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Oregon reverses course and recriminalizes drug possession

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Oregon reverses course and recriminalizes drug possession

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People caught in possession of hard drugs will once again be at risk of state criminal penalties after the state of Oregon opted to recriminalize possession of drugs such as fentanyl, heroin and meth.

Oregon became the first state in the country to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs in response to a 2020 ballot measure, but it will now recriminalize those offenses under a new law that takes effect Sunday.

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The new law, HB4002, will give those caught with small amounts of hard drugs such as fentanyl, heroin, and meth the ability to choose between a charge of possession or treatment programs that would include being mandated to complete a behavior health program to avoid fines.

CASEY TIED TO CHINESE FIRM HE CLAIMED MCCORMICK-LED COMPANY INVESTED IN TO ‘PROFIT’ OFF FENTANYL CRISIS

A syringe drop box stands on the street as a Portland Police officer conducts an investigation into drug dealing and issues a citation for drug possession during a patrol in downtown Portland, Oregon on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

A personal-use possession will be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, while the law encourages, but does not mandate, counties in the state to set up treatment alternatives to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system.

According to the report, the new law will now make it easier for police to crack down on drug use in public, a problem that has become widespread in some parts of the state over the last few years. The law also introduces stiffer penalties for selling drugs in public places, such as near parks.

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Offenders who choose treatment programs will have to meet strict eligibility criteria to avoid charges, Portland police chief Bob Day told the Guardian, mandating that those caught in possession have “no other charges, no warrants, no violent behavior, medically stable.”

A person holds a foil while smoking following the decriminalization of all drugs, including fentanyl and meth, in downtown Portland, Oregon, on January 25, 2024.  (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

OVER 2,000 POUNDS OF METH SMUGGLED IN CELERY AT ATLANTA FARMERS’ MARKET

If someone caught in possession of hard drugs chooses and is eligible to participate in a deflection program, officers will call their county’s deflection dispatch line and connect to a mobile behavioral health outreach team.

“If the behavioral health people cannot be there within 30 minutes, we’re going to go to jail. We’re not able to just wait around,” Day said. “There is certainly a lack of equity in that. But I would argue that it’s not necessarily common. I’m not saying it’s right.”

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Nevertheless, detractors of the new law have argued that it is too complicated, noting that every county will have different resources and rules that could confuse drug users who face possible criminal penalties.

The report notes that 28 of the state’s 36 counties have so far applied for grants to fund deflection programs, with more than $20 million in grants set to be released by the state’s criminal justice commission in the next year.

Portland Police officers look on as American Medical Response (AMR) paramedics transport a patient after they were administered Narcan brand Naloxone nasal spray for a suspected fentanyl drug overdose in Portland, Oregon, on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s going to be this very complicated system, where essentially people who use drugs won’t know their rights and what to expect, because it’s different in every single county,” Kellen Russoniello, the director of public health at the Drug Policy Alliance, told the Guardian. “Whether or not you are connected to services or you are just churned through the system will depend very heavily on where you happen to be in the state.”

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Others, such as Democratic state representative Jason Kropf, a supporter of the law, expressed optimism about the new direction for the state.

“I have optimism, and I have hope,” Kropf told the Guardian. “I’m also realistic that we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

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San Francisco, CA

Man reported missing in San Francisco

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Man reported missing in San Francisco


(KRON) — A 32-year-old man has been missing in San Francisco for two days, police said. Gabriel Carreon was last seen at noon on July 7, when he left his home in the Castro neighborhood to go see a movie, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The following morning, a 911 caller told dispatchers that Carreon was missing.

Police described the missing man as Asian, 5’8’’ tall, and weighing 170 pounds. He has black hair dyed pink, and brown eyes.

Gabriel Carreon (SFPD Photo)

Anyone who locates Carreon should call 911 and report his current location, police said.  Anyone with information on his possible whereabouts should call the SFPD Missing Persons Unit Tip Line at 415-734-3070.

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Denver, CO

Victor Marx wins GOP primary for Colorado governor, defeating veteran lawmaker after unorthodox campaign

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Victor Marx wins GOP primary for Colorado governor, defeating veteran lawmaker after unorthodox campaign


Victor Marx, a first-time candidate and nonprofit leader with a controversial personal history that’s drawn intense scrutiny, has edged out his more establishment opponent and will be Colorado Republicans’ gubernatorial nominee in November.

The Associated Press called the race for Marx late Thursday afternoon, nearly nine days after polls closed. He led the runner-up, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, 39.9% to 39.4%, with 99% of ballots counted, according to the AP.

Marx had taken his first narrow lead over Kirkmeyer the day after the June 30 primary, and though the race remained close, he never lost the advantage. While outstanding deficient and overseas ballots helped delay a final call on the race, those votes only served to expand Marx’s margin. He led by 2,524 votes at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, out of about 522,000 ballots cast.

State Rep. Scott Bottoms was a distant third, with 20.8% of the vote.

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A veteran lawmaker and former Weld County commissioner, Kirkmeyer had jumped to an early advantage on the strength of early ballot returns. But as votes returned on Election Day began to filter in, her lead thinned and collapsed. Within 48 hours of polls closing, and with few ballots left to count in Kirkmeyer’s Front Range strongholds, her path to retake the lead had all but vanished.

Marx will next face Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser in November. No Republican has been elected to the governor’s office in more than 20 years. Four months out, Weiser appears to be heavily favored to continue Democrats’ electoral dominance.

In an email to supporters after the race was called, Marx said he was humbled to be the nominee and that the victory was “the starting line.”

“My team and I have put together this special message that I want every Coloradan to hear — Republicans, independents, unaffiliated voters, and Democrats who are open to a better way,” he said. “Because what we’re building now is bigger than a primary victory.”

In a video, he appealed to Coloradans who are frustrated with the status quo and don’t think things can change — citing his victory as proof they can.

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“Now Phil Weiser, he’s a smart fella — but he represents the current system, because he is part of it,” Marx said. “And that current system has made Colorado more expensive, less safe and harder for regular families to trust government.”

State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer speaks to supporters at a primary election night watch party at Ben’s Brick Oven Pizza in Hudson, Colorado, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Brice Tucker/Greeley Tribune)

In a separate statement, Kirkmeyer said she was proud of the race that she had run and the “clear vision” she had laid out for the Republican Party here.

“While we came up short in what appears to be the closest Republican gubernatorial primary in Colorado history, I’m grateful for every voter who placed their trust in us,” she wrote.

Echoing the pledge she’d made before Election Day, she pointedly did not endorse Marx. She said only that she hoped voters “choose the path that is best for Colorado” in November.

Kirkmeyer also threw a final jab at Marx, who declined in late May to tell 9News how many people he’d killed as an adult.

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Kirkmeyer wrote that, “for the record, I still haven’t killed anyone.”

First-time candidate shrugged off questions

Marx’s primary win is a remarkable result for the embattled Colorado GOP and for Marx, a former Marine, martial arts instructor and nonprofit leader whose extensive and much-scrutinized personal history had drawn national headlines. It’s also attracted sharp criticism from other Republicans.

In his video, Marx appealed to Republican primary voters, saying there was room in his campaign for those who supported his opponents.

Marx had entered the fray last fall with no political profile and no experience as a political candidate. But by the time voters began receiving ballots last month, he’d ridden an atypical — if thoroughly modern — campaign to fundraising dominance and front-runner status.

Kirkmeyer’s support largely flowed from northern Front Range counties, nudging her ahead initially. But Marx picked up bigger margins among Election Day voters — meaning those more conservative voters skeptical of mail-in balloting.

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He also won ruby-red El Paso County while racking up smaller wins in rural counties and grabbing enough in the Front Range to edge Kirkmeyer.

Map: Where did the votes come from in the Colorado primary races for governor?

In a pitch reminiscent of President Donald Trump, the arch-dealmaker, Marx has cast himself as a solutions-focused negotiator disinterested in partisan squabbles. In 2003, he founded All Things Possible Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that has provided stuffed animals and trauma support to people. It has also done work in conflict areas in Syria and Iraq, where Marx primarily worked away from the front lines as a funder and facilitator.

By 2024, the nonprofit’s annual revenue had surpassed $7.5 million, and Marx has said the group — from which he has resigned — now primarily works to help law enforcement.

Despite his outsider status, Marx was considered the likely winner in the weeks before Election Day. His narrow victory, then, came as something of a surprise, and, on election night, he speculated that Bottoms — a conservative pastor from Colorado Springs — had pulled votes from him. In El Paso County, Bottoms earned more than 20,000 votes, or 24% of the county’s Republican total.

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Though Marx out-raised and out-spent both Kirkmeyer and Bottoms, it was Kirkmeyer who had been perceived as the expected nominee when she entered the race last year. Marx had never run for office before, and the stories he’s told about his life — that he’d killed a man at age 7, been involved in “high-risk humanitarian” operations across the globe and could free people from demonic possession — drew intense scrutiny and national punchlines.

But he repeatedly shrugged off questions about his background and said he stood by all that he had said and written.

Through his personality-heavy, direct-to-voter campaign, he encouraged Colorado Republicans to shrug it off, too. He spent heavily on direct mailers, which provided a boost to both his fundraising and name recognition.

Marx eschewed policy discussions and skipped nearly every debate. When he did participate in one, he spent part of the event leaning on the lectern, with his dog at his feet. Rather than deliver a closing statement, he prayed.

From left, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, Victor Marx and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer square off during a GOP gubernatorial debate at the Cable Center on the the University of Denver campus in Denver on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
From left, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, Victor Marx and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer square off during a GOP gubernatorial debate at the Cable Center on the the University of Denver campus in Denver on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Campaigning his own way

Though he leaned into his outsider status, the aw-shucks appeal belied a careful campaign shaped by Marx’s emergence from a political environment forged by Trump: He skipped one debate after a moderator pressed him about his background, and he held a rally instead; his campaign later highlighted how many more people attended the rally than the debate.

His media operation was led by a former Turning Points USA staffer, and his campaign touted its social media posts’ views at Marx’s watch party last week. He was comfortable as a podcast guest, regularly released videos of himself and repeatedly assured voters that he was no politician.

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Seattle, WA

Widower of pregnant woman who was shot to death in Seattle sues homelessness authority

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Widower of pregnant woman who was shot to death in Seattle sues homelessness authority


The widower of Eina Kwon, a pregnant woman who was gunned down while sitting in traffic in downtown Seattle, has filed a lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, alleging the agency knew of escalating and threatening behavior by the gunman in the weeks leading up to the shooting.

Cordell Goosby shot Kwon and her husband, Sung Kwon, at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in June 2023.

Seattle Police Department officers are seen investigating the shooting in Belltown near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street on June 13, 2023. (KOMO News)

Earlier this year, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

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Video showed the shooting was completely random as Goosby walked up the Kwon’s car at a turn light and opened fire. Eina Kwon and her baby were killed, while Sung Kwon was shot and survived his injuries.

RELATED | Belltown restaurant reopens months after shooting death of pregnant owner Eina Kwon

The case sparked a severe backlash about the dangerous conditions on the streets of downtown Seattle during a year that set a record for homicides in the city.

According to Sung Kwon’s lawsuit, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) knew Goosby was growing delusional and violent prior to the shooting, including the day prior, when the agency declined to screen him immediately for psychiatric admission.

Weeks of escalating behavior

The lawsuit brings to light many allegations about Goosby’s interactions with KCRHA workers in the weeks before he attacked the Kwon family.

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A photo showing{ }Cordell Goosby being arrested in Belltown on June 13, 2023, following a shooting that killed Eina Kwon. (KOMO)

A photo showing{ }Cordell Goosby being arrested in Belltown on June 13, 2023, following a shooting that killed Eina Kwon. (KOMO)

In April 2023, the complaint says KCRHA staff started receiving complaints about Goosby’s behavior at his county-funded apartment on 1st Avenue West in Seattle. The lawsuit alleges neighbors told KCRHA staff about an overwhelming odor of marijuana and noise coming from Goosby’s apartment, the lawsuit alleges.

By June 2023, those complaints had escalated into reports of Goosby fighting strangers, displaying aggressive behavior, and talking about shooting people.

The day before shooting the Kwons, a KCRHA case worker notified her supervisors that Goosby had told her he needed to “leave Seattle fast before he hurts someone,” the lawsuit claims.

Goosby also apparently claimed people were in his vents talking to him and he was being “gang stalked”

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“(KCRHA case worker) sought out (KCRHA supervisor), whom she understood to be the point person for initiating an evaluation by a Designated Crisis Responder for involuntary psychiatric admission,” the lawsuit states. “(Supervisor) declined to see Mr. Goosby that day, telling (case worker) he would get to it on Wednesday.”

Day before the random attack on the Kwon family

On June 12, 2023, Goosby confronted a property manager at his apartment complex while screaming, saying he hadn’t eaten in days and was being antagonized by neighbors.

The lawsuit claims the property manager called a KCRHA supervisor, who then discouraged the manager from calling police and assured him, “Goosby was not dangerous.”

A photo of Goosby's county-funded apartment. (KOMO)

A photo of Goosby’s county-funded apartment. (KOMO)

“By the end of the day on Monday, June 12, 2023, KCRHA had taken no steps to help Mr. Goosby or intervene in any way and did not notify law enforcement of Mr. Goosby’s threats to hurt (case worker) and others,” the lawsuit states.

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But after talking with the KCRHA staff, the apartment manager called Seattle police and reported Goosby was in crisis.

According to an SPD case note included in the lawsuit, the apartment manager said Goozby was enraged about claims that people were talking to him all day and night, and said “if they don’t stop, you know what’s going to happen.”

The police report notes KCRHA staff had been notified, and the officer advised the apartment manager to call back “if (Goosby) ever seemed on the edge of committing a violent act.”

4th and Lenora Shooting

At 11:00 a.m. on June 13, 2023, the Kwon family was in their Tesla driving to their Belltown restaurant when they stopped for a turn light at 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle.

Armed with a stolen gun, Goosby ran up their car at random and started firing through the glass.

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Eina Kwon was shot in the head and check and did not have a heartbeat when paramedics arrived. She was rushed into surgery at Harborview Medical Center, but she and her 32-week old baby both died.

Flowers sit at Lenora Street and 4th Avenue on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood to honor Eina Kwon. (KOMO News)

Flowers sit at Lenora Street and 4th Avenue on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood to honor Eina Kwon. (KOMO News)

Sung Kwon was shot in the arm and treated for his injuries.

Goosby surrendered to Seattle police immediately after the shooting. He was charged with murder in the first degree and went through multiple competency evaluations until being deemed not guilty by reason of insanity this spring.

Why family says KCRHA is responsible

Lawyers for Sung Kwon allege KCRHA had a “duty to exercise reasonable care” to prevent Goosby from harming the Kwon family.

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“Mr. Goosby was a KCRHA program participant and KCRHA undertook to provide him with housing and case management services,” the lawsuit states. “KCRHA failed to implement or enforce policies and procedures for supervising and responding to program participants who pose a danger to others. KCRHA failed to adequately hire, train, and supervise personnel to handle program participants who pose a danger to others. It failed to provide guidance, protection, or support to personnel, so they were enabled, empowered, or equipped to take reasonable steps to address program participants who pose a danger.”

The suit claims KCRHA staff asked with reckless disregard of the safety, and sought to prevent others from contacting law enforcement about Goosby’s threatening behavior.

“KCRHA was negligent in its failure to take reasonable care as it related to its knowledge of Mr. Goosby’s mental state and behavior thereby creating, combining with, or increasing the foreseeable risk of improper conduct of Mr. Goosby, which KCRHA knew caused a foreseeable risk of injury to others,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint does not list a specific dollar amount, but seeks for damages to be determined at trial.



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