Devil’s Staircase Wilderness — The U.S. Senate has approved the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act, which would permanently conserve thousands of acres of forest near the southern Oregon coast. The legislation passed Thursday as part of a group of 14 public lands bills from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is chaired by Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden. It now goes to the House of Representatives. The act designates more than 30,000 acres of land in the Siuslaw National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management’s Coos District as wilderness and protects about 14 miles of the Wasson and Franklin creeks. The old-growth forest includes large Douglas-fir, cedar and hemlock trees.

Firing over gun at school — The Medford School Board has upheld the firing of a part-time middle school monitor who has a concealed weapons permit and refused to comply with district policy that prohibits employees from carrying a gun. Donald Later, a retired Jackson County sheriff’s deputy, was hired Jan. 7 as a part-time campus monitor at Hedrick Middle School. The job, which pays $10 or $11 an hour, entails supervising children during recess and as they enter and leave the school. Later met with Superintendent Phil Long during spring break and asked for permission to carry a concealed weapon. After reviewing district policies, Long denied the request. When the campus monitor later told the principal that he still intended to carry the concealed weapon, he was placed on administrative leave and then fired for insubordination. The six board members who attended this week’s meeting voted unanimously to uphold the dismissal.

An unwitting bank robbery accomplice — Police in Medford say a mental health caseworker became an unwitting getaway driver when a new client tucked a lunchtime bank robbery into his errands. Lt. Mike Budreau says the man asked his new Jackson County caseworker to help him move from one motel to another on Tuesday — and make a couple of extra stops. The police spokesman says the unidentified male caseworker waited in a county car while the man walked into a Chase Bank branch, saying he needed to make a withdrawal. Inside, the man reportedly became aggressive and demanded money. A bank employee emptied a till of cash and the man walked out — to his waiting ride. The Oregonian reports that witnesses wrote down the license number of the caseworker’s car and police showed up to make an arrest shortly after the client was dropped off at his new motel. Police say Nicholas Theodore York is being held on $1 million bail.

Stolen reptiles — Police are investigating the theft of three exotic reptiles from a Medford home. Lt. Mike Budreau says the burglary was reported late Wednesday by a 30-year-old man who found the lock on his garage had been cut. The victim told police the reptiles are worth a combined $3,500. He identified them as a “white ivory bald python” and two “Mexican beaded dragon lizards with black and yellow spots.” No other items were stolen from the home.

‘Pug Bandit’ sought — The Portland Police Bureau has released surveillance photos to help the public identify a bank robber nicknamed “The Pug Bandit.” Investigators say the suspect claimed to have a bomb when robbing a pair of southeast Portland banks in September 2011. They believe the same man is responsible for a bank robbery last month, also in southeast Portland. Police declined to say how much money was stolen.

Eastern Oregon abuse case — A 15-year-old Eastern Oregon boy has pleaded not guilty to rape and other charges. Police in the city of Pilot Rock arrested the boy last week and he was arraigned Wednesday on charges of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, and sexual assault of an animal. The indictment obtained by the East Oregonian newspaper says the victim was younger than 12 when the abuse started. The boy remains in a Walla Walla, Wash., juvenile detention facility.

— From wire reports