Two years after STAGED! first brought The Secret Garden to Portland theatre audiences, they are REMOUNTING the production for a limited, two-weekend engagement. Shows are at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts in the Winningstad (gorgeous facility).

To get tickets go to their website: stagedpdx.org

Judge Eve Miller today ruled that Snowball (the deformed deer who was taken from a Molalla farm last month) must be returned. The ruling gives the Department of Fish and Wildlife three business days to respond . . . then the deer must be returned within 48 hours of that . . . Friday November 2nd for those of you without a calendar sitting in front of you).

ODFW is reportedly filing an emergency stay and we don't know at this point (1 PM on Thursday the 25th) how that might impact the timeline.

**Recap of the last 36 hours**

A month after Snowball was taken from the Filipetti Farm in Molalla, reps from the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Filipetti's met in Judge Eve Miller's courtroom to discuss the doe's future. The courtroom was standing room only . . . while no one wore antlers (as had been the rumor) some did sport silver deer buttons . . .

The three hour hearing began with both sides debating over a piece of paper. The day Snowball was taken, a member of the Oregon State Police asked the Filipetti's to sign a release agreement. They hadn't signed off, BUT the family's attorney's argued that by presenting them with a release agreement, that insinuated ownership (that Snowball belonged to them). The state argued that the form was from OSP and NOT ODFW . . . because ODFW technically owns all wildlife, then it was not OSP's place to offer that form.

After an hour and a half discussion of fine print and semantics, the judge took the issue under advisement but did not say whether the evidence was conclusive either way.

Then, the hearing got VERY interesting.

Snowball was seized under a search warrant as part of a criminal investigation. No one has been charged (and as of now we're told there are no plans TO CHARGE in the case). If no one is charged, the law says all seized property must be returned.

Judge Miller and a rep from ODFW went back and forth for probably half an hour on this. The judge repeatedly asked "if they were doing something illegal, why weren't they prosecuted?" Her point being that, if the Filipetti's took Snowball illegally there are other venues to get her back . . . but this isn't it.

The judge took a night to sleep on the evidence and, at 10:30 Thursday morning, ordered the deer be returned to the Filipetti's. The state gets three business days to reply . . . then they have 48 hours to give the deer back (November 2nd is the deadline)

The ODFW is reportedly filing a STAY to block the decision. No word on how that'll impact the timeline.

Today might very well be the most busy day in terms of breaking stories I've had in a LONG time. I know that normally I stick to only one story per blog entry . . . but this blog is designed to give you a behind the scenes look at reporting . . . so I'm breaking with tradition for this one and giving you all three as I experienced them. If you'd like to skip ahead, I've highlighted the stories in BOLD.

Landslide on 99E

Right off the bat, I shot out to Highway 99E just south of Oregon City where countless boulders crashed onto the road during the morning drive in a landslide. At the scene, there were rocks the size of beachballs (we're told some weighed in at a quarter of a ton . . . and I believe them). one car had been struck, but everyone inside should be OK.

There are about 125 active slide sites in the Portland area that ODOT is keeping an eye on . . . because this is a brand new location, crews had to scale the twenty or thirty foot hillside to make sure there wasn't more debris on top before they could clean out the bottom. Traffic on 99E will slim down to only one lane in each direction (normally there are two) through the weekend while crews clean up.

Once we had a handle on the landslide, I prepared to head back to the station but immediately diverted to Happy Valley because of the . . .

Elementary School Gun Scare

Word leaked today that a ten-year-old at Mount Scott Elementary brought an unloaded (and by unloaded we mean empty chamber, empty magazine, just a pistol with no ammo) 9 MM semi-automatic handgun in his backpack Wednesday. Classmates got word and told staff who immediately separated the child from the weapon and called police.

The school's Principal was in conferences all day so we didn't get a chance to talk, but parents at the school say they aren't TOO concerned . . . students describe it more that the ten-year-old was just showing the pistol and wasn't threatening anyone.

Regardless, the pre-teen is in Clackamas County Custody facing several charges.

Literally moments after I wrapped up my chat with the Mount Scott Parents I had to bolt to Lloyd Center because of the . . .

Northeast Portland Bomb Scare

Some visiting dignitaries were scheduled to stop at the Doubletree Hotel by Lloyd Center this afternoon as part of the ongoing Top Off terrorism drill. Portland Police Bomb Sniffing dogs were sweeping the hotel's parking garage when one of them alerted officers to a vehicle. The second dog also raised the same alert when it was brought over.

Officers immediately locked down the neighborhood (from 9th to 13th and Multnomah to Holladay) with yellow police tape (I've honestly never seen so much tape used at a single incident) and brought in a second batch of sniffer dogs.

Here's the FIRST problem investigators ran into. It turns out PPB dogs are trained to sniff for both bullets AND explosives. One of the rules of Top Off is no live firearms are allowed in play, so some officials had to leave their weapons locked in their cars . . . many of which were parked in the Doubletree lot. In order to make sure the PPB dogs weren't picking up on bullets, dogs from the Port of Portland were brought in (they, apparently, can focus STRICTLY on explosives).

We're told that at least ONE of the Port dogs picked up on the same scent. To complicate things further, the parking garage is open air and we were in the HEIGHT of this week's gusty winds . . . so the scent that was triggering the dogs was being swirled around the garage making it tough to pinpoint ONE search location.

Crews had to search the whole level before coming to a conclusion: many of the law enforcement vehicles on hand as part of Top Off have been around explosives in the past. The smallest residue from an explosive can set off a sniffer dog. So investigators, after searching a total of three levels of the garage and coming up empty, ruled that the scare was triggered by explosive residue on those vehicles.

Side notes:

*In all today we went from downtown PDX . . . to outer Oregon City . . . to Happy Valley . . .to NE Portland . . . back to Downtown

*During the bomb scare, federal officials were on hand to assure the media that this was NOT part of Top Off (rumors have swirled that unexpected incidents may be thrown in to give the simulation more realism)

*This is the second time in a week the Lloyd Center Max has been shut down (last week they caught a bank robber on one of the cars

** CR

I have never seen a defendant facing sentencing behave the way Kelly Meining did today.

In May of 2006, the Clark County mother was arrested after she stabbed her 20-month-old son to death. Kelly Meining allegedly told detectives she did it because someone was going to kill the little boy. In the ensuing months, Meining's lawyers and family have pursued avenues to attempt an insanity defense. Meining has a history of mental problems including Post-Partum Psychosis (not to be confused with Post-Partum Depression which lawyers described to me as a more mild condition) and Bi-Polar disorder.

But Meining wasn't interested. She pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 24 years behind bars. She'll be allowed visits with her other two children and will be released when she's in her mid-fifties.

When the judge set to pass judgement, Meining's husband Kris, her father, her mother and some friends all stood in her defense. They say the mental health system let her down and should have diagnosed her properly.

Often, defendants will decline to speak at sentencing . . . when they do talk, it is usually brief and simply to say either "I'm sorry" or "I'm innocent." Kelly Meining took a different option.

She stood before the judge and said "I murdered my son." Meining acknowledged her mental struggles but says that night in May of 2006, that little boy was in her care . . . he was her responsibility . . . and she must accept the consequences.

Meining was sentenced to 288 months behind bars, less 501 days credit time served.

Fresh off their international appearance in Scotland, Extreme Dance Company will be WOWING the Crown Ballroom (918 SW Yamhill) again this weekend (October 5th and 6th) with a show featuring singer/songwriter Amy Seeley. I've been lucky enough to attend performances by Extreme at the Crown and it's really amazing. The intimate atmosphere makes you feel like you are part of the show and the taleneted pre-pro performers make the complex, cutting-edge routines look effortless (that's right, some of the performers are local HIGH SCHOOL students but they own the stage like some of the best dancers on Broadway). Not to be missed!


For ticket info, e-mail director Maria at myextreme@comcast.net