The family of Adalberto Flores-Haro—a New Columbia resident wounded by Washington County police this spring after, his relatives say, he tried to roust a presumed prowler from his yard—has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the cops who shot him. Flores-Haro was shot several times March 13 by members of a Washington County tactical team helping Portland detectives serve a search warrant at a nearby home in New Columbia. His family said he didn't realize the men in black in his yard were police officers when he confronted them and then went back inside to get his gun and confront them again. The suit, filed Friday, September 7, seeks an undetermined amount of damages. Neither Portland nor its officers are named in the suit, but a tort claim has since been filed against the city. DENIS C. THERIAULT

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On Monday, September 10, Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen announced that his health department will do something no other government agency has yet agreed to do: Examine the potential environmental effects of what could be a dramatic increase in the number of dust-spewing coal export trains slicing through parts of Portland with cargo on its way to China ["Road to Ruin," News, April 5]. Cogen's announcement noted that "coal dust has been known to cause bronchitis, COPD, emphysema, asthma, and other chronic diseases that affect breathing." DCT

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Are Portland cops using less force? Statistics released last Wednesday, September 5, show that from 2008 through 2011—as the police bureau adopted several policy changes amid outrage over Taserings, bean-baggings, and fatal shootings—the number of incidents in which the bureau used force dropped from 1,039 down to 675. The report didn't break out the numbers by type of force. However, charts supplied later by police spokesman Sergeant Pete Simpson showed that one of the most controversial uses of force in Portland—Taserings—have also declined over the past few years. Shootings, however, have not. After two shootings in 2008 and one in 2009, the next two years saw a total of 10. DCT