WASHINGTON COUNTY NEWS

Oregon local news from Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and more

ODOTTraffic on Interstate 84 westbound stinks this morning.

A wreck that was blocking the left lane at 185th Avenue (Exit 64) has been cleared. But the Sunset hasn't recovered. Traffic remains jammed from Oregon 217 to the Vista Ridge Tunnel leading to downtown Portland. The delay at this point is at least 13 minutes.

Southbound Interstate 5 from Vancouver is also molasses, thanks to an earlier accident on the north end of the Interstate Bridge in Vancouver. It has been string of red tail lights most of the morning. The trip from the Interstate Bridge to downtown Portland was about 18 minutes at 7 a.m. However, speeds have started to pick up just past Delta Park.

Traffic is also thick from Interstate 205 near Foster Road all the way along westbound I-84 to Interstate 5.

The commute on Interstate 205 southbound near the I-84 interchange and I-5 northbound at the Terwilliger Curves is also thickening up. Expect delays.

-- Joseph Rose; josephrose@news.oregonian.com

Courtesy of Washington County Sheriff's OfficePolice spent the night looking for Christopher Scorcio, a seventh-grader at Banks Junior High.

A 12-year-old Banks-area boy who went missing Monday afternoon has been found safe and sound near his home, a Washington County emergency dispatcher has confirmed.

Washington County authorities spent the night looking for Christopher Scorcio. Scorcio left his home on foot about 3:30 p.m. and never came home. He was wearing a white T-shirt and green shorts and did not have a jacket. Trained dogs spent most of the night looking for the boy near his rural Northwest Creps Road home.

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Carolyn Ohlhauser

HILLSBORO -- A former Gaston resident was sentenced to five years of probation Monday for letting more than 140 dogs -- mostly Chihuahuas -- live in their own feces and urine.

Carolyn Ohlhauser, 60, was convicted of 19 counts of second-degree animal neglect involving dozens of Chihuahuas and a few other dogs living in the rat-infested lower level of her home, which was caked with the dogs' feces and urine.

Joseph Michael Bennett Tedrick

The case: Joseph Michael Bennett Tedrick, 22, of Troutdale was arrested March 19 after a pickup basketball game in Bethany turned violent. Tedrick left Somerset West Park after an argument over the game, then returned to pick up some belongings, according to Sgt. Vance Stimler of the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

One of the men he had been playing ball with, Marvin Rains, had thrown Tedrick's items into the bushes. Tedrick went to his car, got a gun and returned and shot Rains in the leg, Stimler said. Troutdale Police arrested Tedrick later that evening after a three-hour standoff at his apartment complex, according to Sgt. Marc Shrake, Troutdale Police spokesman. He was taken to Washington County Jail and booked on multiple charges, including two counts of attempted murder.

ALOHA - A man armed with a small club or bat robbed an Aloha convenience store Sunday night, Washington County authorities said.

The man entered a Plaid Pantry store at 3875 S.W. 170th Ave. at about 9:13 p.m., said Sgt. David Thompson, spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

It's 3 p.m. in the Portland area. Do you know how your evening commute is shaping up?

We're launching a new daily feature today: The daily commuting preview, looking at weather, construction, road work, road kill and just about everything else that might affect your drive home tonight. It will go up about this time each day.

Besides a couple of bags of cement that fell off a truck and burst open in the center lane of Interstate 84 eastbound near the Hollywood exit, the highways have been "just fine" today, according to ODOT dispatchers.

The good news for tonight: Earlier forecasts of pea-soup fog at 5 p.m. won't come true. The bad news: Rain showers will replace the fog as daylight fades. That means wet roads and tricky turns (see today's road reviews for more on that).

Ben J. Shiprack

The case: Ben J. Shiprack, 28, of Tualatin was arrested Sept. 26 after police received a call from a woman that her boyfriend had brought a gun to bed. Sgt. Jim Noragon, spokesman for Tualatin Police, said the woman had fled the house in the 10400 block of Southwest Pueblo Street and was outside when officers arrived. Shiprack was booked into the Washington County jail on multiple charges, including menacing and harassment.

Update: On Nov. 24, Shiprack pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of a weapon against another; the other four charges were dropped.

The Oregon Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by the state Land Use Board of Appeals, allowing Pacific University to build up to four stories at a second site in downtown Hillsboro.

The Court of Appeals ruled without opinion Nov. 12.

Pacific University has leveled the site for the proposed building but is waiting on construction until after the Dec. 17 deadline passes for a potential final appeal to the state Supreme Court, said Sara Hopkins-Powell, executive dean of Pacific's College of Health Professions.

Clearwire is adopting a new brand name, Clear, and finalizing rollout plans for its WiMAX technology. The Sprint half of the company introduced service in Baltimore in September.

On this morning's call, Clearwire CEO Benjamin Wolff said Portland, long slated to be the first mobile WiMAX market for Clearwire's half of the company, will get limited service this month:

Brent Wojahn/The OregonianChristopher Hernandez displays a video game he created. Hernandez has wanted to design video games since he was a kid. Now, he's taking classes at Mt. Hood Community College to learn design skills.

At age 7, Christopher Hernandez created a video game out of paper. He drew characters, painstakingly cut them out, then arranged them on his bedroom floor for his younger brother to pretend to play.

He didn't have a computer. He had never heard of someone making a living as video game designer.

The Storm King was skeptical.

It was the first weekend of December 2007, and the National Weather Service office in Portland was tracking an offshore storm it believed would trigger its first-ever hurricane force wind warning.

Wine lovers can enjoy their spirits and support the Oregon Food Bank in December, when Kendall-Jackson Winery and Youngs Columbia will donate $5 to the food bank for every case of wine sold at participating bars and restaurants, which include Huber's, Hayden's Lakefront Grill and the McCormick and Schmick's in Bridgeport Village.

For more information, including how you can host your own food drive, visit www.oregonfoodbank.org or the Washington County chapter at http://tinyurl.com/WCFoodBank.

-- Angella Foret Diehl, special to The Oregonian