City/Region Digest.

Byline: The Register-Guard

LOCAL

Alternative school topic of meeting

Bethel-area high school students, parents and other community members are invited to an information session Monday on the district's new alternative high school, scheduled to open this September.

The session will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Willamette High School cafeteria, 1801 Echo Hollow Road.

The new school will strive to serve students who, for various reasons, have struggled with success in the regular high school environment. It is based on the belief that there are many different ways to become educated, and many types of environments and structures in which this can occur.

For information, contact Fred Crisman, the school's principal, at 689-0731, Ext. 4149, or [e-mail].

Psychologist to talk about sexuality

Psychologist Sol Gordon, an author and sexuality educator, will tell parents how to talk to their children about love, sex and relationships at a free public forum next week at South Eugene High School.

Gordon is professor emeritus at Syracuse University and former director of the university's Institute for Family Research and Education. He's appeared on "60 Minutes," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and other programs and is known for his work on sexuality, family studies, relationships and suicide prevention.

The title of his talk, scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the South Eugene High School auditorium, is `How to be an `Askable' Adult.' The event is co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood, South Eugene High School's Parent Council and Peer Educators.

For more information, call Daniel Jeffrey at Planned Parenthood at 344-1611, ext. 17.

Blaze damages vacant home

Flames up to 40 feet shot into the air Wednesday night at a vacant house at West 14th Avenue and Charnelton Street in Eugene.

No one was injured in the fire that began about 9 p.m. at 210 W. 14th Ave. as evening activities let out at the nearby First United Methodist Church. A crowd of church members, neighbors and other onlookers gathered as firefighters arrived on the scene.

Fifteen firefighters with chain saws and axes cut holes in the roof and tore off siding to vent the hot gases and steam that fed the fire, said Fire District Chief Dave Coleman.

The two-story house was empty and had a "For sale" sign on the front lawn

Fire officials don't know yet how or where the fire started in the house, Coleman said. A damage estimate also was unavailable.

Springfield boy killed in bicycle accident

SPRINGFIELD - A 7-year-old Springfield boy suffered fatal injuries Wednesday night when he rode his bike into a moving 20-foot trailer at South 42nd Street and Jasper Road.

The accident happened at 5:50 p.m. when Daniel Ryan Lindsey crossed the street into the trailer pulled by a 1975 Dodge one-ton pickup, according to the Lane County sheriff's office. The boy wasn't wearing a helmet, according to a sheriff's office statement.

The truck was driven by 58-year-old Kenneth Glenn Stevenson of Dexter.

Stevenson administered first aid to the boy until paramedics arrived, the sheriff's office said. He was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

OREGON

Jury reinstates death sentence

ROSEBURG - A man convicted in the 1984 stabbing death of a college student he killed after escaping prison has been sentenced to death for the fourth time.

Michael McDonnell's death sentence was reinstated late Tuesday by a Douglas County Circuit Court jury.