Tom Joyce 
(The Center Square) – A man from Washington County, Oregon, received a federal prison sentence last week after he sold counterfeit pills containing fentanyl to a young woman that killed her. Robert Lamart James McCollum, 35, received a 125-month federal prison sentence plus five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “This defendant …
(The Center Square) – An Oregon-based drug trafficking cell leader with ties to a large Mexico-based drug trafficking organization received a federal prison sentence this week after an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Horacio Luna-Perez, 42, of Hillsboro, Oregon, got a 97-month federal prison sentence and five years’ supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District …
(The Center Square) – Oregon Governor Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act for the eighth time this year last week. Kotek invoked it on August 1, 2024, responding to the Telephone Fire in Harney County. The governor invokes the act when the necessary resources to protect life and property from a wildfire exceed the capacities of local first responders. “I continue …
(The Center Square) – The Liberty Justice Center recently filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a school district in Oregon on behalf of a high school track and field coach who the district fired for proposing an open division for male athletes who identify as transgender, according to a press release from the organization. The Lake Oswego School Board fired …
(The Center Square) – The Larch Creek Fire has expanded to 9,100 acres in size and jumped Highway 197, forcing the highway’s closure. The human-caused fire that’s burning in Wasco County began on Tuesday afternoon near Friend, Oregon, and quickly expanded, according to KATU. The wind and high temperatures have posed a challenge to firefighters responding to the fire. Local firefighters are receiving help from task forces from Clackamas, …
(The Center Square) – A man from Bend, Oregon, received a federal prison sentence last week for possessing 20 pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. 1,420 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a compartment underneath the floor of a tractor trailer full of watermelons. Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Isaac Kitashima, 48, got a nine-year federal prison sentence …
(The Center Square) – Oregon will get $30.1 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding from the federal government this year. Since local governments cannot tax federal lands, the federal government provides them with PILT payments to help cover costs associated with maintaining federal land. “Public lands are a treasure in rural Oregon, but they must not prevent communities from having …