Former candidate pleads guilty — Craig Berkman, an Odessa, Fla., investment adviser and onetime Oregon gubernatorial candidate, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a $13 million securities fraud scheme that prosecutors say capitalized on enthusiasm for shares of Facebook and other Internet companies about to go public. Berkman entered the plea to securities fraud and wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, agreeing to serve between eight and 10 years in prison; he faced up to 40 years. Berkman remains jailed pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 1. He served as Oregon’s state Republican Party chairman from 1989 to 1993 and was a GOP gubernatorial candidate in 1994.

Drought declaration — Gov. John Kitzhaber has declared drought emergencies in three more Oregon counties: Baker, Gilliam and Malheur. He said the declaration provides additional water-management tools to assist irrigators, municipalities and other water users. He also said the counties face “serious challenges with water availability” and that climate patterns aren’t expected to change. Gilliam County is in north-central Oregon, Baker and Malheur in Eastern Oregon; for hard-hit Klamath County, to the south, Kitzhaber had already issued a similar declaration.

Church abuse lawsuit — A 43-year-old Utah man and former altar boy at Our Lady of Victory parish in Seaside has filed a $12.25 million lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Portland, alleging he was sexually abused three decades ago by the Rev. Maurice Grammond, Oregon’s most notorious pedophile priest. Grammond, who died in 2002, molested dozens boys between the 1950s and 1980s, and lawsuits stemming from his behavior cost the archdiocese more than $30 million in settlements by 2007 — the year its bankruptcy proceeding was finalized.

Cross-country bike ride — A faculty member of the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., set off on a solo, cross-country bicycle journey Tuesday to raise money for Climate Ride, an environmental nonprofit. Josh Lasky, assistant director for sustainability education at UDC, will travel more than 4,100 miles from Washington to Portland. Lasky is the assistant director for sustainability education at UDC. He plans to ride 60 to 70 miles a day, arriving in Oregon’s largest city the first week of September.

Balloon blamed for outages — Pacific Power officials are blaming an errant balloon for an outage that temporarily knocked out power to more than 4,300 customers in Medford. Utility spokesman Tom Gauntt said the outage Tuesday switched off several traffic signals as well as affecting residences. He said a Mylar balloon drifted into a substation and created a circuit between two wires, causing an overload.

— From wire reports