the national economy.