Oregon
Oregon Ducks Terrance Ferguson: ‘Confident, Not Cocky’ In Big Ten Championship Game Berth
The No. 1 Oregon Ducks will face off against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday night.
Ducks senior tight end Terrance Ferguson spoke on Monday about the opportunity the Ducks have in front of them and how they look to shake off their last two conference championship game losses.
Ferguson said this summer, his family booked Air BNB lodging for Indianapolis/Big Ten Championship game.
“In a confident way, not cocky, we expected this,” Ferguson said.
Terrance Ferguson Still Thinks About Pac-12 Championship Game Losses
The Oregon Ducks will get the opportunity to win the Big Ten Championship in their first year in the conference on Saturday night vs. Penn State.
For Ducks tight end Terrance Ferguson, this game is larger than just this season. Ferguson has been on two previous Oregon teams that made it to the Pac-12 Conference Championship games and lost (2021, 2023.)
Ferguson still thinks about those games and is eager to turn the tide on Saturday.
“When you get to a championship game and you come up short like we did last year, it stays with you 365 days,” Ferguson said. “I wake up thinking about that game.”
The game Ferguson is talking about? The Ducks heartbreaking 34-31 loss to the Washington Huskies in the 2023 Pac-12 championship game.
“It definitely stays with you. You definitely sit a little longer on the sideline and watch the confetti fall with the opponents colors,” Ferguson said. “I’ve been a part of that twice and it’s not a good feeling.”
This group can put that behind them and get over the conference championship hump with a win on Saturday.
“Super excited for this weekend,” Ferguson said. “We’re just excited for the opportunity to go out there and play those guys.”
Terrance Ferguson Impressed By Penn State Tight End Tyler Warren
Terrance Ferguson spoke about what makes Penn State such a tough team. Nittany Lions tight end Tyler Warren has gotten his attention. What makes Warren so good?
“His ability to be anything they ask of him. I think he’s done a great job of that,” Ferguson said. “I like watching the tape because as a tight end, watching another tight end like that is pretty special.”
Tyler Warren has 81 receptions for 978 yards and six touchdowns on the season. He has the most career receiving touchdowns by a tight end in Penn State History with 17.
Additionally, Warren this season has 21 carries for 189 yards and four touchdown. He is also a terrific blocker. A true “do-it-all” player.
Terrance Ferguson: “They Are A Really Good Defense”
“Across the board, they are a really good defense,” Ferguson said. “They play very strong. Up front they got a lot of big guys that move people.”
Penn State has one of the best defenses in the country loaded with good players. Who are some of the players that have stood out to Terrance Ferguson?
“No. 11 (Abdul Carter). Really good player. Very twitchy, very aggressive,” Ferguson said. “No. 1 (Jaylen Reed) in the back. Head of the defense. I look forward to playing against those guys because they are elite players.”
Defensive tackle Abdul Carter leads the Nittany Lions with 10 sacks and safety Jaylen Reed leads them with three interceptions this season.
The Ducks offense will have their hands full with this defense, but to be the best you have to beat the best.
“The best players play the best players,” Ferguson said.
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The Oregon Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a Lane County man who once photographed child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey and was convicted in 2021 on several child pornography charges.
Randall DeWitt Simons, 73, of Oakridge, was charged in 2019 with 15 counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse. He was later convicted on every count and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Simons was first arrested after authorities began investigating a report from a restaurant in Oakridge that someone had been using the restaurant’s Wi-Fi to download inappropriate and concerning images.
Law enforcement officers directed the business to track, log, and report all of the user’s internet activity to the investigating officer for more than a year, without a warrant.
Police tracked the computer’s IP address from the restaurant’s Wi-Fi system, which led officers to a man who lived near the restaurant and had given Simons a computer, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lane County Circuit Court. Investigators obtained a warrant to search the laptop in Simon’s home, relying on information they had collected over time. He was subsequently arrested.
On March 26, the court ruled warrantless internet surveillance on public Wi-Fi violates privacy.
In an opinion written by Justice Bronson D. James, the court held that the Oregon Constitution recognizes people have a right to privacy in their internet browsing activities and the right is not extinguished when they use a publicly accessible wireless network. It’s even true in cases where that access is conditioned on a person accepting a terms-of-service agreement that says a provider may monitor activity and cooperate with law enforcement, James wrote.
During criminal proceedings in the Lane County Circuit Court, Simons moved to controvert the warrant and suppress the evidence obtained by police, arguing the business was a “state actor for purposes of Article I, section 9, and that its year-long warrantless surveillance was an unconstitutional, warrantless search attributable to the state,” the Supreme Court opinion said.
The Circuit Court denied Simon’s motion. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision in part and stated Simons had no cognizable privacy interest in his internet activities performed on a third-party network.
The Oregon Supreme Court rejected the state’s argument.
“The mere fact that a person accesses the internet through a public network does not eliminate their Article I, section 9, right to privacy in their online activities,” according to James. “Even when access is expressly conditioned on a user’s acceptance of terms-of-service provisions purporting to alert the user that the provider may monitor activity and cooperate with law enforcement.”
Justice K. Bushong suggested in a partial dissent the Court should reconsider its approach in a future case to what constitutes a “search” under the Oregon Constitution. The court’s decision reverses the Court of Appeals and sends the case back to the Lane County Circuit Court for further proceedings.
Simons has maintained his innocence since he was arrested in 2019.
Simons had been a photographer for 6-year-old Colorado beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey a few months before her still-unsolved 1996 murder, the Associated Press reported in 1998.
In October 1998, Simons was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure in Lincoln County, Colorado. According to the book “Perfect Murder, Perfect Town” by Lawrence Schiller, Simons was arrested in 1998 for allegedly walking nude down a residential street in the small town of Genoa, Colorado. Simons allegedly offered to the arresting deputy unprovoked, “I didn’t kill JonBenét.”
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com.
Umatilla, Morrow counties establish Young Republicans of Oregon chapter
Published 8:00 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2026
IRRIGON — Young Republicans living in Umatilla and Morrow counties now can join a local chapter of the statewide Young Republicans of Oregon organization.
The Umatilla Morrow Young Republicans will advance Republican values and leadership in young residents through political training, networking opportunities and connection to Republican leaders. The group is focused on young adults, generally attracting college-aged people, though it includes people aged 18 to 40.
The five Young Republicans of Oregon members living in Umatilla and Morrow counties elected three officers to lead their new chapter. Irrigon’s Evan Purves was elected chair, with Connor Roberts of Hermiston as his vice chair and Kaelyn Moore of Milton-Freewater serving as secretary.
“I am super grateful for this opportunity to lead my neighbors,” Purves said. “It’s going to be really fun. We have some good events planned.”
Purves, 19, is a student at Blue Mountain Community College who eventually hopes to pursue a four-year degree in public administration. He initially became interested in the Young Republicans during an internship with Oregon state Rep. Greg Smith, of Heppner. He said it was an experience that showed him how the legislature works.
The internship also inspired him to step into a leadership role with the Young Republicans and help establish a local chapter of the organization. The newest chapter of the Young Republicans of Oregon, which was announced Monday, March 23, has been in the works since November 2025.
The Young Republicans of Oregon State Chair, Tanner Elliott, said the new chapter — the fourth chapter statewide — indicates momentum for conservative values.
“In less than a year, we’ve continued expanding because young conservatives are stepping up and getting involved in their communities,” Elliott said. “I want to congratulate the chapter’s leadership team on their election and especially commend their new chair Evan Purves for taking on this role. I’m confident this group will make a meaningful impact in Eastern Oregon and help drive our organization forward.”
Future plans in Umatilla, Morrow counties
The leadership team of UMYR already is making efforts to effect change.
In early May, Purves said, Umatilla Morrow Young Republicans will host a door knocking campaign in support of Smith’s reelection campaign. There also will be an official kickoff event the same weekend celebrating the new chapter and outlining priorities for the future.
“If there’s anything that we might struggle with is membership,” he said. “The recruiting part is us going out there and hosting events and socials, having opportunities for people to come out and do something fun that anybody’s invited to.”
Regarding other priorities, voter engagement is important to Purves,
“Even though we live in a big conservative area, there’s not a lot of politically engaged people, especially in my generation,” he said. “We want to get them involved.”
He said one of his concerns is businesses leaving the state due to policies that aren’t friendly to corporations, a common issue raised by Republican lawmakers. The decisions being made impact every community, he said, and he wants to have a say in what the leaders are doing.
“These bills affect all of us,” he said. “It’s just important to get people involved and get people to vote and be a part of it.”
People interested in updates on the efforts of the Umatilla Morrow Young Republicans can follow the group on Facebook or Instagram or become a member at yro.gop.
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