Around the state

Published 12:00 am Thursday, October 3, 2019

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USS Oregon christening this weekend — When the USS Oregon, a Navy’s newest attack submarine, is christened this weekend, it will be splashed with liquids from Oregon. The Pentagon says the submarine will be christened Saturday at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, said he will attend as keynote speaker. He said the submarine will be christened with water from Crater Lake and wine from Oregon. The Virginia-class submarine is the third U.S. Navy ship to honor the state. The Pentagon says these submarines have stealth, endurance, mobility and firepower.

71-year-old missing hikers found safe — Authorities say two 71-year-old hikers who disappeared Tuesday from the group they were with on the Paradise Park Trail near Mount Hood have been found safe. Anna and Suki Jung were hiking with four other people; when the four got back to their cars around 2:30 p.m., they realized the Jungs were missing. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday afternoon the hikers had been found a day later. The sheriff’s office said the area features steep terrain, dense forest and many other trailheads, making it challenging for searchers.

Opioid-prescribing doctor on probation — Following a complaint filed last year, Hermiston doctor Bruce Carlson will no longer be able to treat patients with opioids for chronic pain unless they suffer from terminal illnesses. Carlson was placed on probation by the Oregon Medical Board in July after a complaint that alleged he prescribed controlled substances without medical purpose or without following proper procedures. Carlson said he is complying with the stipulated order, which includes a $5,000 penalty, a five-year probation period and compliance to an educational plan. If Carlson completes the probationary period successfully, his license will not be revoked. According to the Oregon Medical Board, Carlson allowed a physician assistant to continue issuing prescriptions for Schedule II narcotics even though she failed her national recertification test. Carlson says he believed the assistant could still prescribe Vicodin, which had been listed as Schedule III, but was later reclassified under the more stringent Schedule II classification. The complaint also lists several incidents in which Carlson reportedly prescribed excessive amounts of opioids to patients without medical justification; Carlson disagrees with that ruling.

Arrest linked to nails thrown in street — Oregon City Police say they have caught a man who for two years has been throwing roofing nails on city roads in the early morning hours. The department says officers observed resident Bret Wilson “intentionally throwing nails from his vehicle” onto a street at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. According to officials, when Wilson, 56, was detained he reported intentionally throwing nails not only in Oregon City but throughout the area. Police say by his recollection Wilson has thrown nails over 50 times onto busy streets over the last couple years, causing tire damage. Wilson was lodged at the Clackamas County jail on multiple counts of disorderly conduct.

OHSU clinic sued over donated sperm — A man who says his donated sperm was used to father at least 17 children in violation of an agreement that allowed for the creation of no more than five children has filed a lawsuit against Oregon Health & Science University’s fertility clinic. Dr. Bryce Cleary believes it’s possible he has many more offspring from his sperm donations 30 years ago. The lawsuit filed Wednesday says Cleary, who has three sons as well as adopted a daughter, says the clinic breached a promise that all children be born to mothers outside Oregon; Cleary, who lives in Corvallis, learned at least two of the offspring have attended the same schools as the children he raised with his wife. Cleary is “profoundly distressed” as he wades through the “moral, legal, ethical, and personal obligations” he now feels toward those children, the lawsuit said. He is seeking $5.25 million. An OHSU spokeswoman says it treats any allegation with “the gravity it deserves.”

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