CLACKAMAS COUNTY NEWS

Oregon local news from Wilsonville, West Linn, Sandy, Oregon City and more

Clackamas County authorities called of their search tonight after investigating a report that a man using a parachute landed in the Willamette River about 5 p.m. south of Milwaukie.

Emergency workers from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, American Medical Response and Lake Oswego Fire Department searched the area but found no sign of a parachute or person in the water.

-- Rick Bella; rickbella@news.oregonian.com

Sonia Marie Ulness

A Gladstone woman who ambushed and killed her former boyfriend at his Milwaukie workplace pleaded guilty today to manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison.

Sonia Marie Ulness, 41, who appeared in Clackamas County Circuit Court, had faced a murder charge that required she serve 25 years in prison. She said she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to spare her family further emotional pain.

The plan to steal marijuana from some Clackamas County pot growers quickly derailed when one of the residents grabbed a shotgun and blasted the would-be thieves as they pummeled his roommate with a chunk of pipe.

The October 2007 incident was a turning point for everyone involved - thieves and their intended victims alike. They ended up in jail. Or in the hospital. Or dead.

A 26-year-old man pleaded guilty today in Clackamas County Circuit Court to downloading child pornography from the Internet at the Lake Oswego Public Library.

Abraham Jekhan Mross, a transient from Siletz, admitted to three counts of encouraging child sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years probation. He must also register as a sex offender.

Two Clackamas County psychiatrists and the county administrator brought home more than $186,000 each last year. Two dispatchers and a jail guard racked up between $75,000 and $92,000 in overtime, in each case more than doubling their pay.

The Oregonian examined compensation paid in fiscal 2007-08 by three counties, eight cities with at least 25,000 people (from Portland to Tualatin) and the Metro regional government.

Collectively, the governments spent more than $1 billion on nearly 25,000 full- and part-time employees. The greatest share of their spending typically goes to payroll — 42 cents on every dollar in Multnomah County, for example.

It's been a messy day for traffic on Portland area roads. We're not saying the traffic jams and wrecks are a harbinger of bad things during the evening commute, but traffic cops and transportation crews have been busy.

North Clackamas Superintendent Ron Naso this week named principals for three new schools that will open in September.

Mason Branstetter will be principal of Verne A. Duncan Elementary, 14898 S.E. Parklane Drive, in Happy Valley. Branstetter is currently the principal of Wichita Elementary, which will close in June.

Karen Rush will be principal of Scouters Mountain Elementary, 10811 S.E. 172nd Ave., Happy Valley. Rush, former principal of Concord Elementary, is working this year as a transitional principal based at Happy Valley Elementary.

Chris Boyd, assistant principal of Clackamas High School, will be principal of Happy Valley Middle School, 13865 S.E. King Road, on the same campus as Happy Valley Elementary.

OAK GROVE -- Police are looking for a young man who broke into a home this morning in the unincorporated area south of Milwaukie, then confronted two residents who returned home. No one was injured in the incident.

Detective Jim Strovink, Clackamas County sheriff's spokesman, said a woman who lives in the 2400 block of Southeast Maple St. took her child to school this morning.

When she returned home about 8:45 a.m., she was confronted by an armed man who ordered the woman to lie on the floor. Police later released artist sketches of the intruder.

After an easy-going start, the morning commute is shaping up to be messy on Interstate 5. Expect big delays from Wilsonville to Capital Highway. The Terwilliger Curves are stop and go shortly before 8 a.m.

The roads are bare and dry, but foggy.

MOLALLA -- An Oregon City woman was killed and her 8-year-old great-grandson injured this afternoon, when her car collided with a commercial truck on Oregon 211 west of Molalla.

Lt. Gregg Hastings, Oregon State Police spokesman, said a 2003 Buick Park Avenue driven by Donna Jeanette Lane, 75, was heading south on the Canby-Marquam Highway about 12:45 p.m., when it failed to stop at Oregon 211. The Buick turned left in front of a truck driven by Karmjat Mann, 51, of Yuba City, Calif. The truck jackknifed to avoid a head-on collision.