State announces partial opening

of commercial crab season

After an initial delay, Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery will open on Dec. 16 from Cape Falcon south to the California border.

The commercial fleet can begin setting baited crab pots in the water in this area on Dec. 13.

Areas north of Cape Falcon will remain closed until at least Dec. 31 due to low meat yields. The season will open in coordination with southern Washington state.

— The Astorian

Former Pacific County tourism leader faces theft charge

SEAVIEW, Wash. — A first-degree theft charge has been filed against the former leader of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau.

Katja M. Spitz, who was hired in 2022, was fired by the tourism bureau in August. Co-workers had raised concerns about accounting at the bureau and an investigation discovered that more than $73,000 was allegedly misappropriated.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Spitz.

— Chinook Observer

Appeals court allows Idaho to enforce its ‘abortion trafficking’ law

A panel of federal judges has largely upheld Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law, a measure passed in the 2023 legislative session meant to punish an adult who helps a minor seek an abortion in another state or obtain medication that will induce an abortion.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion last week reverses U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora K. Grasham’s November 2023 decision, which blocked enforcement of the law after Idaho attorney Lourdes Matsumoto and two advocacy organizations, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance, filed a lawsuit against the state. The plaintiffs alleged the law restricts freedom of speech, the right to travel and the right to freely associate, and said it was too vague to be constitutional.

— Idaho Capital Sun