Sober house dope dealer; backyard burial ruse; moose innocent in death
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Odd and interesting news from around the West.
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) â An effort is underway to change the name of Devils Tower National Monument, a giant rock butte in northeast Wyoming.
Local American Indians and others say the name is inappropriate given the tower's religious significance. They're seeking to have it switched to Bear Lodge.
Here are some key things to know about the geological feature:
FIRST US MONUMENT
President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower the country's first national monument on Sept. 24, 1906, under new authority granted to him in the Antiquities Act. Congress passed the measure to help protect unique U.S. sites.
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HOW DID IT FORM?
The most accepted theory is that Devils Tower was created by underground magma that cooled and hardened into igneous rock.
The magma shrank and cracked, forming multisided columns. Weather and the nearby Belle Fourche River then eroded the softer rock surrounding the hard columns, exposing the tower over time. The columns make the tower a popular place for rock climbers.
Piles of rubble, boulders and stones at the tower's base likely are column pieces that have broken off over the years.
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NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE TOWER
About two dozen area tribes have maintained some affiliation with the tower over the centuries.
Tribes have their own stories passed down through generations about how the jagged butte formed. The most popular ones attribute it to a large bear clawing at a mountain where people had taken refuge to escape it.
Various tribal languages have names for the tower that translate in English to: Bear's House, Bear Peak, Bear Lodge, Tree Rock, Gray Horn Butte and Grizzly Bear's Lodge.
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DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS
According to the National Park Service, most maps from 1874 to 1901 mark the feature as Bears Lodge.
The name change happened during this period with information brought back by an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge.
The group sent a small contingent, including a geologist and mapmaker, to study the tower. When they returned, they reported "the Indians call this place 'bad god's tower,' a name adopted with proper modification."
And so, the label "Devil's Tower" was born.
No other records indicate Native Americans associated the tower with any kind of evil spirit.
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MOVIE FAME
Devils Tower was the focus of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which depicted an alien encounter. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 1977.
Since then, the site has been a draw for fans of the film and people interested in UFOs.
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NAME CHANGER
Proponents of the name change have petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which approves and standardizes geographic labels for the federal government.
The panel receives hundreds of proposals each year to name or rename features ranging from mountains to streams. Here are a few other requests pending before it:
â Naming an 80-foot summit in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park "Hazels Cone" in honor of a woman who operated cottages near a park entrance.
â Changing the name of Gary Ditch in Brunswick, Ohio, to "Goodyear Creek." The proponent says "ditch" connotes degradation and is "not a pleasant word" for a stream.
â Giving the name "Tubsinte Hill" to a 135-foot summit on San Francisco Bay's west side. The name recognizes a Yelamu Ohlone village that existed in Visitacion Valley in the mid to late 18th century.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â A 34-year-old man accused of stealing a vehicle and causing the death of the owner's dog has pleaded guilty to animal abuse and other charges.
KGW-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dX3JOn ) that police say 34-year-old Francisco Vincent Gonzalez stole a car belonging to Bill Robbins on April 5 while the victim's dog was inside. The car was found five days later with the Great Dane and black lab mix dead inside.
Gonzalez was arrested at a Portland motel and indicted by a grand jury on several charges, including animal neglect, theft and possession of methamphetamine.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges Monday.
A forensic examination showed the dog, named Kona, did not experience any trauma before she died.
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Information from: KGW-TV, http://www.kgw.com/
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NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) â Federal authorities say they caught a 14-year-old Arizona girl trying to smuggle over a pound of methamphetamine into the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say the girl tried going through a pedestrian border crossing in Nogales with the meth strapped to her groin under her clothing.
The girl is from Nogales, Arizona, although it's unclear if she's a U.S. citizen.
The meth was worth about $3,200.
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) â An ex-detective who was on the championship 1987 track team depicted in the movie "McFarland USA" has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and drug charges.
The sentence received Monday was more lenient than prosecutors had urged for Damacio Diaz, a 17-year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department. The Bakersfield Californian says (http://bit.ly/2dGESLb) the U.S. Attorney's Office recommended between 17 and 22 years.
Diaz was charged with assisting a drug dealer and providing him with names of police informants, and with trafficking drugs that had been seized for evidence.
"McFarland USA" was released in 2015 and tells the story of coach Jim White, played by Kevin Costner, and his transformation of a rural running team.
Diaz and his brothers were members of the team that won the state championship.
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Information from: The Bakersfield Californian, http://www.bakersfield.com
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HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) â An Orange County woman is trying to warn other dog owners after her 150-pound mastiff mix was sucked into a storm drain and killed.
The Orange County Register reports (http://bit.ly/2cPHYjr ) that Madi McNaughton, of Huntington Beach, says she was playing with her dog, Rupert, on the beach when a wave came in and pushed the pooch toward the storm drain. Rupert was pulled through the drain before she could rescue him.
McNaughton says Rupert's story quickly spread on social media, as the beach where they had been playing is a popular unofficial dog beach. She says she has been told of other stories of dogs getting sucked into the storm drain.
McNaughton says she doesn't want the beach shut down but she does want the storm drain fixed.
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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com
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YAAK, Mont. (AP) â A 17-year-old grizzly bear has been relocated in northwest Montana after killing a domestic pig.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say the 524-pound male bear was trapped in the Seventeen Mile Creek area of the Yaak on Thursday and moved to a different area of the Yaak the same day.
The small pig was killed Sept. 25. Wildlife officials loaned the owner an electric fence to secure the rest of their small livestock, set a bear trap and caught the bear four days later.
The pig killing was the grizzly's first known conflict with humans.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â Utah's oldest citizens gathered at the state Capitol to watch Gov. Gary Herbert saw through a copper time capsule.
Wearing gloves and safety glasses, Herbert opened the box Monday in the Capitol rotunda during an annual celebration honoring the state's centenarians. The discolored box had been sealed inside one of the building's pillars since April 4, 1914.
The copper box was stuffed yellowed newspapers; a silver dollar from 1896, the year Utah became a state; a military roster; a copy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia; business cards and a union card from the building's construction crews; a postal stamp; and a program for the ceremonial laying of the Capitol's cornerstone.
Herbert said today's generation will fill the box for Utahns to re-open 100 years from now.
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SITKA, Alaska (AP) â Authorities are warning Sitka residents to be on alert after numerous bear encounters around the city, including one involving a bicyclist who was chased by a bear down a bike path.
Police have recently received several calls about problem bears, and they think it may just be one animal causing all the fuss. Reports have varied from a bear getting into a garbage container to one breaking into a parked pizza delivery car, The Sitka Sentinel reported (http://bit.ly/2cP2GuF).
"This bear has been giving our community a lot of trouble," said Sitka police Lt. Lance Ewers. "It's becoming more and more comfortable enforcing its will wherever it goes."
One caller on Monday told police he saw a bear chasing a bicyclist on a path bordering Sitka National Historic Park. He said he drove his pickup truck across the path to cut the bear off and the animal eventually ran off into the woods.
The cyclist, Mike Litman, routinely rides his bike to work in the morning and said he hadn't known at the time there had been a bear behind him.
"Everybody knew but me," Litman said. "A certain part of me wants to know what would have happened."
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officers have been out patrolling this week in search of the bear, but finding him could be a challenge.
"He's staying a step ahead of us," said Steve Bethune, area management biologist for the department.
The bear, which reportedly prevented people from getting into their cars on one occasion and was also spotted on a front porch, has become more of a safety concern. Authorities plan to euthanize it when they find it, Berthune said.
Wildlife officers and police are urging the public to be cautious and keep their trash out of the bear's reach.
"People need to be really conscientious about their garbage," Berthune said. "If he continues to be rewarded, he's going to stick around. It's frustrating to see people's trash strewn all over. That's a problem."
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Information from: Daily Sitka (Alaska) Sentinel, http://www.sitkasentinel.com/
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HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) â Residents in one suburban Las Vegas neighborhood are on edge about a man who they say knocked on doors telling residents he used to live at their house and wanted to photograph the grave of his dead dog in their backyard.
KVVU-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dbMvbM ) that Henderson police couldn't find the man when officers were called Sunday to the Highland Hills neighborhood.
The man was described as being in his 30s, more than 6 feet tall and about 250 pounds, wearing a red shirt and a backward red baseball hat. KVVU says he gave the name Gordon.
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Information from: KVVU-TV, http://www.kvvu.com
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â An Oregon teenager has impressed Google judges and secured a $15,000 scholarship by inventing a bandage that can tell doctors when it needs to be changed.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2cQeemn ) that 13-year-old Anushka Naiknaware of Beaverton placed in the top eight in an international science contest run by Google. In addition to the scholarship, she won a free trip to Lego world headquarters in Demark and a year of mentoring from a Lego executive.
The Stoller Middle School seventh-grader designed and tested a bandage that is embedded with tiny monitors, allowing medical workers to determine whether the dressing has dried out enough that it needs to be changed.
Large wounds must be kept moist to promote healing, but changing bandages too often to check moisture levels can make things worse.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
- By BRADY McCOMBS Associated Press
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â A polygamous sect leader charged with fraud said Tuesday that not sharing goods purchased with food stamps would prohibit him and others from living their religion and being prepared for heaven.
Seth Jeffs and 10 other suspects accused of food stamp fraud and money laundering are trying to persuade a Utah judge they were following religious tenets of communal living, not breaking the law.
He testified that they believe everything on earth belongs to God, which is why members must donate everything they own to a community storehouse. The group's leaders decide how best to redistribute the goods. The "law of consecration" is based on early Mormon beliefs from the 1800s, he said.
"Every person has the privilege to turn everything they have in because we believe all is not ours," said Seth Jeffs, who runs the group's South Dakota compound and is a brother of the group's imprisoned leader, Warren Jeffs. "All belongs to Heavenly Father."
Prosecutors haven't yet cross-examined Seth Jeffs, who wore a jail jumpsuit with his hands and feet in cuffs. He is one of two defendants who are behind bars as the case plays out.
Prosecutors counter the defendants knowingly broke the law by not only donating food to a storehouse but diverting funds to front companies and to pay for a tractor, truck and other items. They say sect leaders lived lavishly while low-ranking followers suffered.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in Salt Lake City is weighing whether food stamp rules burden the suspects' sincerely held religious beliefs.
He has already warned defense attorneys he is struggling to understand how the suspects had a burden if they didn't personally receive food stamps. Defense attorneys say some of their client's family members, who include multiple wives and many children, receive the benefits.
The courtroom was packed with lawyers, defendants and onlookers. Some 20 members of the sect sat in one corner, the women wearing their typical prairie dresses and updo hairstyles. Since each suspect has at least one attorney, there were some 15 lawyers before the judge, making for unique interchanges and exchanges during questioning of the witness.
One important person not in attendance was Lyle Jeffs, the highest-ranking leader ensnarled in the bust. He's been a fugitive for more than three months since he slipped out of a GPS ankle monitor and escaped home confinement in the Salt Lake City area. The FBI has a $50,000 reward for finding him.
Before Seth Jeffs took the stand, an expert on early Mormonism testified that members of the sect hold beliefs strikingly similar to Mormons in the 1800s. Mormon history expert Lyndon Watson Cook said early Mormons would have worried about their eternal salvation if they didn't follow the communal living guidelines.
"Their language is the language of the 19th century Mormon," Cook said. "That's the way they thought and talked."
Federal prosecutors, though, pointed out that Cook isn't an expert on the sect, and he acknowledged his opinion is based solely on his reading of affidavits submitted in this case.
The sect, known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is based on the Utah-Arizona border. They believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven â a legacy of the early Mormon church. The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned the practice in 1890 and strictly prohibits it today.
The hearing is scheduled for two days. It's unknown if Judge Stewart will rule from the bench or at a later date. If he rules for the defense it could toss out part of the case.
The 11 defendants have pleaded not guilty to food stamp fraud and money laundering.
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) â A New Mexico man may have been living in a house with a woman's dead body for several weeks, authorities say.
The body of Elvira Segura, 67, was found in a blood-spattered bathroom of her Nambe home on Sept. 27, according to New Mexico State Police. Nambe is a quiet community north of Santa Fe.
Police are looking for Robert Mondrian-Powell, 57, in connection with Segura's death, according to a statement released Thursday. Court documents say Mondrian-Powell had lived with Segura, a former Santa Fe librarian.
Police have not released a cause of death or labeled Segura's death a homicide.
A car registered to Segura was found abandoned in Las Cruces on Sept. 24, with the windows rolled down and the keys still inside, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe District Court. While performing a welfare check at Segura's home three days later, officers noticed a bad smell and saw flies in the house, according to the affidavit. They crawled through an open window and found Segura's body as well as a dead dog in a bedroom, the documents said.
According to an autopsy, the level of decomposition revealed that the woman had been dead for weeks.
Two different neighbors told police that they heard gunshots at the house about three weeks before the welfare check. Officers also found what appeared to be blood between a greenhouse and the kitchen, according to the affidavit.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
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EVERETT, Wash. (AP) â An Everett man who operated a chain of "clean and sober" housing facilities has admitted to selling heroin and methamphetamine out of those same locations.
The Daily Herald says (https://goo.gl/XKAcQ1 ) 50-year-old Timothy Rehberg pleaded guilty last month to drug trafficking and gun charges in federal court in Seattle.
He faces more than a decade in federal prison when he is sentenced in December.
Rehberg is banned from operating a charity or soliciting charitable donations under settlement terms with the state Attorney General's Office. The office had filed an injunction against his nonprofit, I.C. Clean People Recovery Housing.
The attorney general's office alleged that at least one of those homes was "a hub for ongoing drug distribution."
Seattle police and federal authorities began investigating Rehberg and his homes after getting a tip in December he was selling drugs. He was arrested in February.
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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com
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HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) â A woman who was beaten and raped by a juvenile offender during a supervised group outing to a University of Oregon football game will receive a nearly $667,000 settlement from Washington County, the county said Tuesday in a statement.
In announcing the settlement, Washington County offered its sympathies to the Eugene woman and said the agreement resolved all outstanding issues.
The woman alleged in a February lawsuit that officials failed to properly supervise Jaime Tinoco, a teenager who was on probation at the time for harassment, drug possession and burglary.
Tinoco, who was 17 at the time, traveled to the football game with the Washington County Juvenile Department in September 2014.
He attacked the woman after the game near Autzen Stadium and was sentenced to 14 years in prison last year.
The assault happened several hours after Tinoco separated from the group and supervisory staff, the county said in Tuesday's e-mail.
As a result of the incident, the county now limits community activities for juvenile offenders to volunteer service, educational opportunities, life-skills training, cultural events and physical fitness. Guidelines around supervision during community activities have also been tightened.
"Washington County wishes to reiterate its deepest sympathies for the woman, her family and her loved ones in the aftermath of the outrageous acts of violence she experienced as a result of this incident," the county said.
Tinoco was charged last year in the stabbing death of Nicole Laube, 29, and is expected to go on trial in February 2017.
Laube was stabbed once in the chest at a Cedar Mill apartment complex where she worked in August 2014.
She died at the scene, but not before describing her attacker to a resident.
At a court hearing earlier this year, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation for Tinoco at the Oregon State Hospital, where he was already being held after being referred there for another case in Marion County.
- By KEN RITTER Associated Press
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LAS VEGAS (AP) â A 26-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, causing a fiery crash that killed two people and badly injured three others on a sightseeing bus over Labor Day weekend 2015, a prosecutor said.
Jonathan Carrington Donner admitted to having a blood-alcohol level more than 2.5 times the legal limit, along with cocaine residue and the painkiller hydrocodone in his system when he sped through a red light and crashed a BMW into the tour bus, which overturned and burst into flames, prosecutor Brian Rutledge said.
Rutledge said Donner faces 24 to 60 years in state prison at sentencing Dec. 20. The prosecutor said he'll seek the maximum.
Donner's defense attorney, Steve Yeager, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Donner avoided trial with his pleas to two counts of DUI causing the deaths of German tourist Rolf Kloeppel and tour driver Jose Francisco Cosenza.
Donner also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm for burns and injuries suffered by Kloeppel's wife, Stefanie Kloeppel, and Brian and Sara Zerbee, a couple from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Donner had been facing up to 100 years in prison on five felony charges. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.
The BMW also caught fire and collided with another vehicle, and Donner was hospitalized after the crash. The driver of the second car wasn't injured.
Records showed that Donner was on bail at the time of the Las Vegas crash following his arrest several months earlier in the rural Mineral County town of Hawthorne, Nevada, on felony drug and marijuana possession and transport charges. He also faced two misdemeanor charges, including driving under the influence in that case.
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WASILLA, Alaska (AP) â Alaska authorities say an autopsy has determined a 74-year-old woman found dead outside her home died of natural causes and was not killed in a moose attack.
Alaska State Troopers say the body of Pattie Cucinello was found Sunday in the driveway of her Wasilla home.
Troopers' spokeswoman Megan Peters says investigators had suspected a moose attack because there were moose tracks at the scene.
Peters says an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office determined the woman died of natural causes and that the moose tracks were a coincidence.
Peters says post-mortem trauma was found on the woman's body, but foul play is not suspected in the death. Peters declines to identify the specific cause of death.
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LAS VEGAS (AP) â A former animal control supervisor has pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty after she was accused of illegally killing dogs at the Boulder City shelter.
Mary Jo Frazier's plea on Tuesday follows a small town scandal that also saw a police chief ousted after deciding to close the case despite finding that more than 90 animals had been improperly euthanized in one year.
Frazier retired at the time and moved to Oregon.
Prosecutor Amy Ferreira says Frazier could get probation or up to one to four years in Nevada state prison at sentencing Jan. 31.
The plea avoided trial, and a second cruelty charge was dropped.
Former Boulder City Police Chief Bill Conger resigned in January and pleaded guilty in April to failure to perform a duty, a misdemeanor. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine.
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GOLD HILL, Ore. (AP) â Residents of Gold Hill are being urged to boil their water until further notice because of possible bacterial contamination from a loss of pressure in the water system.
The Medford Mail Tribune reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2dbG5cX) that the problem has been fixed and authorities expect the water in the southern Oregon town will be safe to drink within 72 hours.
Until then, the water should be brought to a rolling boil for a minute and then be allowed to cool.
The boiled water should be used for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, washing produce, making baby formula, making ice and cleaning kitchen surfaces.
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) â Former USC and Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich is facing new drug charges after he allegedly was seen trying to enter a stranger's home naked.
Prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges Tuesday accusing the 47-year-old Irvine resident of trespassing, public nudity and possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. He could face up to three years in jail if convicted.
Authorities say a naked Marinovich tried to open the sliding glass door of an Irvine home in August. He allegedly left a bag containing meth, marijuana, drug gear, his wallet and driver's license on a nearby hiking trail.
The former USC and Raiders quarterback has struggled with drug problems that drove him from the NFL and resulted in several arrests.
Contact information for Marinovich couldn't immediately be found.
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SPANISH FORK, Utah (AP) â Utah authorities are looking for a cougar and a black bear cub spotted separately over two days in the same city.
The Daily Herald newspaper of Provo reports (http://bit.ly/2dPCl1R) the bear cub was at a golf course in Spanish Fork on Monday and the cougar was seen near an elementary school on Tuesday.
Students at Canyon Elementary School were kept indoors as authorities search for the cougar.
Meanwhile, police Lt. Matt Johnson says wildlife officials have also set a live trap for the approximately year-old bear cub and plan to return it to its natural habitat. He says officials believe it is alone and was also spotted at the Spanish Oaks Golf Course about two weeks ago.
People are being warned to bring pets inside and keep away from wild animals.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) â An effort is underway to change the name of Devils Tower National Monument, a giant rock butte in northeast Wyoming.
Local American Indians and others say the name is inappropriate given the tower's religious significance. They're seeking to have it switched to Bear Lodge.
Here are some key things to know about the geological feature:
FIRST US MONUMENT
President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower the country's first national monument on Sept. 24, 1906, under new authority granted to him in the Antiquities Act. Congress passed the measure to help protect unique U.S. sites.
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HOW DID IT FORM?
The most accepted theory is that Devils Tower was created by underground magma that cooled and hardened into igneous rock.
The magma shrank and cracked, forming multisided columns. Weather and the nearby Belle Fourche River then eroded the softer rock surrounding the hard columns, exposing the tower over time. The columns make the tower a popular place for rock climbers.
Piles of rubble, boulders and stones at the tower's base likely are column pieces that have broken off over the years.
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NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE TOWER
About two dozen area tribes have maintained some affiliation with the tower over the centuries.
Tribes have their own stories passed down through generations about how the jagged butte formed. The most popular ones attribute it to a large bear clawing at a mountain where people had taken refuge to escape it.
Various tribal languages have names for the tower that translate in English to: Bear's House, Bear Peak, Bear Lodge, Tree Rock, Gray Horn Butte and Grizzly Bear's Lodge.
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DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS
According to the National Park Service, most maps from 1874 to 1901 mark the feature as Bears Lodge.
The name change happened during this period with information brought back by an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge.
The group sent a small contingent, including a geologist and mapmaker, to study the tower. When they returned, they reported "the Indians call this place 'bad god's tower,' a name adopted with proper modification."
And so, the label "Devil's Tower" was born.
No other records indicate Native Americans associated the tower with any kind of evil spirit.
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MOVIE FAME
Devils Tower was the focus of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which depicted an alien encounter. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 1977.
Since then, the site has been a draw for fans of the film and people interested in UFOs.
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NAME CHANGER
Proponents of the name change have petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which approves and standardizes geographic labels for the federal government.
The panel receives hundreds of proposals each year to name or rename features ranging from mountains to streams. Here are a few other requests pending before it:
â Naming an 80-foot summit in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park "Hazels Cone" in honor of a woman who operated cottages near a park entrance.
â Changing the name of Gary Ditch in Brunswick, Ohio, to "Goodyear Creek." The proponent says "ditch" connotes degradation and is "not a pleasant word" for a stream.
â Giving the name "Tubsinte Hill" to a 135-foot summit on San Francisco Bay's west side. The name recognizes a Yelamu Ohlone village that existed in Visitacion Valley in the mid to late 18th century.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â A 34-year-old man accused of stealing a vehicle and causing the death of the owner's dog has pleaded guilty to animal abuse and other charges.
KGW-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dX3JOn ) that police say 34-year-old Francisco Vincent Gonzalez stole a car belonging to Bill Robbins on April 5 while the victim's dog was inside. The car was found five days later with the Great Dane and black lab mix dead inside.
Gonzalez was arrested at a Portland motel and indicted by a grand jury on several charges, including animal neglect, theft and possession of methamphetamine.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges Monday.
A forensic examination showed the dog, named Kona, did not experience any trauma before she died.
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Information from: KGW-TV, http://www.kgw.com/
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) â Federal authorities say they caught a 14-year-old Arizona girl trying to smuggle over a pound of methamphetamine into the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say the girl tried going through a pedestrian border crossing in Nogales with the meth strapped to her groin under her clothing.
The girl is from Nogales, Arizona, although it's unclear if she's a U.S. citizen.
The meth was worth about $3,200.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) â An ex-detective who was on the championship 1987 track team depicted in the movie "McFarland USA" has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and drug charges.
The sentence received Monday was more lenient than prosecutors had urged for Damacio Diaz, a 17-year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department. The Bakersfield Californian says (http://bit.ly/2dGESLb) the U.S. Attorney's Office recommended between 17 and 22 years.
Diaz was charged with assisting a drug dealer and providing him with names of police informants, and with trafficking drugs that had been seized for evidence.
"McFarland USA" was released in 2015 and tells the story of coach Jim White, played by Kevin Costner, and his transformation of a rural running team.
Diaz and his brothers were members of the team that won the state championship.
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Information from: The Bakersfield Californian, http://www.bakersfield.com
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) â An Orange County woman is trying to warn other dog owners after her 150-pound mastiff mix was sucked into a storm drain and killed.
The Orange County Register reports (http://bit.ly/2cPHYjr ) that Madi McNaughton, of Huntington Beach, says she was playing with her dog, Rupert, on the beach when a wave came in and pushed the pooch toward the storm drain. Rupert was pulled through the drain before she could rescue him.
McNaughton says Rupert's story quickly spread on social media, as the beach where they had been playing is a popular unofficial dog beach. She says she has been told of other stories of dogs getting sucked into the storm drain.
McNaughton says she doesn't want the beach shut down but she does want the storm drain fixed.
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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com
YAAK, Mont. (AP) â A 17-year-old grizzly bear has been relocated in northwest Montana after killing a domestic pig.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say the 524-pound male bear was trapped in the Seventeen Mile Creek area of the Yaak on Thursday and moved to a different area of the Yaak the same day.
The small pig was killed Sept. 25. Wildlife officials loaned the owner an electric fence to secure the rest of their small livestock, set a bear trap and caught the bear four days later.
The pig killing was the grizzly's first known conflict with humans.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â Utah's oldest citizens gathered at the state Capitol to watch Gov. Gary Herbert saw through a copper time capsule.
Wearing gloves and safety glasses, Herbert opened the box Monday in the Capitol rotunda during an annual celebration honoring the state's centenarians. The discolored box had been sealed inside one of the building's pillars since April 4, 1914.
The copper box was stuffed yellowed newspapers; a silver dollar from 1896, the year Utah became a state; a military roster; a copy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia; business cards and a union card from the building's construction crews; a postal stamp; and a program for the ceremonial laying of the Capitol's cornerstone.
Herbert said today's generation will fill the box for Utahns to re-open 100 years from now.
SITKA, Alaska (AP) â Authorities are warning Sitka residents to be on alert after numerous bear encounters around the city, including one involving a bicyclist who was chased by a bear down a bike path.
Police have recently received several calls about problem bears, and they think it may just be one animal causing all the fuss. Reports have varied from a bear getting into a garbage container to one breaking into a parked pizza delivery car, The Sitka Sentinel reported (http://bit.ly/2cP2GuF).
"This bear has been giving our community a lot of trouble," said Sitka police Lt. Lance Ewers. "It's becoming more and more comfortable enforcing its will wherever it goes."
One caller on Monday told police he saw a bear chasing a bicyclist on a path bordering Sitka National Historic Park. He said he drove his pickup truck across the path to cut the bear off and the animal eventually ran off into the woods.
The cyclist, Mike Litman, routinely rides his bike to work in the morning and said he hadn't known at the time there had been a bear behind him.
"Everybody knew but me," Litman said. "A certain part of me wants to know what would have happened."
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officers have been out patrolling this week in search of the bear, but finding him could be a challenge.
"He's staying a step ahead of us," said Steve Bethune, area management biologist for the department.
The bear, which reportedly prevented people from getting into their cars on one occasion and was also spotted on a front porch, has become more of a safety concern. Authorities plan to euthanize it when they find it, Berthune said.
Wildlife officers and police are urging the public to be cautious and keep their trash out of the bear's reach.
"People need to be really conscientious about their garbage," Berthune said. "If he continues to be rewarded, he's going to stick around. It's frustrating to see people's trash strewn all over. That's a problem."
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Information from: Daily Sitka (Alaska) Sentinel, http://www.sitkasentinel.com/
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) â Residents in one suburban Las Vegas neighborhood are on edge about a man who they say knocked on doors telling residents he used to live at their house and wanted to photograph the grave of his dead dog in their backyard.
KVVU-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dbMvbM ) that Henderson police couldn't find the man when officers were called Sunday to the Highland Hills neighborhood.
The man was described as being in his 30s, more than 6 feet tall and about 250 pounds, wearing a red shirt and a backward red baseball hat. KVVU says he gave the name Gordon.
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Information from: KVVU-TV, http://www.kvvu.com
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â An Oregon teenager has impressed Google judges and secured a $15,000 scholarship by inventing a bandage that can tell doctors when it needs to be changed.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2cQeemn ) that 13-year-old Anushka Naiknaware of Beaverton placed in the top eight in an international science contest run by Google. In addition to the scholarship, she won a free trip to Lego world headquarters in Demark and a year of mentoring from a Lego executive.
The Stoller Middle School seventh-grader designed and tested a bandage that is embedded with tiny monitors, allowing medical workers to determine whether the dressing has dried out enough that it needs to be changed.
Large wounds must be kept moist to promote healing, but changing bandages too often to check moisture levels can make things worse.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
- By BRADY McCOMBS Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â A polygamous sect leader charged with fraud said Tuesday that not sharing goods purchased with food stamps would prohibit him and others from living their religion and being prepared for heaven.
Seth Jeffs and 10 other suspects accused of food stamp fraud and money laundering are trying to persuade a Utah judge they were following religious tenets of communal living, not breaking the law.
He testified that they believe everything on earth belongs to God, which is why members must donate everything they own to a community storehouse. The group's leaders decide how best to redistribute the goods. The "law of consecration" is based on early Mormon beliefs from the 1800s, he said.
"Every person has the privilege to turn everything they have in because we believe all is not ours," said Seth Jeffs, who runs the group's South Dakota compound and is a brother of the group's imprisoned leader, Warren Jeffs. "All belongs to Heavenly Father."
Prosecutors haven't yet cross-examined Seth Jeffs, who wore a jail jumpsuit with his hands and feet in cuffs. He is one of two defendants who are behind bars as the case plays out.
Prosecutors counter the defendants knowingly broke the law by not only donating food to a storehouse but diverting funds to front companies and to pay for a tractor, truck and other items. They say sect leaders lived lavishly while low-ranking followers suffered.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in Salt Lake City is weighing whether food stamp rules burden the suspects' sincerely held religious beliefs.
He has already warned defense attorneys he is struggling to understand how the suspects had a burden if they didn't personally receive food stamps. Defense attorneys say some of their client's family members, who include multiple wives and many children, receive the benefits.
The courtroom was packed with lawyers, defendants and onlookers. Some 20 members of the sect sat in one corner, the women wearing their typical prairie dresses and updo hairstyles. Since each suspect has at least one attorney, there were some 15 lawyers before the judge, making for unique interchanges and exchanges during questioning of the witness.
One important person not in attendance was Lyle Jeffs, the highest-ranking leader ensnarled in the bust. He's been a fugitive for more than three months since he slipped out of a GPS ankle monitor and escaped home confinement in the Salt Lake City area. The FBI has a $50,000 reward for finding him.
Before Seth Jeffs took the stand, an expert on early Mormonism testified that members of the sect hold beliefs strikingly similar to Mormons in the 1800s. Mormon history expert Lyndon Watson Cook said early Mormons would have worried about their eternal salvation if they didn't follow the communal living guidelines.
"Their language is the language of the 19th century Mormon," Cook said. "That's the way they thought and talked."
Federal prosecutors, though, pointed out that Cook isn't an expert on the sect, and he acknowledged his opinion is based solely on his reading of affidavits submitted in this case.
The sect, known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is based on the Utah-Arizona border. They believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven â a legacy of the early Mormon church. The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned the practice in 1890 and strictly prohibits it today.
The hearing is scheduled for two days. It's unknown if Judge Stewart will rule from the bench or at a later date. If he rules for the defense it could toss out part of the case.
The 11 defendants have pleaded not guilty to food stamp fraud and money laundering.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) â A New Mexico man may have been living in a house with a woman's dead body for several weeks, authorities say.
The body of Elvira Segura, 67, was found in a blood-spattered bathroom of her Nambe home on Sept. 27, according to New Mexico State Police. Nambe is a quiet community north of Santa Fe.
Police are looking for Robert Mondrian-Powell, 57, in connection with Segura's death, according to a statement released Thursday. Court documents say Mondrian-Powell had lived with Segura, a former Santa Fe librarian.
Police have not released a cause of death or labeled Segura's death a homicide.
A car registered to Segura was found abandoned in Las Cruces on Sept. 24, with the windows rolled down and the keys still inside, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Santa Fe District Court. While performing a welfare check at Segura's home three days later, officers noticed a bad smell and saw flies in the house, according to the affidavit. They crawled through an open window and found Segura's body as well as a dead dog in a bedroom, the documents said.
According to an autopsy, the level of decomposition revealed that the woman had been dead for weeks.
Two different neighbors told police that they heard gunshots at the house about three weeks before the welfare check. Officers also found what appeared to be blood between a greenhouse and the kitchen, according to the affidavit.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) â An Everett man who operated a chain of "clean and sober" housing facilities has admitted to selling heroin and methamphetamine out of those same locations.
The Daily Herald says (https://goo.gl/XKAcQ1 ) 50-year-old Timothy Rehberg pleaded guilty last month to drug trafficking and gun charges in federal court in Seattle.
He faces more than a decade in federal prison when he is sentenced in December.
Rehberg is banned from operating a charity or soliciting charitable donations under settlement terms with the state Attorney General's Office. The office had filed an injunction against his nonprofit, I.C. Clean People Recovery Housing.
The attorney general's office alleged that at least one of those homes was "a hub for ongoing drug distribution."
Seattle police and federal authorities began investigating Rehberg and his homes after getting a tip in December he was selling drugs. He was arrested in February.
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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) â A woman who was beaten and raped by a juvenile offender during a supervised group outing to a University of Oregon football game will receive a nearly $667,000 settlement from Washington County, the county said Tuesday in a statement.
In announcing the settlement, Washington County offered its sympathies to the Eugene woman and said the agreement resolved all outstanding issues.
The woman alleged in a February lawsuit that officials failed to properly supervise Jaime Tinoco, a teenager who was on probation at the time for harassment, drug possession and burglary.
Tinoco, who was 17 at the time, traveled to the football game with the Washington County Juvenile Department in September 2014.
He attacked the woman after the game near Autzen Stadium and was sentenced to 14 years in prison last year.
The assault happened several hours after Tinoco separated from the group and supervisory staff, the county said in Tuesday's e-mail.
As a result of the incident, the county now limits community activities for juvenile offenders to volunteer service, educational opportunities, life-skills training, cultural events and physical fitness. Guidelines around supervision during community activities have also been tightened.
"Washington County wishes to reiterate its deepest sympathies for the woman, her family and her loved ones in the aftermath of the outrageous acts of violence she experienced as a result of this incident," the county said.
Tinoco was charged last year in the stabbing death of Nicole Laube, 29, and is expected to go on trial in February 2017.
Laube was stabbed once in the chest at a Cedar Mill apartment complex where she worked in August 2014.
She died at the scene, but not before describing her attacker to a resident.
At a court hearing earlier this year, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation for Tinoco at the Oregon State Hospital, where he was already being held after being referred there for another case in Marion County.
- By KEN RITTER Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) â A 26-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, causing a fiery crash that killed two people and badly injured three others on a sightseeing bus over Labor Day weekend 2015, a prosecutor said.
Jonathan Carrington Donner admitted to having a blood-alcohol level more than 2.5 times the legal limit, along with cocaine residue and the painkiller hydrocodone in his system when he sped through a red light and crashed a BMW into the tour bus, which overturned and burst into flames, prosecutor Brian Rutledge said.
Rutledge said Donner faces 24 to 60 years in state prison at sentencing Dec. 20. The prosecutor said he'll seek the maximum.
Donner's defense attorney, Steve Yeager, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Donner avoided trial with his pleas to two counts of DUI causing the deaths of German tourist Rolf Kloeppel and tour driver Jose Francisco Cosenza.
Donner also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm for burns and injuries suffered by Kloeppel's wife, Stefanie Kloeppel, and Brian and Sara Zerbee, a couple from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Donner had been facing up to 100 years in prison on five felony charges. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.
The BMW also caught fire and collided with another vehicle, and Donner was hospitalized after the crash. The driver of the second car wasn't injured.
Records showed that Donner was on bail at the time of the Las Vegas crash following his arrest several months earlier in the rural Mineral County town of Hawthorne, Nevada, on felony drug and marijuana possession and transport charges. He also faced two misdemeanor charges, including driving under the influence in that case.
WASILLA, Alaska (AP) â Alaska authorities say an autopsy has determined a 74-year-old woman found dead outside her home died of natural causes and was not killed in a moose attack.
Alaska State Troopers say the body of Pattie Cucinello was found Sunday in the driveway of her Wasilla home.
Troopers' spokeswoman Megan Peters says investigators had suspected a moose attack because there were moose tracks at the scene.
Peters says an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office determined the woman died of natural causes and that the moose tracks were a coincidence.
Peters says post-mortem trauma was found on the woman's body, but foul play is not suspected in the death. Peters declines to identify the specific cause of death.
LAS VEGAS (AP) â A former animal control supervisor has pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty after she was accused of illegally killing dogs at the Boulder City shelter.
Mary Jo Frazier's plea on Tuesday follows a small town scandal that also saw a police chief ousted after deciding to close the case despite finding that more than 90 animals had been improperly euthanized in one year.
Frazier retired at the time and moved to Oregon.
Prosecutor Amy Ferreira says Frazier could get probation or up to one to four years in Nevada state prison at sentencing Jan. 31.
The plea avoided trial, and a second cruelty charge was dropped.
Former Boulder City Police Chief Bill Conger resigned in January and pleaded guilty in April to failure to perform a duty, a misdemeanor. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine.
GOLD HILL, Ore. (AP) â Residents of Gold Hill are being urged to boil their water until further notice because of possible bacterial contamination from a loss of pressure in the water system.
The Medford Mail Tribune reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2dbG5cX) that the problem has been fixed and authorities expect the water in the southern Oregon town will be safe to drink within 72 hours.
Until then, the water should be brought to a rolling boil for a minute and then be allowed to cool.
The boiled water should be used for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, washing produce, making baby formula, making ice and cleaning kitchen surfaces.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) â Former USC and Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich is facing new drug charges after he allegedly was seen trying to enter a stranger's home naked.
Prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges Tuesday accusing the 47-year-old Irvine resident of trespassing, public nudity and possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. He could face up to three years in jail if convicted.
Authorities say a naked Marinovich tried to open the sliding glass door of an Irvine home in August. He allegedly left a bag containing meth, marijuana, drug gear, his wallet and driver's license on a nearby hiking trail.
The former USC and Raiders quarterback has struggled with drug problems that drove him from the NFL and resulted in several arrests.
Contact information for Marinovich couldn't immediately be found.
SPANISH FORK, Utah (AP) â Utah authorities are looking for a cougar and a black bear cub spotted separately over two days in the same city.
The Daily Herald newspaper of Provo reports (http://bit.ly/2dPCl1R) the bear cub was at a golf course in Spanish Fork on Monday and the cougar was seen near an elementary school on Tuesday.
Students at Canyon Elementary School were kept indoors as authorities search for the cougar.
Meanwhile, police Lt. Matt Johnson says wildlife officials have also set a live trap for the approximately year-old bear cub and plan to return it to its natural habitat. He says officials believe it is alone and was also spotted at the Spanish Oaks Golf Course about two weeks ago.
People are being warned to bring pets inside and keep away from wild animals.
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