BRIEFLY.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Deer hunter sentenced in accidental shooting

A deer hunter from Eugene who critically wounded another hunter in November was sentenced Tuesday to 20 days on the sheriff's road crew and $865 in attorney's fees and court costs.

Lane County Circuit Judge Doug Mitchell also banned Trevor Kory Foster, 20, from hunting during two years of probation. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault and negligently wounding another.

The victim, 21-year-old Nicholas Lee Peterson, said he hopes the case encourages hunters to be more careful. He still cannot straighten his left arm, after being shot in the elbow and ribs with a .270-caliber rifle. Peterson said he feels lucky the high-powered rifle shot didn't kill him.

Foster fired the shot around dark on the final day of deer season as Peterson was in a wooded area between McBeth and Blanton Heights roads. Peterson was rattling deer antlers at the time, a technique used to attract bucks. Peterson walked and crawled to within shouting distance of his home, where medics were summoned.

In court, Foster apologized to Peterson and said the shooting was unintentional.

NORTHWEST

Oregon Coast Aquarium sues accounting firm

PORTLAND - The Oregon Coast Aquarium is suing a Portland accounting business, alleging that the auditors failed to uncover astronomic expenses by the aquarium's former director.

The $5.8 million lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Lincoln County Circuit Court, centers on the financial problems the nonprofit aquarium encountered when it built the ``Passages of the Deep'' exhibit in 1999.

The exhibit was intended to draw visitors back to the aquarium after the departure of Keiko, the orca, to Iceland. During Keiko's 32 months at the aquarium, 2.3 million people visited. Attendance now averages about 500,000 a year.

The aquarium alleges that auditors for Talbot, Korvola & Warwick LLP failed to confirm that construction expenses on the Passages of the Deep exhibit ended up costing $11 million, far more than the original estimate of $6.9 million.