Local Briefs

Union City Council meets tonight

UNION — The Union City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 for a work session, followed by its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. City council committees will give reports at the meeting. Both meetings will be held at Union City Hall.

IC City Council discusses census

ISLAND CITY — Island City City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at Island City’s city hall. The upcoming census will be one of the subjects discussed at the meeting.

ReMax throws party at new office

LA GRANDE — La Grande’s Re/Max Real Estate Team is hosting a ribbon cutting and grand reopening beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at its new office, 1214-½ Adams Ave. Stop by before 6:30 p.m. for door prizes, refreshments and entertainment.

Union School Board to meet Wednesday

UNION — The Union School Board will have its regular monthly meeting Sept. 11. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the high school athletic complex.

Wallowa library hosts garden concert

WALLOWA — The Friends of the Wallowa Public Library are putting on a free concert in the library’s garden at 6 p.m. Sept. 12. The concert will feature Peggy and Larry Haney, Greg Johnson, John Raines, Rich and Trilby Shirley and Carolyn Lockhart. The concert is free, but any donations will go toward the creation of a new mural on the side of the newly painted library.

Thursday events focus on cyber safety

LA GRANDE — On Sept. 12, area seventh-grade students will attend a cyber safety conference at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. That evening, a free program will help empower parents to be responsible for their child’s technology, held at the La Grande High School Auditorium (use Second Street door). Matt Bellace, a clinical psychologist and comedian, will present “Supporting Teens in Making Healthy Choices” at 5:30 p.m., followed by “Cyber-Bullying: A Parent’s Guide” by Richard Wistocki, a retired detective and High Technology Child Crimes Specialist with 30 years of experience in law enforcement.

Sponsored by InterMountain Education Service District, La Grande School District and Union County Safe Communities Coalition, the presentations will be livestreamed to Elgin, Cove and North Powder. For more information, contact your local school, call 541-663-3203 or go to the Union County Safe Communities Coalition’s Facebook page.

Writing circle for teens held at library

LA GRANDE — Cook Memorial Library, 2006 Fourth St., La Grande will host the next Teen Writing Circle from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 12. Teen Writing Circle is a place to exchange ideas, brainstorm and get feedback from peers. Bring your stories and writing ideas to share. This free activity will be held in the library’s Community Room and registration is not needed.

The library offers a variety of free activities for teens. For information on upcoming events visit the library’s web, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages.

Oregon Briefs

Union Pacific train with liquefied gas derails in Portland

PORTLAND — Union Pacific says two locomotives and three tank cars containing liquefied petroleum gas derailed in Portland, striking and cracking a support beam to an overpass providing access to a major industrial area.

The company says there are no injuries and none of the tanks leaked in the derailment that happened at about 9:20 a.m. Saturday. Crews are working to get the locomotives and tank cars back on the tracks.

Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman Dylan Rivera said North Going Street is closed until city engineers determine how much damage the overpass sustained. It’s not clear when the road might reopen.

The road provides access to Swan Island, a major industrial area of the city with many workers.

Rivera says a small private road is being used to access Swan Island.

Temporary fix made at hatchery to prevent salmon die-off

TRAIL — Workers at Cole Rivers Hatchery in western Oregon have put in new plastic water piping as a temporary fix to prevent another massive die-off of Rogue River spring chinook salmon eggs.

The (Medford) Mail Tribune reported in a story on Friday that the work is intended to prevent a repeat of a fungal outbreak in December that killed 1.2 million spring chinook eggs and young fish called fry.

The work is a stop-gap effort until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fixes the water system and worn-out elements at the 46-year-old facility.

Officials say the die-off in December was caused by rusting metal pipes and bacteria in sediment that accumulated for years in the piping.

Two dead after vehicles collide in northwestern Oregon

MOLALLA — Officials in northwestern Oregon say the driver of a Mini Cooper and her male passenger died when the vehicle collided with a Dodge Ram pickup.

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said the collision occurred at about 4:30 p.m. Friday near Molalla.

Authorities say the woman died at the scene and the man was flown to an area hospital where he died.

Police say the driver of the truck appeared to be uninjured.

Police say the initial investigation indicates the driver of the Mini Cooper was at fault for the crash.

Names haven’t been released.

Lawsuit: Target lied about child porn on customer’s phone

PORTLAND — The family of a deceased Oregon man has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Target contending a worker made up a false story about child pornography on the man’s mobile phone that led to his arrest and eventual death due to a heart attack caused by stress.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the family of 43-year-old Jeffrey Buckmeyer filed the lawsuit last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Authorities seized Buckmeyer’s electronic devices after Buckmeyer visited a Target store in Portland in July 2018 for help with his phone, and an employee reported seeing naked girls about 10 years old.

But authorities returned the phone and other electronic devices several months later after finding no such images. Buckmeyer died a few months after that in April.

Target spokeswoman Danielle Schumann declined to comment.

Man arrested after dump truck drops gravel on interstate

PORTLAND — A 50-year-old man police say used a dump truck to drop loads of gravel on Interstate 5 in Portland and attempted to elude police in the vehicle has been taken into custody.

KOIN-TV reported that Craig Ferrero was arrested Friday on suspicion of criminal mischief, reckless driving, reckless endangering and unlawful use of a vehicle.

Dozens of police officers pursued the dump truck that left the freeway. It finally stopped on Southwest Barbur Boulevard after spike strips shredded its tires.

It’s not clear from online records if Ferrero has an attorney.

Lawsuit over shooting death of Finicum dismissed

PORTLAND — A federal lawsuit related to the shooting of rancher Robert LaVoy Finicum has been dismissed.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the civil suit was filed in U.S. District Court of Oregon by Ryan Payne, Shawna Cox and others who were associated with the Bundy family’s 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

They claimed that FBI agents, Oregon State Police and other officials violated their civil rights by using excessive force and “ambushing” them on the day Finicum was shot and killed.

Chief District Court Judge Michael Mosman dismissed all counts in the lawsuit Friday, saying “It’s time to put a fork in this case.”

The lawsuit was filed in January 2018.

Judge halts 50% pay hike for blueberry pickers for now

OLYMPIA, Washington — A federal judge has blocked the government from imposing a 50% wage hike for blueberry pickers.

The Olympian reports U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. temporarily stopped the Department of Labor from implementing a July order raising wages for pickers.

Zirkle Fruit southeast of Seattle sued to prevent the government from starting the new wage structure.

The government notified Zirkle of the new pay rate on July 24, a day after the increase actually took effect.

Zirkle said it was blindsided by the mid-harvest pay hike. The blueberry harvest began in June and continues through September.

Two killed in small plane crash near Hood River

HOOD RIVER — A pilot and passenger were killed in a small plane crash near Hood River.

Hood River County Deputy Joel Ives told the Oregonian/OregonLive that the crash happened at about 10:10 a.m. Friday in a field between a runway and a hangar at Hood River Airport.

He says witnesses heard the engine sputter before the plane headed toward the ground.

The identities of the two people have not yet been released by authorities. It’s not immediately clear what caused the crash.