Two men wanted in connection with crimes in Marion County over the weekend led authorities on a pursuit this morning. One of the men was arrested about 5:30 a.m. and the other remains on the lam, police said.

The pursuit ended in the area of 16370 N.E. Eilers Road in Aurora. The chase, which got underway after police spotted the men in a stolen Subaru, started about 2 a.m.

Police used a Taser and a trained dog to subdue the suspect. He was taken to the Marion County Jail. His name was not immediately available.


View Larger Map

-The Oregonian

A man who threatened family members with a gun, fired a shot and refused to come out of his home surrendered after a SWAT team arrived, the Salem Police Department reported.

Officials think Jesse A. Nealy, 19, emerged because he saw the SWAT team outside his residence in the 2500 block of Walker Road Northeast, said Lt. Dave Okada, a department spokesman.

A young Washington man died about 5:25 p.m. today when he was struck by a car while running across Interstate 5 at the Donald/Aurora interchange, the Oregon State Police said.

Sgt. Dale Young said Alan M. Bautista, 17, of Auburn, Wash., ran in front of a southbound 2005 Hyundai Accent driven by Casey R. Stone, 24, of Salem. He landed on the inside median and died at the scene.

SALEM -- Unemployment in Oregon has gotten so bad that the state Employment Department has put more people on the job handling claims.

Craig Spivey said the department has added 43 people to handle the growing load of jobless claims, and it plans to add 20 more by the end of the week.

SALEM -- The tree is a little shorter than those of past years and a limb was broken off in transport, but the 27-foot-tall noble fir will nonetheless be the centerpiece of the Oregon Capitol's annual holiday celebration.

The tree was cut Thursday in the Tillamook State Forest, and a 10-man crew from the Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem moved it Monday.

The fir now stands in the Capitol rotunda where it will be adorned with lights and ornaments. From Dec. 2 through Dec. 23, school choirs and other groups will perform music in the rotunda.

Kimberly A.C. Wilson/The OregonianCounterprotesters took the east side of Water Street in Silverton in a mostly quiet rally about the election of an openly transgender mayor.

SILVERTON -- The counterprotesters outside City Hall in this Marion County town today significantly outnumbered the protesters who inspired them: three young women and a man from a Kansas church, here to register their disdain with the recent election of the nation's first openly transgender mayor, Stu Rasmussen.

The quartet spread out along one side of North Water Street, feet planted on American flags spread on the sidewalk and hoisting large laminated posterboards on each arm. Double-sided and easy to read from passing vehicles and local television trucks positioned half a block away, the signs offered assorted damnation -- "Barack Obama = Antichrist," "God Hates You," "You're Going to Hell" and "Fag Media Shame."

Marion County Correctional FacilityTony Gonzalez

The sex abuse trial of a former Silverton police officer cleared of wrongdoing in the June shooting death of an Irish national, is scheduled for early December, court officials said today.

A Marion County grand jury cleared Tony Gonzalez, 35, after he shot Andrew Hanlon, a 20-year-old Irish national with a history of mental health problems.

SALEM -- The trial of a former Silverton police officer facing sexual abuse charges is set to begin next month after attorneys in the case reached an agreement Friday.

Tony Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of sex abuse. His trial before Marion County Circuit Judge Joseph Guimond is scheduled for Dec. 9 and 10.

Rescuers located a missing mushroom hiker early this morning after making voice contact with him, as searchers scoured an area off Crooked Finger Road in Scotts Mills near Marion County's Camp Dakota.

The team heard Kenneth Ray Gibson, 62, of Yamhill about 8:30 a.m., but it took several hours before they could get him out of the area.

A 27-year-old Salem man was arrested early this morning and charged with criminally negligent homicide and driving while under the influence of intoxicants in connection with a Friday evening collision on Oregon 22 just west of Salem.

Martin Martinez-Aguilar was lodged in the Polk County Jail after an investigation by Oregon State Police.

A device that looked like sticks of dynamite with a timer prompted police to evacuate several buildings in Salem this morning.

About 9 a.m., a resident found something that looked like a bomb on top of a garbage can at an apartment complex in the 3300 block of Liberty Road South, said Lt. Dave Okada, a Salem Police Department spokesman.

The saga of Stu Rasmussen is gaining national attention.

The Oregonian profiled the new mayor of Silverton recently when it became apparent that he was probably the first openly transgendered mayor in the country.

The story and video by reporter Kimberly A.C. Wilson drew plenty of reader interest but it also has attracted national media. The latest to check in with a story about Silverton and its mayor is the Los Angeles Times.

Kimberly Wilson/The OregonianNancy Walker and her water-recovery dog, Argus, were one of several crews from Oregon K-9 Search Teams that detected the scent from bodies in the Willamette River near where two brothers were last seen.

The family of Alvin Troub and Michael Runyon finally heard the news Tuesday afternoon they had feared most: The brothers had drowned on a fishing trip to the Willamette River near the town of Independence.

Searchers -- including volunteers, police dive teams and specially trained dogs -- had scoured the river and its banks for more than 40 hours over three days for the pair, after their fishing gear was found abandoned on a floating dock at the town's Riverview Park.

Sheriff's deputies are seeking the public's help in finding three suspects in a home invasion armed robbery that took place Sunday morning in the Salem area, the Marion County Sheriff's office says.

One of the men is reported to have held the the home's seven residents at gunpoint in the robbery, police said. The men entered the home, in the 4700 block of WB Post Drive NE, through an unlocked door, police said. No injuries were reported.

SALEM -- A 24-year-old Salem man has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for the shooting death of a Willamette University cook in 2007.

Robert Taylor Hendricks had pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday.

Police on Friday night arrested Michele Darr, saying the Corvallis woman who had led a two-week protest against Oregon Army National Guard troops being redeployed to Iraq and Afghanistan outside the Capitol building in Salem is trespassing.

Darr, who is demanding a meeting with Gov. Ted Kulongoski to discuss the planned redeployment of the state's National Guard troops to the war zones in 2009, was cited and warned on Thursday that she could not protest between 11 pm and 7 am. But the Corvallis woman said that many supporters who "don't feel safe during the day" come to speak to her at night, adding that "civil rights don't end at night."

Oregon State Police arrested Darr, 38, at 12:40 a.m., said Lt. Gregg Hastings. She was fingerprinted, photographed and released at the Marion County jail, he said. Police also issued her a second trespassing citation.

"She's not back there" protesting this morning, Hastings said.

SALEM -- A Salem man has been charged with murder after his 6-month-old boy died of brain injuries at a Portland hospital.

Police had originally charged 23-year-old Robert D. Morris with assault.

SALEM -- Several students have been disciplined at West Salem High School for racially disparaging remarks involving President-elect Obama.

Principal Ed John said he addressed the student body after the incidents to say such remarks will not be tolerated. He also sent out a phone message to parents over the weekend.

A 15-year-old Salem runaway was charged today in connection with a man's body recovered from a wooded area outside the city limits.

Joyce Yvonne Pequeno was charged as an adult with murder in Marion County Circuit Court. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Juan Carlos Silva, 18, who was initially arrested as an accomplice, was released and ordered to appear in court on a future date.

Police identified the victim as 33-year-old Salvador Rovalledo-Vivares, who also went by the name Jose Perez-Martinez. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

Following a tip that someone had been killed at 4070 Earle Av. N.E., investigators served a search warrant Monday night and process the house for evidence the next day, said Salem police Lt. Steve Birr.

Salem Police are recovering a body from a wooded area outside of Salem and are investigating the "suspicious death."

Police say the death took place at another location, in the 4000 block of Earle Avenue Northeast. An autopsy will be scheduled, police said. The victim's identity is not known.

No other details were immediately available.

--The Oregonian

Two men were arrested in connection with serious injuries sustained by two infants in separate incidents this week.

A 5-month old boy remains in pediatric intensive care at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center after being brought in on Sunday with fractured ribs, a fractured arm and a subdural hematoma, according to the Clark County Sheriff's department.

A Vancouver man, Silvestre Luna Rodriguez, 27, was charged in Clark County Superior Court with two counts of second-degree assault, although the prosecutor has since amended those charges to first-degree, said Sgt. Scott Schanaker of the Clark County Sheriff's department. Police declined to identify the man's relationship to the child.

Authorities are investigating a suspicious death in Salem tonight, a Salem Police Department spokesman said.

Investigators were at work in the 4000 block of Earle Avenue Northeast. No other details were immediately available.

Michael Dwayne LeMasters

McMINNVILLE -- Yamhill County authorities are asking for the public's help in locating a former resident of Newberg and Sherwood wanted on charges of sexually abusing young women.

Sheriff Jack Crabtree said detectives are looking for Michael Dwayne LeMasters, 43, who has been indicted on four counts of first-degree sexual abuse, three counts of first-degree sodomy, fourth-degree assault, first-degree criminal mistreatment, first-degree attempted sexual abuse, invasion of personal privacy and other charges.

A car crashed into the living room of a Keizer home tonight, injuring an adult and a child, police reported. The driver was arrested at the scene.

The incident occurred about 7:50 p.m. at Churchdale Avenue and Elizabeth Street North, said Sgt. Greg Barber, a Keizer Police Department spokesman.

Safe-sex posters featuring condoms can go back up on the walls at Willamette University, two weeks after a parent's complaint prompted student officials to tighten rules governing posters.

This evening Willamette's House of Hall Representatives voted to allow resident assistants to hang any poster deemed appropriate for the health and safety of their residents, including posters containing condoms.

A 19-year-old man was arrested today in Salem on suspicion of sex offenses.

Trevor Ferres was jailed on accusations of attempted rape, rape, sexual penetration, kidnapping and strangulation, said Lt. Sheila Lorance, a Marion County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

A chimney fire early this morning seriously damaged the attic and roof of a Salem home, displacing the family, authorities said.

The fire began about 7 a.m. inside the chimney at 590 Doaks Ferry Road NW. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke coming from the eaves and dormers with fire from the chimney, said John Stroebel, Salem deputy fire marshal. Fire crews extinguished the fire inside the chimney. The attic space sustained heavy charring from the heat, and the roof and chimney will need repair, he said.

Back in 1986, oil ran about $11 a barrel, a 20-year-old Mike Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion ever, and teenagers found a mischievous soulmate in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

That was the year a black 1977 Chevrolet pickup disappeared one day before Halloween in Salem.

A 19-year-old, mentally disabled man missing since Friday has made his way home safely, the Salem Police Department reported tonight.

Jose Luis Aguilar made his way from the Portland area to Keizer and called his sister, who picked him up.

Portland police are searching for a missing Salem woman with medical issues that make her a risk to herself.

Family members last saw Emily Attmore, 25, Tuesday evening around Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital & Health Center in Northwest Portland. She knows few people in the metro area.

Woodburn police are investigating a double homicide that occurred late Monday.

The victims' identities have not been released. One victim was found in a car outside of a residence in the 500 block of Hall Street. He had been shot, police said. Police found two more people who had been shot inside of the residence.

One was flown to OHSU where he was pronounced dead. The other victim is listed in stable condition this morning at OHSU.

No other details were released about the investigation.

-The Oregonian

SCIO -- Linn County sheriff's deputies say a 47-year-old man killed himself after breaking into a Scio home and tying up two teenage boys with duct tape.

Sheriff Tim Mueller said the 13-year-olds were on a sleep-over Saturday night. The intruder was identified as Ronald Alan Williams of Marion.

Keizer fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of a Sunday afternoon blaze that resulted in $15,000 in damage at metal fabrication facility.

About 2:20 p.m., firefighters were called to G&S Machine at 3704 Cherry Ave. N.E. They found several stacks of wood pallets engulfed in flames behind the main building.

A truck safety sting in Marion County netted four faulty rigs in four hours this afternoon.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office traffic safety team and the county's weighmaster stopped semi-trucks for random safety equipment and mechanical inspections at Ehlen and Butteville roads Northeast near Aurora.

The Associated PressMost of the dilapidated, 125-year-old main building of the Oregon State Hospital in Salem will be torn down and replaced starting this fall. A legislative panel was told that the hospital staff should be expanded to about 2,500 positions.

SALEM -- Jaws dropped in the Legislature's Joint Ways and Means Committee on Thursday when budget writers heard that the Oregon State Hospital needs 1,000 additional staff members for the new mental hospital in Salem.

The estimated price: $124 million.

A 30-year-old Salem resident was arrested Thursday in connection with drug and drug-related crimes.

Yesenia A. Skinner was booked into Marion County Jail on suspicion of possession and distribution of methamphetamine; possession and distribution of Oxycodone and Hydrocodone; being a felon in possession of a handgun; and a probation violation for possession of a handgun, said Lt. Jim Anglemier of the community response section of Salem Police Department. Bail was set at $620,000.

SALEM -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking Friday at Willamette University, credited a century-old Oregon case for helping pave the way for laws protecting women from discrimination.

She described how the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908 upheld the prosecution of a Portland laundry owner who violated a state law limiting the number of hours women could be required to work.

Why were the chickens stuck on the side of the road? Because their truck driver had license issues.

Sounds like a rewrite of the old joke, but according to an Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman, Dave Thompson, it happened today along Interstate 5 near Woodburn.

An Oregon woman who moved to New York City and disappeared last week has been seen twice checking her email, according to New York press accounts.

The New York Daily News is reporting that Hannah Upp, 23, has not contacted her family but has been seen in an Apple store on Fifth Avenue. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters that one of Upp's classmates approached her in the store.

A Deschutes County hiker has a satellite phone -- and a multi-jurisdictional effort -- to thank for his rescue today along the Pacific Crest Trail.

The 72-year-old man had been hiking the trail since Saturday and experienced an unspecified health problem near the junction of the Woodpecker Trail around mid-morning today.

SALEM -- The parents of a 4-year-old Salem boy have been cited on child neglect charges after the child was found alone running across the intersection of two main streets.

Drivers reported a small child running across the intersection without shoes on early Friday afternoon. Salem police said the drivers stayed with the child while officers responded and the Oregon Department of Human Services was contacted.

A motorcycle crash about 9:15 a.m. today on Interstate 5 that killed a 54-year-old man is under investigation by the Oregon State Police.

The motorcyclist, traveling north and pulling a trailer, lost control and crashed into a median cable barrier on I-5 about one mile north of Brooks, said Lt Gregg Hastings, a state police spokesman.

Ronald William Collins

SALEM -- Authorities are looking for a 62-year-old sex offender who was released from prison in June but cut the monitoring device from his ankle and dropped out of sight.

He is Ronald William Collins. The Marion County sheriff's department says he has a history of sexually abusing boys he knows.

An accident this morning involving two middle school students in Salem provided a reminder that drivers need to take extra care now that school has started.

Anthony Sierra, 11, and Reyna Sierra, 13, were crossing Connecticut Avenue Southeast in the crosswalk and with a walk signal when Ronald Moe, 55, of Salem turned left in his pickup, striking them, said Lt. Dave Okada of the Salem Police Department.

Marion County law enforcement officials have arrested seven men and one woman in connection with a three-month methamphetamine investigation.

Two children were taken into protective custody.

Police have identified the victim of a Marion County motorcyle accident as 60-year-old Richard David Sowers of Lake Oswego.

Sheriff's deputies responded around 2 p.m. Friday to a crash involving three motorcyles on Breitenbush Road near mile post 14.

One motorcyclist was killed, and two were injured in a crash today on Breitenbush Road near Detroit Lake, the Marion County Sheriff's Office reported.