GRAND RONDE — A woman who allegedly left three toddlers in a van outside a casino while she gambled for 11 hours was charged Friday with criminal mistreatment.
Zelda Luann Schmid, 27, of Keizer left the children with two 16-ounce bottles of juice and a bag of chips, Polk County sheriff’s spokeswoman Laureen Paulsen said.
The children — ages 1, 2 and 3 — were found dehydrated and soaked in sweat, wearing severely soiled diapers, she said.
Schmid was charged with three counts of criminal mistreatment, a felony, and possession of methamphetamine.
Schmid apparently arrived at the casino at 2:50 a.m. Thursday and locked the children in the full-sized van, which had smoked-glass windows.
They children were discovered at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
The outside temperature was about 80 degrees by then, and likely much higher in the van, Paulsen said.
Man charged in woman’s death: A man has been charged with strangling his former girlfriend, whose body was found last week after she had been missing for two months. Mark Rooks, 39, of Kent was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the death of Amanda Carrie Gurr, 26, of Burien. In documents filed in King County Superior Court, investigators said he strangled her in late July and dumped her body in a wooded creek bed in SeaTac. Rooks, who has a history of domestic violence convictions in Oregon, was being held on $750,000 bail at the Regional Justice Center in Kent pending arraignment Sept. 25. Gurr, who had a 3-year-old son by Rooks, obtained a restraining order against Rooks in November 1999, court records show. On Sept. 6, Rooks’ half-brother, Jeff Schomburg, told authorities Rooks had confessed to strangling Gurr and told him where to find the body.
Ex-student pleads guilty to rape: A former Washington State University student has admitted breaking into another student’s apartment and raping her at knifepoint. Logan Humphrey pleaded guilty Thursday in Whitman County Superior Court to first-degree rape stemming from the Feb. 2 sexual assault. Humphrey, 18, was arrested and accused of breaking into a female student’s apartment through an unlocked door and assaulting her at knifepoint. Under a plea agreement, Humphrey admitted to rape and first-degree burglary. The prosecutor dropped the charge of rape with a deadly weapon. A sentencing date will be scheduled next week. The standard sentence for the crime is 102 to 136 months in prison.
Teens charged with rape: Four Salem-area teens were charged as adults Friday in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl at a party. The four — along with three others — are charged with sexual abuse, rape and unlawful sexual penetration, crimes that each carry six- to eight-year minimum prison sentences. The teens remain out on bail, but deputy district attorney Sarah Morris asked the court to clarify the release agreement Friday. She said she had heard many were seen at a recent school football game, and reminded the teens that they are not to go anywhere except court appearances, school or medical appointments without a parent. Marion County Circuit Judge Daniel Remily told the teens, "I think everybody understands the community is watching."
University worker negotiations: Negotiations between the Oregon Public Employees Union and the Oregon University System broke off early Friday after 38 hours of bargaining. A majority of the 3,700 workers represented by the union had voted to strike Monday, but said they would postpone a walkout for one week due to Tuesday’s terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The university system, which represents the state’s seven public universities, offered a last-minute proposal before discussions ended Friday. The offer included a 2 percent cost of living increase, or flat $40 increase in Jan. 1, 2002, followed by a second increase on Feb. 2, 2003. They also offered continued step increases in 22 employment classifications. The offer also guaranteed full health coverage to full-time employees in 2002 and 2003. The union was not satisfied with the offer, however, and plan to continue to negotiate further on health care benefits, wages, the ratio of supervisors to front line service workers and contracting out employees’ work.
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