Here's a list of local issues that have been covered recently in the Gazette-Times and the status of those stories:

Sex crime convictions reversed

The story: Michael Simons, 27, of Albany, was convicted in Benton County Circuit Court in June 2004 after admitting to investigators that he has sexually assaulted patients in his care at the Samaritan Heart of the Valley Alzheimer's disease care facility in Corvallis. Simons was sentenced to 98 years in prison. However, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed 21 of the 24 charges against him, ruling that the state "failed to present legally sufficient evidence to corroborate his confession." The only convictions left standing were for three misdemeanors related to charges that he had sexually assaulted two co-workers.

The latest: Simons is still in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections, pending his transfer back to Benton County to determine if he has served enough time for the charges that were not overturned. Both Simons' attorney, Bronson James, and Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said they expect that Simons will be released following his hearing in Benton County.

School inter-school transfers

The story: The Corvallis School District's open-enrollment policy gives parents the chance to request transfers to any school in Corvallis. Recent changes to school boundaries didn't result in a flood of transfer applications for the 2008-2009 school year, but the district still received more requests for transfers than could be granted due to limited classroom space. A lottery was drawn last week to determine who will be accepted at each school.

The latest: At the middle and high schools, the school district received 75 new requests for transfer. Of those, 59 students were offered a place in the requested school and 16 were placed on waiting lists in case space becomes available. The district also received 19 requests from out-of-district students, who are required to complete applications and go through the lottery process annually.

Out-of-district students were accepted into Cheldelin Middle School, Crescent Valley High School, and in the sixth grade at Franklin School, since those schools had room after Corvallis students were placed.

At Franklin, there was room for each of the 25 students who applied to enter sixth grade next year. More than half of the 65 applications made to Franklin's first- through eighth-grade program were put on waiting lists.