Woman admits using kids to collect benefits
A Vancouver, Wash., woman admitted Monday that she coached her two children – beginning when they were 4 and 8 years old – to fake retardation so she could collect Social Security benefits on their behalf.
Rosie Costello, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to defraud the government as well as Social Security fraud. Her son, Pete Costello, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this month, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said Monday that authorities had not located her daughter, Marie.
According to the plea agreement, Costello began coaching her daughter at age 4, and later used the same ruse with her son. He continued to feign retardation into his mid-20s – picking at his face, slouching and appearing uncommunicative in meetings with Social Security officials.
The scheme came to light last year after Pete Costello got a traffic ticket while driving away from the administration’s Vancouver office, then was videotaped acting normally when he contested the ticket in court.
Rosie Costello admitted that she collected more than $280,000 in benefits, beginning in the mid-1980s.
Boise
Bill to require consent for abortions advances
The Idaho Senate voted 23-12 on Monday in favor of Senate Bill 1082, a proposal from Sen. Russ Fulcher, of Meridian, to require parental consent for a minor to have an abortion.
Fulcher, a Republican, said he thought the bill would decrease the number of abortions in Idaho.
Idaho has passed several similar laws in past years only to have them overturned in court, costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The measure now moves to the House.
Panhandle senators split in the vote, with Sens. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene; Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls; and Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, voting in favor; and Sens. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle; Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint; and Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, voting against.
PORTLAND
Crews search for elderly cancer patient
Search-and-rescue teams scanned back roads across Clackamas County on Monday, trying to find an 80-year-old bone cancer patient who has been missing for two days.
Two Cessna planes were flying low over the county, and a marine unit was searching nearby rivers.
Two detectives are tracking the credit cards owned by the missing Dena Kline, but the last transaction on her debit card is a gas purchase on Friday afternoon.
Local casinos have been placed on alert, since family members have said that Kline is an avid gambler.
Kline left her Wilsonville home Friday afternoon and was pulled over twice that day by police for erratic driving, once in Newberg and once in Mollala.
She was last seen asking for directions at an Oregon City tavern about 1 a.m. Saturday.
When Kline didn’t show up to a doctor’s appointment early Saturday, family contacted authorities.
Kline is described as 5 feet tall and about 80 pounds, with short, reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen driving a 1990 four-door teal Honda Accord with Idaho license plates.
SALEM
Anti-discrimination, civil union bills on table
Bills that would create civil unions and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation were formally introduced Monday in Salem, setting the stage for a broad discussion of gay rights at the Oregon Capitol.
One of the bills would establish a Vermont-style civil unions system in Oregon, allowing same-sex couples some of the legal protections and rights given to opposite-sex married couples.
The bill includes a requirement that couples who enter into civil unions live in Oregon for a certain amount of time and would allow a same-sex couple to enter a civil union via a contract, instead of needing a clergy member or judge to make it official.
The unions would also only be valid within Oregon, and couples would not receive any of the federal taxation benefits that are granted to married couples.
A separate bill would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, public accommodation, education and public services statewide.