Bad man.

A Salem man walked into the Marion County Jail on Thursday morning and confessed to sexually abusing a young girl, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Eddie Luter,35, told a deputy at the jail that he had been sexually abusing a 12 year old girl who lived with him and his wife, sheriff’s spokesman Don Thompson said. The girl had been staying with Luter and his wife since 2010 while her parents live and work in Micronesia. This is sad and I hope he gets punished.

Options

Students, parents and teachers marched and pleaded with the Gresham-Barlow school board to keep a program off the budget chopping block. The Options Program is at risk of being cut from the school budget after 26 years of helping students graduate who are struggling at school and home. The school district is short about $5 million and needs to find a way to save money, but students, and their teachers, don't want this program to go. Here are some of the statements they made before the school board Thursday night. I think this is a amazing story and that students care for a program so thoroughly.

Walking Preditor Fish That Breathes Air On The Loose!

Even creepier than the catfish that hunts pigeons on land, is the toothy northern snakehead, a carnivorous fish that grows to at least three feet in length, can breathe air and can survive for up to four days out of water. It can survive for even longer periods in mud and moist environments. Oh, and it travels over land by wriggling its body along the ground. And it has come to New York City’s Central Park. Opinion: At least its not here terrorizing Independence....

PopSci: Shedding New Lights On Basement Marijuana.

"As of 2013, 24 states and Washington, DC, have either legalized marijuana or decriminalized possession of it. One of my friends lives in a state where medical marijuana is now legal, and he has taken full advantage of this to start growing the plant, which helps him manage the symptoms of a chronic illness, in his basement. Rather than use his real name, I'll just refer to him by his online handle, GrowingGreenLED. I've known GGL for years, and I knew that even when it was illegal, he used marijuana for medical reasons. The whole grow-your-own was a new thing for him -- and me. Curious about the enterprise, I asked if he'd be willing to chat with me about the ins and outs of growing one's own plants. In particular, I was curious about his all-LED setup. Opinion: Who knew that LED lights could do that.

Galaxy Goes Green in Burning Stellar Fuels

Astronomers have spotted the "greenest" of galaxies, one that converts fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency. The findings come from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps. "This galaxy is remarkably efficient," said Jim Geach of McGill University in Canada, lead author of a new study appearing in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "It's converting its gas supply into new stars at the maximum rate thought possible." Stars are formed out of collapsing clouds of gas in galaxies. In a typical galaxy, like the Milky Way, only a fraction of the total gas supply is actively forming stars, with the bulk of the fuel lying dormant. The gas is distributed widely throughout the galaxy, with most of the new stars being formed within discrete, dense 'knots' in the spiral arms. Opinion: I think that this looks cool.

Comet Could Blast Earth With Meteor Shower.

A small but incredibly bright comet heading toward the sun could do more than dazzle Earth’s skies when it arrives later this year. Scientists say Comet ISON, already shedding dust at the prodigious rate of about 112,000 pounds per minute, could spark an unusual meteor shower. Computer simulations predicting the location and movement of the comet’s dust trail show Earth will be passing through the fine-grained stream around Jan. 12, 2014. Opinion: As long as Earth is okay, then this would be cool.

Galaxy S4

Samsung announced it will launch its highly-anticipated Galaxy S4 smartphone in the U.S. this month. The device will first be available April 24 through T-Mobile for $150 down plus monthly payments. Sprint launches the S4 on April 27 for $250, while AT&T will start shipping the device April 30 at $200. Verizon will release the smartphone this month, too, but has not disclosed a date. The smartphone includes a 5-inch touchscreen, 13-megapixel camera and up to 64 GB of storage with a micro-SD card. The S4 will also sport several interesting features, such as Dual Camera for taking pictures or video with both cameras simultaneously and Group Play for sharing content across devices. Opinion: How many more Galaxy S' are they going to make.