Around the state

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Mount Hood search — Bad weather forced volunteer crews to suspend Monday’s search for a Salem climber missing on Mount Hood. Kinley Adams, a 59-year-old dentist, was reported missing by family Saturday night, roughly six hours after his expected return from a climb on the west side of the mountain. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office found his vehicle at Timberline Lodge. After an empty search Sunday, volunteers returned to the mountain Monday, but rain, snow, wind and low visibility stopped the crews by early afternoon. The search will resume today, if the weather cooperates. The skies, however, are not expected to clear until Thursday.

Gillnet business — While the Oregon Court of Appeals weighs the case of gillnetters who say they’re being regulated out of business, the shops and stores that supply the fishery say they’ve begun to hurt. The Daily Astorian is reporting that the business owners say the gillnetters aren’t so quick to get their equipment repaired or replaced, or to pick up and pay for nets they’ve ordered. Gillnets snag fish by the gills and are the main tool for about 500 permit holders on both sides of the Columbia River. But Oregon and Washington have both adopted rules to move gillnetters to tributaries from the main stem of the Columbia, although gillnetters say they can’t make a living on the tributaries. The appeals court has stayed the rules while it considers the gillnetters’ challenge.

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Coos Bay IED arrests — A 38-year-old has been arrested in a case that began earlier this month when an Oregon State Police bomb squad destroyed improvised explosive devices found in a Coos Bay home. Coos County sheriff’s deputies arrested Jay Yarbrough, 38, near Powers, southeast of Coos Bay. He had been sought on explosives and other charges, including domestic assault. Tina Rossback, 48, of Coos Bay was also arrested, accused of harboring a fugitive. The devices came to the attention of Coos Bay officers June 12 as they were investigating a domestic violence report.

OLCC director — Gov. John Kitzhaber’s choice to lead the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has withdrawn her name from consideration. A Kitzhaber spokesman says Kendall Clawson decided to keep her current job as the governor’s executive appointments director. The OLCC has been without a permanent director since the governor forced Steve Pharo into retirement last year. The five-member OLCC board will ultimately decide whether to hire Kitzhaber’s choice.

Plane crash death — Authorities say the pilot of a small plane who enjoyed flying in Eastern Oregon’s canyon country hit a high-voltage power line and died in the crash. The Malheur County sheriff’s department says the crash Sunday was about half a mile below Owyhee Dam near the Idaho border. The pilot was identified as Edward Wilson Claugus, 52, of Incline Village, Nev. He was the only person aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration has begun an investigation.

Motorcycle death — Oregon State Police say a motorcycle rider from Washington was killed in a collision with a deer Sunday on Highway 19 west of the town of Spray in Wheeler County. Police say Randall Upshaw, 63, of Lynnwood, Wash., died at the scene.

Foster abuse lawsuit — Lawyers for 11 young children who reportedly suffered sexual abuse at a Salem foster home have filed nearly $23 million in lawsuits against the state’s Department of Human Services. The lawsuits represent one of the most sweeping cases brought against the state child-welfare agency over abuse by one foster parent. James Earl Mooney was sentenced last year to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree sodomy; his wife wasn’t charged with any wrongdoing, and the two have divorced. From 2007 to 2011, 50 babies and toddlers lived in the foster home.

Retirement home vandalism — Police are asking for tips to track down vandals who attacked a retirement community at Woodburn, not only spray-painting homes but also cutting vehicle brake lines and loosening tires. Dozens of homes were hit in the early hours Saturday at the Estates Golf and Country Club community, a development for residents 55 and older. One resident who spotted a couple of the vandals said they appeared to be in their early teens.

Agricultural injury lawsuit — A Multnomah County jury has awarded more than $6 million to a 21-year-old Oregon agricultural worker who was paralyzed from the waist down when his torso was crushed in a hay bale-cutting machine. The jury found that Double Press Manufacturing, a California company that makes the equipment, was 60 percent responsible for injuries suffered by Zeferino Vasquez on March 31, 2010, in Junction City.

— From wire reports

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