Slimmed-down Oregon police horse collars suspect

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Murphy the horse, once a woebegone Oregon ranch animal, had to shed 200 pounds to make the Portland police force, and now he has collared his first suspect.

Murphy, carrying Officer Cassandra Wells, galloped six blocks to catch a break-in suspect last week. He kept the suspect trapped next to a building in the Old Town district until officers could cuff him.

"He did everything I needed him to do," Wells told The Oregonian (http://is.gd/eRgfbF).

The arrest caps a ripe-for-the-movies story about a horse that weighed in at 1,900 pounds after his owner, in financial distress, sold him off to a Portland officer searching the Internet for a new member of the city's popular Mounted Patrol Unit.

Murphy was undersize at birth, even though he was born three weeks overdue. He was easily distracted and not considered particularly handsome, unlike a younger half-brother who turned out to be a trophy winner.

So he was given the full name "Murphy's Law," the axiom that if something can go wrong, it will.

In a Nov. 15, 2013 photo, Officer Cassandra Wells takes Murphy the police horse out for a ride, in P …

"Being honest," owner Randy Snow told the newspaper last year, "we ended up with five horses on the ranch, and old Murphy was always low man on the totem pole."

Murphy got overweight because he wasn't being ridden and because the owners couldn't afford hay. So Murphy roamed the property feeding on grass, a diet The Oregonian likened to an all-pizza diet for humans.

The police bureau's horse trainer, Jennifer Mack, saw possibilities, though, and the city bought the gelding for $3,000.

Murphy went on a strict diet and an aerobic exercise regimen that included an electric walker, a kind of treadmill that prods a horse to keep walking in a circle.

After months of work, Murphy made the grade, and started patrolling in the city's upscale Pearl District.

In a Nov. 15, 2013 photo, Officer Cassandra Wells takes Murphy the police horse out for a ride, in P …

He's among the eight animals that patrol downtown to the delight of Portlanders. Budget hawks sometimes call for cutting the unit but get nowhere.

And Murphy has turned out right, judged perhaps the second best in the unit when he began patrol duty in January.

"He's awesome," Wells said then. "He wants to keep learning. I couldn't have a better partner."

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

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Two-faced kitten born in Oregon

Deucy, the two-faced kitten (Guardian)

You're not seeing double. Again.

A rare, two-faced kitten was born in Amity, Ore., on Tuesday. Stephanie Durkee, the owner of both the female kitten and its mother, took the two-faced cat to a vet, who say she's in good health. (She meows "loudly from both mouths," according to the Guardian.)

Durkee told Portland's KGW-TV the kitten—named "Deucy"—has been rejected by her mother, so she's been feeding her warmed kitten formula from a syringe.

"The kids ... came in and said, 'Mom there's a kitty with two heads,'" Durkee told Portland's NBC affiliate. "And I said, 'I think you guys are just tired, you're crazy, that doesn't happen.'"

Durkee, who plans to keep Deucy, says the kitten was born at "6:11 a.m. on 6/11 under the 'Gemini' astrological sign." Durkee said she "can’t help but wonder at the 'double' coincidences surrounding Deucy’s birth."

Two-faced cats—known as Janus cats, for the two-faced Roman god who also gave us the word "January"—are unusual but not unprecedented.

In 2012, a Port Charlotte, Fla., couple's cat gave birth to a two-faced male kitten. (They named him Harvey Dent, after the two-face "Batman" character.)

Harvey, though, died after two days.

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Oregon juror jailed for texting during the process

SALEM, ore. (AP) — a judge in Oregon noticed an unexpected glow on the chest of a juror, while the House lights were dimmed during video evidence in a trial for armed robbery.

The juror, it seemed, was texting.

Marion County Circuit Judge Dennis Graves has cleared the courtroom and apologies all jurors except for 26-year-old Benjamin Kohler.

According to a news release from the Office of Sheriff of Marion County, Kohler had no explanation for his actions.

Jurors in Oregon are given explicit instructions at the beginning of each trial not to use mobile phones in court.

Graves held in contempt, and Kohler Kohler spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday in the county jail. He was released Wednesday night.

The nature of the text message, nor the recipient has been disclosed.

Kohler did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday.

An alternate juror took his place. Sheriff's spokesman Don Thompson said the Thursday test ended with the accused guilty.

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Soldier’s cat makes perilous journey from Afghanistan to Oregon

A decorated veteran took quite a risk in getting his new friend from the sandbox to the litter box.

And along the way, Staff Sgt. Jesse Knott found an unlikely ally in his elaborate plan to evacuate his adopted cat from the war zone in Afghanistan.

In an interview with KPTV, Knott explains that he met his pet cat, Koshka, at his base of operations inside the war-torn country. Koshka was a stray cat, serving a practical purpose as the unofficial mouse catcher. At first glance, Koshka was the "purrfect" weapon.

However, not having a real owner, the cat was often subjected to neglect and cruelty.

"He was showing some signs that people weren't taking very good care of him," Knott said. “I found paint in his fur a couple of times. And then, people took clippers and shaved his back.”

And as Koshka adapted to life inside Knott’s small workspace, the two formed a tight bond. In fact, it was in the aftermath of a bloody battle that Koshka provided Knott with some much-needed solace.

"I'd lost hope in myself. I'd lost faith. Then all of a sudden this cat came over, and it was like ‘hey, you are you,'" he said.

But that same act of kindness made it clear to Knott that if he wanted to do what was best for Koshka, then he had to get his beloved cat out of Afghanistan and to his family home in Oregon.

"He pulled me out of one of my darkest times, so I had to pull him out of one of his darkest places," he told the station.

That’s when Knott staged an elaborate and risky evacuation plan for his cat. First, he enlisted the help of a local Afghan interpreter who transported the cat to Kabul.

Both the cat and the interpreter were at risk. Knott had to trust that the man would take care of the cat, but he also knew that if the man were discovered to be helping an American, his own life would be at risk.

"The risk to him was immense," Knott said. “This is a cat with a purple collar and an American-brand cat carrier, going halfway across Afghanistan. Going across God knows how many Taliban checkpoints.”

But the interpreter did eventually get Koshka to the airport in Kabul. From there, Knott’s family spent $3,000 to fly Koshka to Oregon, detouring through Islamabad, Pakistan, and New York City.

Knott himself has since left Afghanistan and is now stationed in Washington state. His service in the military will soon be over, and he says he can’t wait to be permanently reunited with the animal that meant so much to him during a time of physical and emotional vulnerability.

"He was my saving grace," Knott told KPTV. "He kept me alive during that tour."

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Pocket dialing calls drug deal Oregon police

MOLALLA, ore. (AP) — police in Oregon City of Molalla tell a dispatcher received a cell phone call and heard a drug deal taking place.

A phone in the pocket of the woman inadvertently dialed 911 early Tuesday and dispatchers heard a conversation with a man on drugs.

KGW report (http://bit.ly/13tEKpX) found the police car GPS signal in an alley about a block away. An officer who arrived on the scene could be heard on the phone from shippers.

The officer found methamphetamine and arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of drugs anymore. The 25-year-old woman has been cited for possession of marijuana and hung up the phone.

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Information from: KGW-TV, http://www.kgw.com/

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