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Oregon Ducks Tight End Terrance Ferguson’s Increasing Role, Chemistry With Dillon Gabriel

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Oregon Ducks Tight End Terrance Ferguson’s Increasing Role, Chemistry With Dillon Gabriel


Oregon football coach Dan Lanning has built a team ready to challenge some of the biggest, most physical college football teams in the country. While Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, has grabbed a lion’s share of media attention in this story, senior tight end Terrance Ferguson stands ready to make some noise this fall as Oregon chases a Big Ten championship and a berth in the newly expanded College Football Playoffs.

Ferguson joined linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, and quarterback Gabriel on Big Ten Media day to answer questions about the Ducks, his decision to return to Oregon rather than leave for the NFL and his relationship with Gabriel.

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel speaks to the media during the Big 10 football m

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

The first question simply asked Ferguson about the kind of ball Gabriel throws. While he answered that “it’s a great ball,” Ferguson quickly changed the topic.

“(Gabriel) cares about everybody. I think that’s what makes him a good guy off the field.”

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As to Ferguson’s situation, he acknowledged that he had to decide whether to return to Oregon for another year or make himself eligible for the NFL draft.

“I feel blessed to have had the decision to make,” said Ferguson. “(What) makes it easy to come back is when there are guys like this (Gabriel and Bassa) and all the transfers and people we have returning, like Jeff. We all have the same goal; we all want to win a national championship.”

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa speaks to the media during the Big 10 football med

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

While Ferguson is clearly team motivated, he is likely to take on a bigger role in this explosive Ducks’ offense. Offensive coordinator Will Stein has raved about the 6-5, 255-pound Ferguson, with the goal to get him the ball more this fall and improve on his 42 receptions, 414 yards and six touchdowns from last season.

Additionally, Ferguson has quietly amassed some rather amazing statistics and stands to challenge the records set by previous Ducks’ tight ends. Consider that he enters 2024 with 91 career receptions, just 33 away from the program record of 124 (Ed Dickson). His 13 touchdowns are just two behind Josh Wilcox record of 15. Ferguson’s 42 receptions last year tied for second-most by a UO tight end in single-season history, just one back of the single-season record of 43, held by Dickson.

What also bodes well for Oregon’s offense is that Ferguson leads a mostly young, but talented tight end room. Senior Patrick Herbert (brother of former Duck star and fan favorite, Justin Herbert will also provide leadership and experience as he helps mentor players like sophomore Kenyon Sadiq who represents the fast-developing undergraduates. The abilities of these athletes in both the passing and running game make them instrumental to the Ducks’ success in 2024.

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Convicted murderer sentenced to life in prison for Falls City, Oregon killing in 2024

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Convicted murderer sentenced to life in prison for Falls City, Oregon killing in 2024


A 63-year-old was sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing a man with a shotgun during a fight at a Falls City, Oregon property back in 2024.

A jury convicted Terry Lawrence Allwen of second-degree murder back on March 20, the Polk County District Attorney’s Office said.

He was sentenced Friday to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

READ MORE | ‘What kind of monster does that?’ mom says as man sentenced for daughter’s killing

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Allwen was also convicted of other charges like manslaughter, assault, and felon in possession of a firearm, but the sentences for those crimes will be served concurrently with the life sentence.

Court records show that Allwen was staying in an RV parked on a property owned by the victim, 79-year-old Bo Johnson.

At about 9 a.m. on May 31, 2024, Allwen and Johnson got into a verbal fight over some personal property. During that fight, Allwen got a shotgun from his trunk and shot Johnson once, killing him.

“Mr. Johnson had many more years to spend with his family. His senseless murder destroyed the dreams and plans of so many that loved him. I hope that the fact Mr. Allwen today received the maximum possible sentence will bring the family of Mr. Johnson some relief and sense of justice.”

If Allwen is granted parole, the judge also ordered that he have a lifetime of post-prison supervision.

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Merkley Announces Additional Oregon Town Halls April 2-4

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Merkley Announces Additional Oregon Town Halls April 2-4


Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley announced today he will hold seven in-person town halls for Oregonians in Gilliam, Sherman, Klamath, Lake, Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties between Thursday, April 2 and Saturday, April 4. These events follow previously announced town halls between Monday, March 30 and Wednesday, April 1.  “I’m looking forward to again visiting wonderful communities […]



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Oregon Supreme Court overturns JonBenét Ramsey photographer conviction

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Oregon Supreme Court overturns JonBenét Ramsey photographer conviction


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.

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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.

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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.

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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.



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