In brief: Seattle pair nabbed with 44 pounds of pot

MEDFORD, Ore. – Oregon State Police arrested a woman and man from Seattle after officers found 44 pounds of high-grade marijuana worth about $88,000.

Police said that 39-year-old Jessie Olivia Tear was the driver of a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta driving northbound on Interstate 5 north of Medford on Friday night. She was pulled over for speeding.

Tear was booked into the Jackson County Jail along with 44-year-old Patrick James Haenelt.

Deportations in NW down by 30 percent

SEATTLE – The number of immigrants residing in Washington, Oregon and Alaska deported from the United States dropped by more than 30 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year.

New figures released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that 4,525 people residing in the Pacific Northwest were removed from the country in fiscal year 2013. That’s compared to 6,733 people in 2012 and nearly 11,000 people in 2008.

During the Obama administration, the number of removals has dropped by nearly 60 percent in the Pacific Northwest.

Man struck by train while posing for photo

SEATTLE – Burlington Northern Santa Fe said a man was struck and killed by an Amtrak train while posing for a photograph in Auburn.

BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the accident happened Saturday afternoon. The man’s identity has not been released, but an Auburn police spokesman told the Seattle Times he was 42 and from Las Vegas.

Melonas said the man’s girlfriend was taking the photos.

Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said the Amtrak Cascades train was carrying about 130 passengers from Portland to Seattle.

This is the second fatality on BNSF property in Washington this year. There were 20 deaths in 2013.