Civilian stops police car theft — A civilian in the testing process for Medford’s police department is being credited for stopping a woman from stealing a police car during a traffic stop. The unidentified civilian was on a ride-along early Saturday morning with a Medford police officer who pulled over two people on suspicion of drunken driving. Police say 27-year-old Chad Paxton assaulted police officers during the stop, endured a stun gun shock and broke free of officers attempting to detain him. While police pursued Paxton, police say 36-year-old Shilo Schalk tried to steal the idling patrol car. The civilian riding along with officers stopped Schalk. She is being charged with unlawful entry and attempted unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Paxton faces charges of assault on a police officer, drunken driving and several other charges.

Thousands without power — Rural areas of Southern Oregon remained without power on Saturday as melting snow caused tree branches to fall on power lines. The Medford Mail Tribune reports some Pacific Power crews have had to return to areas previously repaired. Monte Mendenhall of Pacific Power says nearly 9,000 in Josephine County and 500 in Rogue River are still without power. About 32 lack electricity in Jackson County. Redding, Calif., city crews are assisting Pacific Power in working to restore outages to the nearly 1,800 people without power in California’s Siskiyou County.

Husky missing 9 months headed home — A Siberian husky missing from his Phoenix owners since April is heading home from Eastern Oregon. Nine-year-old Kane disappeared from Leanne Saunders’ home one night. Saunders assumes he was stolen. The East Oregonian reports a Pendleton woman saw the husky wearing a leash on Dec. 10 and called police. The dog was put in the pound for a week, then turned over to a local animal-welfare group. Saunders had put up signs around Phoenix, but every lead turned into a dead end. A member of the Pendleton Humane Society tracked down Saunders using the dog’s identity chip, made more difficult because Saunders had moved and changed her name since the chip was installed. When she saw a picture of Kane, she knew he was hers.

— From wire reports