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The Lansing State Journal reports that the fox was seen around Portland, about 20 miles northwest of Lansing, including downtown and in some backyards. Portland police chief Bob Bauer says the apparently domesticated animal was “not afraid of anyone” and ran right up to some residents.

Two women were struck by a downtown taxi Wednesday night, Portland Police reports.

Just before 8 p.m. Wednesday Portland Police officers responded to a call of a multiple-car crash, with at least one pedestrian struck, at Southwest 10th Avenue at Morrison Street. Preliminarily findings from police are that a Broadway cab was traveling west on Morrison Street when it collided with a black BMW. The taxi then struck two adult woman on the northwest corner of Southwest 10th and Morrison.

A Portland Trail Blazers trade is coming and it could include Raymond Felton or Gerald Wallace. A Blazers trade is almost guaranteed, as the franchise has just five players under contract for the 2012-13 NBA season and has a large group that is heading straight to free agency. That means the assets are available and that the team is likely to find a trade partner before the March 15 NBA trade deadline.

Looking like punk gladiators, teams of young adults on junk bikes pulling chariots made of junk parts frenetically chased each other around a makeshift arena, slamming each other and swinging away with foam clubs. Spectators tossed beer cans, flour and smoke grenades. Firecrackers popped and obscenities flew during the battle, called the “Ben Hurt Chariot Wars.”

And then, toward sundown, the grown-ups arrived. Seven police cars pulled up and told all 400 or so people they had to leave because they were trespassing on railroad property. They complied. But the contest was over anyway.

A Portland couple has made headlines around the country after the story of their Valentine “role playing” started spreading like a flash across social media. The woman and her boyfriend were arrested after their ‘role playing’ led to several 9-1-1 calls and a police investigation.

At least nine police cars responded Tuesday to reports of a woman bound in duct tape and naked in a man’s car. Nikolas Alexander Harbar, 31, later told police that he and his girlfriend, 26-year-old Stephanie Morgan Pelzner, were doing some Valentine’s Day role-playing.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office today reduced the disorderly-conduct charges to violations against the young Portland couple arrested on Valentine’s Day for so-called “role-playing’’ that had one witness concerned the female half was actually being abducted.

Stephanie Morgan Pelzner, 26, and her boyfriend, Nikolas Alexander Harber 31, entered guilty pleas to the violations and were ordered to complete 16 hours of community service, according to court records.

For the first time in its history, a woman has been named the chief of Portland Fire and Rescue. Commissioner Randy Leonard named Erin Janssens, the city’s current fire marshal, to the post Wednesday.

Janssens, a 24-year veteran of the bureau, will replace Chief John Klum when he retires in June. She downplayed the significance of her gender.

PORTLAND’S aluminium smelter has escaped the knife for now as international giant Alcoa yesterday announced it was considering curtailing its Point Henry operation near Geelong.

However, the company warned Portland operations would need to be managed carefully to remain viable. Alcoa’s Australian managing director Alan Cransberg said Point Henry had become unprofitable and production may be cut back in the face of continuing difficult global economic conditions.