News Digest

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 12:21 PM PDT

Oregon - Police investigating

counterfeit tickets at Ducks game

EUGENE (AP) — Officials caught 31 people using counterfeit tickets to the University of Oregon football game on Saturday, Eugene police said.

Bar codes are printed on season tickets, individual-game tickets and student tickets this year. More than 85 scanners have been installed at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon teen arrested on charges of poaching bighorn ewe

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BAKER CITY (AP) — Two miners using high-tech gear instead of pick and ax helped officers nab a teenage poacher who killed a bighorn sheep, the Oregon State Police said.

The 16-year-old from the Portland suburb of Durham admitted shooting the ewe in the head Saturday near Brownlee Reservoir on the Oregon-Idaho border, said Trooper Chris Hawkins.

The police said Monday an adult in the party, Yuriy Zlobin, 47, of Milwaukie also was charged, with aiding in the poaching. Four other men and a 12-year-old boy were not cited.

the west

Cowlitz wind farm ahead of schedule

KELSO, Wash. (AP) — Cowlitz County Public Utility District officials say work on the White Creek Wind Farm in Klickitat County is nearly two months ahead of schedule.

Utility spokesman Dave Andrew says nearly 70 of the 89 windmills have been erected in the $361 million project. The 31.5-megawatt operation, the district’s first foray into wind energy, was scheduled to go on line Jan. 1.

Low forage could mean early feeding on Wyo. elk refuge

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Natural forage production on the National Elk Refuge was down 28 percent this year, which could mean supplemental feeding will start earlier than usual this winter, officials said.

Refuge biologist Eric Cole estimates that 12,374 tons of herbaceous forage was produced on the 25,000-acre property. In 2006, 15,468 tons of forage was produced.

The lowest year on record was 6,710 tons in 2003, and the highest production year, 1993, yielded 27,584 tons.

‘‘Low forage production is likely the result of below-average May-through-August total precipitation,’’ Cole said in a statement.

He said it rained only 4.03 inches from May to August, down 27 percent from the 22-year average.

‘‘All else being equal,’’ he said, ‘‘we can expect supplemental feeding to begin earlier than the Jan. 20 average start date.’’

However, Cole said two new hunts on the refuge, most notably a new bison hunt aimed at reducing the herd by 300 animals this year, could delay the onset of supplemental feeding. The hunt started Sept. 15. Officials say the goal is to reduce the bison herd from 1,200 animals to around 500 animals over several years.

The plan also calls for an elk hunt on the south end of the refuge. Hunters are restricted to shorter-range weapons like shotguns, muzzle loaders and bows. The hunt is aimed at reducing the Grand Teton segment of the Jackson Elk Herd.

‘‘Changes in refuge management, including the ongoing bison hunt and the proposed south unit elk hunt, have the potential to shift elk and bison distribution away from the south end of the refuge and reduce the amount of forage consumed during the fall and early winter periods,’’ Cole said. ‘‘Depending on snow conditions, reserving forage on the south end of the refuge through changes in animal distribution might delay the onset of supplemental feeding.’’