BRIEFLY.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Meth-lab apartment

declared unfit for use

An apartment in a Eugene building where parole and probation officers found evidence of a methamphetamine lab has been declared unfit for use.

The apartment, at 1637 Ferry St., will remain off limits until it is cleaned up, said Lane County probation officer Melinda Rauch. Probation officers visited the apartment, unit No. 1, on April 26 and found chemicals and other remains of a meth operation, she said.

The resident, 45-year-old Michael Weissberg, was cited for unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of heroin. In addition, officers learned that a woman who is nine months pregnant had stayed at the apartment the night before the lab was discovered.

Rauch said a grand jury will decide whether to indict the woman for endangering her child by staying in the apartment.

REGION

Report of man with gun locks down school

OAKRIDGE - An Oakridge school was locked down twice on Monday after a student reported seeing a man, possibly armed with a gun, and other students said they saw the man again later in the day.

The first sighting came at 12:30 p.m. when a Westridge Middle School student told her teacher she saw a man hiding in the brush northeast of the school and that he possibly had a pistol, Oakridge police said. School officials locked down the school, with Oakridge police and Oregon State Police searching the area. An hourlong search turned up nothing and the school resumed normal operations.

At 2:30 p.m., other students saw a man matching the same description on the school's south side, but they did not see a pistol, police said. The school was locked down again, with Springfield police canine units also called in this time.

Another search turned up nothing, and students were released after a short delay.

Linn County deputies

investigate kidnapping

HALSEY - The Linn County sheriff's office is investigating a kidnapping that began in Washington State on Sunday and ended with teenager reporting that she escaped from her abductors in Halsey later that day.

The 17-year-old girl told deputies she was taken from Des Moines, Wash., where she lives. She said she accepted a ride from an acquaintance, but the people in the car said they were not taking her home. After a struggle in which she suffered cuts and bruises, the girl told police she was in the car with four others until she escaped in Halsey.

No weapons were used and police are still looking for the people allegedly involved. The girl described them as a white female, a black female and two black males driving a white 2001 Chevrolet Impala with gold trim and Arizona license plate 095 RFW.

The Linn County sheriff's office is working with the King County, Wash., sheriff's office and Arizona police in the investigation.