Northwest News: 100-year-old British Columbia driver gets first ticket; probation for former Talent councilman for ...

Happy Friday, folks!

You've made it through an entire week, the first in March, and it seems fitting that we share two headlines you won't see elsewhere, from news sources across the region. Plus you can listen to this.

We begin with something you don't read everyday: a story, from The Province, about a centenarian, who was born in the era of the Ford Model T, getting his first speeding ticket:

It took 100 years for one Saanich man to tarnish his perfect driving record.

The centenarian was stopped for speeding in a school zone Tuesday, a shock to a Saanich traffic officer when she saw the 1911 birthdate on a driver’s licence, which was good for another five years.

The traffic officer pulled over the 100-year-old driver in a Buick Century when he was spotted going 50 kilometres an hour in a school zone, where the limit is 30 kilometres an hour.

Our next story comes from Medford, where the Tribune reports on an official
sentenced Thursday for trying to take nude photos of a teen girl:

Former Talent City Councilman Dan Goyette must serve three years of supervised probation, undergo sex offender evaluation and treatment as ordered by a probation officer, and serve 120 hours of community service for attempting to take nude photographs of a 17-year-old girl.

Today in Jackson County Circuit Court, Goyette entered an Alford plea on a felony charge of coercion. In such a plea, the defendant doesn't admit to the crime, but admits that the prosecution could prove the charge.

Read the story. Ugh.

One last thing: here are the stories that are making you click at oregonlive

1. Could Oregon Ducks be deemed repeat violators in NCAA investigation?

2. Oregon State 86, Washington 84: Beavers knock off No. 1 seeded Huskies in PAC-12 tournament

3. NBA trade deadline countdown: latest news, buzz and rumors about Trail Blazers and beyond

4. Sinking ship that is Trail Blazers starts seven-game trip with 106-94 loss to Minnesota Timberwolves

6. Portland officer John Maul helps woman escape abusive pimp on 82nd Avenue

Finally, check out more news with a Northwest focus here:

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Probation union slams proposals

Plans to replace probation programmes with cheaper, untested, privately-run courses will lead to "more crime, more victims and more imprisonment", a probation union has warned.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and the Punishment of Offenders bill, due to be discussed by MPs this week, will scrap the presumption that offender programmes should be accredited and shown to have an impact on crime and reoffending before they are used, the probation union Napo said.

Under the plans, a magistrate or judge will be able to impose any programme as a condition of a community court order.

Harry Fletcher, the union's assistant general secretary, said the move "opens the door for cheaper, privately-run courses, where there is no evidence that they cut crime".

"The measures contained in the bill are controversial," he said.

"The abolition of the requirement that offenders programmes have to be accredited is extremely worrying. Accredited programmes presently reduce reoffending by up to a third.

"The effect of the bill will, in Napo's view, lead to an increase in imprisonment and reoffending and therefore more victims."

Mr Fletcher added that plans to extend curfews from 12 to 16 hours would make it "virtually impossible for anybody to work", potentially affecting more than 20,000 offenders who are on electronic tags.

A Napo spokesman added that the plans were not about what works or what would reduce offending and protect the public, but instead were "about ideology, reducing the size of the state and the introduction of profit motives".

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