News Digest:
Friday, October 3, 2008 11:01 AM PDT
GOOD AFTERNOON
IDAHO
Construction worker rescues woman from Idaho canal
TWIN FALLS (AP) — A 38-year-old construction worker with the Intermountain Gas Co. helped rescue a woman who fell into a canal system in south-central Idaho.
Jason Nitz said he could heard the stranded woman yelling Wednesday from the swift and chilly waters of the Perrine Coulee canal system in northern Twin Falls County. A Perrine Coulee culvert runs under Blue Lakes Boulevard in Twin Falls, across the street from where Nitz works at Intermountain Gas.
Ex-Idaho county worker guilty in fire money theft
BOISE (AP) — A former Valley County employee has pleaded guilty to grand theft and forgery in 4th District Court after state prosecutors said she stole more than $50,000 in community fire protection grant money meant to protect a rural community from devastating wildfire.
Lois Van Hoover must pay $52,770 in restitution. A Jan. 28 sentencing hearing is scheduled, where she faces up to 10 years behind bars on each count.
OREGON
Second Ore. couple
indicted in faith
healing death
OREGON CITY (AP) — A second couple who belong to an Oregon church that practices faith healing have been indicted on criminal charges after the death of a child.
A Clackamas County grand jury has charged Jeffrey Dean and Marci Rae Beagley with criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16-year-old son, Neil, who died from a treatable condition.
The Beagleys belong to Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City, along with Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington, who were indicted on manslaughter charges for the March death of their 15-month-old daughter, Ava.
The Oregon Legislature in 1999 eliminated a ‘‘spiritual healing’’ defense, allowing allow prosecutors to charge parents if the death of their child could have been prevented by a doctor. Van Hoover, who entered the plea Sept. 25, was the county’s natural resources coordinator until 2007.
