State Library eClips
* Oregon Employment Department chief, deputy lose jobs after probe finds waste, mismanagement
* As numbers decline, counting of frogs, toads, salamanders and newts in Oregon gets serious
* Two weeks into probe of genetically modified eastern Oregon wheat, investigators report no more findings
* School vote marks turning point as Oregon lawmakers get serious about adjournment
* Judge won’t halt irrigation shut-off in upper Klamath Basin
* Marion County Sheriff’s deputies arrest second escaped Mill Creek Correctional Facility inmate
* Wolves: The best Oregon sine die video of 2013 — Opinion
* Oregon Military Department says it is heightening response to sexual harassment charges
* Dozens of lobbyists tie up bill to let consumers sue insurance companies
* Help for tsunami debris cleanup might come from Congress
* Oregon House approves bill allowing state agencies to provide services to financially distressed timber counties
* Oregon House passes tough child sex trafficking bill; senator wants it to be tougher
* Oregon Legislature bars bill collectors from using DA letterhead
* Focus next on jobs, income: Agenda 2013 — Opinion
* ‘Bad actor’ bill, intended to protect efforts at transforming health care, poses threat — Opinion
* Summer break is broken, but we can fix it: Guest opinion — Guest Opinion
* Redfin ends commission discount for Oregon homebuyers, citing state law, busy market
* Discovery of genetically modified wheat in Oregon highlights regulatory failures: Guest opinion — Guest Opinion
* Tuition increases likely for community, state colleges with budget headed for vote
* 5-Hour Energy makers, state DOJ in face-off over ingredients
* USDA: Modified wheat appears isolated incident
* WOU celebrates record-breaking graduating class
* Cape near Tillamook offers trails with forest, coastal views
* National Guard official among Ore. winners — Opinion
* Hotel tax big support to tourism
* Escaped inmates captured Saturday
* Wanted man shoots himself after police chase
* Oregon university independence push hits snag
* Wong: Continuing the convoluted tale of budgets in Oregon, Washington — Opinion
* Withnell: Advocating for ‘earned review’ for juvenile offenders — Guest Opinion
* Legislative panel clears two education budgets
* Sewage is cause of DEQ fines
* Access to records has price at UO
* Further investigation of pesticides unwarranted — Guest Opinion
* Motorists can show electronic proof of insurance
* State Charges OHSU Employee With Medicaid Fraud and Tax Evasion
* Blumenauer Demands Defense Department Clean Up the Willamette River
* Editorial: Nike isnt only game in town — Opinion
* County declares drought disaster
* Ore. bill would ban bad check collection practice
* Wildfire Season Coming Early To Eastern Oregon
* Threatened ‘No’ Vote Puts Oregon Education Budget In Limbo
* USDA Says GM Wheat In Oregon Appears To Be ‘Isolated Incident’
* Oregon Lawmakers Could Act Soon On Timber County Rescue Plan
* Bentz Urges Young Oregonians To Consider Service
* Oregon wildfires controlled, but Colorado wildfires only 45 percent contained
* Legislators: GMO wheat discovery cost farmers
* Father’s Day bittersweet for Oregon lawmaker
* Morning report: biomass plant withdraws project application
* State Rep. John Lively Calls For More Post-Incarceration Transition Opportunities
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OREGON EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT CHIEF, DEPUTY LOSE JOBS AFTER PROBE FINDS WASTE, MISMANAGEMENT (Portland Oregonian)
The head of the Oregon Employment Department is retiring and her deputy has also been forced out in a bureaucratic bloodbath that claimed a third veteran manager fired by the director on her way out the door.
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AS NUMBERS DECLINE, COUNTING OF FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS AND NEWTS IN OREGON GETS SERIOUS (Portland Oregonian)
Michael Adams squishes deep into this blue mountain pond, head down, scanning the water through polarized sunglasses for tints and flashes of amphibian life.
As a Corvallis-based herpetologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, the 45-year-old has a mud-stained schoolkid’s dream job: chasing down frogs, toads, salamanders and newts.
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TWO WEEKS INTO PROBE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED EASTERN OREGON WHEAT, INVESTIGATORS REPORT NO MORE FINDINGS (Portland Oregonian)
Federal agriculture investigators tracing the presence of genetically-modified wheat in eastern Oregon said they haven’t found any more during a two-week probe in which they’ve interviewed approximately 200 area growers.
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SCHOOL VOTE MARKS TURNING POINT AS OREGON LAWMAKERS GET SERIOUS ABOUT ADJOURNMENT (Portland Oregonian)
The mood bordered on goofy during a rare Friday session of the Oregon House, which had been taking a three-day weekend approach to lawmaking for most of the session.
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JUDGE WON’T HALT IRRIGATION SHUT-OFF IN UPPER KLAMATH BASIN (Portland Oregonian)
A judge in Klamath Falls has denied motions to temporarily stop the state of Oregon from shutting off irrigation in the upper Klamath Basin to satisfy water rights the Klamath Tribes are using to protect fish.
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MARION COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARREST SECOND ESCAPED MILL CREEK CORRECTIONAL FACILITY INMATE (Portland Oregonian)
Authorities say they’ve arrested the second of two Mill Creek Correctional Facility inmates who walked away from the prison Friday.
Oregon State Police Lieutenant Gregg Hastings said Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Shane Willis, 41, around 2:30 p.m. Saturday in southeast Salem.
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WOLVES: THE BEST OREGON SINE DIE VIDEO OF 2013 — OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
Thanks to my colleague Harry Esteve, who directed me to the videos produced for this year’s Sine Die Party for the Oregon Legislature. As a result, I wasted a perfectly good hour on a sunny Saturday binge-viewing them.
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OREGON MILITARY DEPARTMENT SAYS IT IS HEIGHTENING RESPONSE TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT CHARGES (Portland Oregonian)
At least twice in the last two years, Oregon’s Military Department has had to defend itself in court against charges department officials sexually harassed female employees.
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DOZENS OF LOBBYISTS TIE UP BILL TO LET CONSUMERS SUE INSURANCE COMPANIES (Portland Oregonian)
More than 40 registered lobbyists are fighting a bill that would give Oregonians the right to sue insurance companies.
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HELP FOR TSUNAMI DEBRIS CLEANUP MIGHT COME FROM CONGRESS (Portland Oregonian)
Oregon coastal communities that could be cleaning up tsunami debris from Japan for years to come would get faster financial relief from bills being pushed in Congress.
“Our constituents need our help,” U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., told a House subcommittee during a recent hearing on her two bills.
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OREGON HOUSE APPROVES BILL ALLOWING STATE AGENCIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED TIMBER COUNTIES (Portland Oregonian)
The Oregon House on Friday approved a bill that would allow state agencies to provide elections, property tax assessments and collections and other services to financially distressed timber counties.
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OREGON HOUSE PASSES TOUGH CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING BILL; SENATOR WANTS IT TO BE TOUGHER (Portland Oregonian)
A set of measures aimed at cracking down on child sex trafficking unanimously passed the Oregon House Friday, but advocates still want to make the bill tougher.
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OREGON LEGISLATURE BARS BILL COLLECTORS FROM USING DA LETTERHEAD (Portland Oregonian)
Private companies won’t be able to use the letterhead of district attorneys to collect on debts for bounced checks under a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature Friday.
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FOCUS NEXT ON JOBS, INCOME: AGENDA 2013 — OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
It’s hard enough for Oregonians to swallow tax hikes imposed by their own legislators, so what can you say about those imposed upon them by lawmakers in the state next door? A lot of things, no doubt. We’ll start by thanking Washington for the jolt.
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‘BAD ACTOR’ BILL, INTENDED TO PROTECT EFFORTS AT TRANSFORMING HEALTH CARE, POSES THREAT — OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
When the Oregon Legislature found the nerve to enact a law to overhaul health care delivery, it stepped off a cliff — into a great promising unknown in which medical treatment would shift from expensive intervention to thrifty prevention, clamping down on runaway costs and opening up spending for things like education.
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SUMMER BREAK IS BROKEN, BUT WE CAN FIX IT: GUEST OPINION — GUEST OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
Last week, the last one of most Oregon kids’ school year, we peered into the yawning abyss that is American summer vacation. I won’t use this space to convey the many well-researched ways kids — especially those in lower-income families — would benefit from a smartly reconfigured school calendar that moves past the long, achievement gap-inducing “summer slide.” Instead I want to highlight another reason to reconsider the school schedule so that it works better for kids and their working parents.
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REDFIN ENDS COMMISSION DISCOUNT FOR OREGON HOMEBUYERS, CITING STATE LAW, BUSY MARKET (Portland Oregonian)
Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate firm whose agents offer a break on sales commissions when representing buyers, said it will no longer offer that discount in Oregon.
In other states, Redfin agents rebate part of their commission back to the buyer. In Oregon, however, state law prohibits rebating the commission to people not licensed as real estate brokers.
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DISCOVERY OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED WHEAT IN OREGON HIGHLIGHTS REGULATORY FAILURES: GUEST OPINION — GUEST OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
The recent news that genetically engineered wheat never approved for sale was growing in an eastern Oregon field surprised many Americans, including the farmer working the land. Japan and South Korea responded swiftly by suspending wheat imports from the United States. For those of us who study these issues, this latest incident underscores, once again, the difficulty of containing GE crops and the inadequacy of U.S. policy. The federal government must heed this wake-up call and dramatically improve regulation of GE crops both before and after market approval.
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TUITION INCREASES LIKELY FOR COMMUNITY, STATE COLLEGES WITH BUDGET HEADED FOR VOTE (Salem Statesman Journal)
Budgets containing state aid for Oregons community colleges and state universities budgets that even a key lawmaker conceded are inadequate are headed for votes in the Legislature next week.
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5-HOUR ENERGY MAKERS, STATE DOJ IN FACE-OFF OVER INGREDIENTS (Salem Statesman Journal)
5-Hour Energy to Oregon: Buzz off.
The two companies that manufacture the popular energy elixir are saying in a complaint that they have no intention of divulging 5-Hour Energys precise formula, and they want a judge to tell the state exactly that.
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USDA: MODIFIED WHEAT APPEARS ISOLATED INCIDENT (Salem Statesman Journal)
The Agriculture Department says it has no indications that genetically modified wheat found in Oregon last month has spread beyond the field in which it was found.
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WOU CELEBRATES RECORD-BREAKING GRADUATING CLASS (Salem Statesman Journal)
Western Oregon University celebrated a record-breaking graduating class Saturday.
The class of 2013 had 1,370 graduates, eclipsing last years by 141 students.
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CAPE NEAR TILLAMOOK OFFERS TRAILS WITH FOREST, COASTAL VIEWS (Salem Statesman Journal)
Cape Lookout State Park has more than eight miles of beautiful trails ranging from ocean-side views to dense evergreen rainforests. Though this 10-mile hike begins next to a sandy beach, its not exactly a walk in the park.
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NATIONAL GUARD OFFICIAL AMONG ORE. WINNERS — OPINION (Salem Statesman Journal)
Maj. Gen. Julie A. Bentz. She is the first woman in the Oregon National Guard to obtain that rank, having been promoted last week from brigadier general.
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HOTEL TAX BIG SUPPORT TO TOURISM (Salem Statesman Journal)
Summer travelers in Oregon who are paying close attention to their hotel bills might notice theyre being taxed for nights spent. But where are all of those dollars going?
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ESCAPED INMATES CAPTURED SATURDAY (Salem Statesman Journal)
Two inmates walked away from Mill Creek Correctional Facility on Friday night, and both were caught Saturday afternoon in south Salem.
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WANTED MAN SHOOTS HIMSELF AFTER POLICE CHASE (Salem Statesman Journal)
A man wanted on felony warrants shot himself to death along the shoulder of Interstate 5 at Albany on Friday night, ending an 11-mile high-speed chase, the Oregon State Police said.
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OREGON UNIVERSITY INDEPENDENCE PUSH HITS SNAG (Salem Statesman Journal)
A push by two of Oregon’s largest universities to break free from the statewide university system has hit a snag amid renewed opposition from some of the smaller, regional schools.
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WONG: CONTINUING THE CONVOLUTED TALE OF BUDGETS IN OREGON, WASHINGTON — OPINION (Salem Statesman Journal)
In Washington state, government appears headed for a partial shutdown unless legislators can break their stalemate and agree on a single budget by July 1.
In Oregon, even though a budget stalemate of sorts is continuing, theres almost no likelihood of a partial shutdown of state government.
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WITHNELL: ADVOCATING FOR ‘EARNED REVIEW’ FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS — GUEST OPINION (Salem Statesman Journal)
As a businessman and a fiscal conservative, Im known as a law and order person. There need to be accountability and consequences for anti-social behavior crime. However, some of our public safety laws for juveniles simply need to be changed.
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LEGISLATIVE PANEL CLEARS TWO EDUCATION BUDGETS (Salem Statesman Journal)
Lawmakers voted today to approve state aid totaling more than $1 billion to Oregons community colleges and state universities.
But critics and advocates agreed that the amounts were insufficient for progress toward Oregons 2025 goals of having 80 percent of high school graduates move on to college work.
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SEWAGE IS CAUSE OF DEQ FINES (Eugene Register-Guard)
Two local businesses face steep fines from the state Department of Environmental Quality for violating Oregon environmental law related to sewage disposal.
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ACCESS TO RECORDS HAS PRICE AT UO (Eugene Register-Guard)
During the last basketball season, student journalist Sam Stites asked the University of Oregon for data on ticket sales at Matthew Knight Arena.
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FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF PESTICIDES UNWARRANTED — GUEST OPINION (Eugene Register-Guard)
As a Triangle Lake resident and participant of the Highway 36 Exposure Investigation, I was frustrated to read the June 5 guest viewpoint by local activist David Owen, begging the governor to expand a state study of pesticide exposure in our area. Instead of expanding the investigation, my neighbors and I believe it is time to discontinue further investigation, save our taxpayers dollars and end the community disruption it has produced.
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MOTORISTS CAN SHOW ELECTRONIC PROOF OF INSURANCE (Medford Mail Tribune)
Oregon motorists can now show electronic proof of their car insurance, either on a smartphone or other mobile device, if they are pulled over by police.
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STATE CHARGES OHSU EMPLOYEE WITH MEDICAID FRAUD AND TAX EVASION (Willamette Week)
The state of Oregon has charged an employee and instructor at Oregon Health and Science University with defrauding Medicaid and evading income taxes.
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BLUMENAUER DEMANDS DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CLEAN UP THE WILLAMETTE RIVER (Willamette Week)
As negotiations over the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup slog along, U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer D-Oregon keeps pushing for more money from what he says is one of the Williamette River’s bigger polluters: the Pentagon.
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EDITORIAL: NIKE ISNT ONLY GAME IN TOWN — OPINION (Albany Democrat Herald)
Never let it be said that the Oregon Legislature isnt pro-business as long as the business in question is Nike.
Everyone else? Maybe not so much, but the session isnt over yet.
The Senate this week, on a party-line vote, rejected a Republican effort to expand to more state businesses the tax guarantee Nike won during a special legislative session last year.
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COUNTY DECLARES DROUGHT DISASTER (Argus Observer)
-Malheur County seeks state declaration, assistance from federal programs-
As a drought takes a bigger grip in this region, federal, state and local officials are taking steps to try to bring assistance to farmer and ranchers.
This week, the Malheur County Court signed a local disaster declaration asking Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to declare a state drought emergency for the county.
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ORE. BILL WOULD BAN BAD CHECK COLLECTION PRACTICE (Daily Astorian)
Debt collectors would have to stop using government stationery to send letters compelling people accused of writing bad checks to pay up, under a bill the Oregon House passed Friday.
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WILDFIRE SEASON COMING EARLY TO EASTERN OREGON (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Wildfire season could start as early as next week across northeast Oregon, as below-average spring rain continues to dry out forests several weeks ahead of normal.
The Oregon Department of Forestrys Central District already declared the start of wildfire season Friday, nearly two weeks earlier than last year.
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THREATENED ‘NO’ VOTE PUTS OREGON EDUCATION BUDGET IN LIMBO (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The Democratic-controlled Oregon Senate is scheduled to act Monday on the largest single portion of the state spending plan: Money for K-12 schools. But there’s a chance the vote will be delayed. That’s because a single Democrat has come out against the proposal, throwing a monkey wrench into the process.
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USDA SAYS GM WHEAT IN OREGON APPEARS TO BE ‘ISOLATED INCIDENT’ (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The US Department of Agriculture says stalks of genetically modified wheat found in a field in Oregon look to be an isolated incident. In an announcement Friday the agency says its own tests confirm the suspect wheat carries modified genes designed by agribusiness giant Monsanto.
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OREGON LAWMAKERS COULD ACT SOON ON TIMBER COUNTY RESCUE PLAN (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
A plan that would give state government broad powers to step in and bail out struggling timber counties could advance soon in the Oregon legislature. A House panel could vote as soon as Monday on a bill that could lead to a temporary tax hike in counties that are struggling to maintain basic services.
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BENTZ URGES YOUNG OREGONIANS TO CONSIDER SERVICE (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The first women to achieve the rank of Major General with the Oregon National Guard delivered Oregon State University’s commencement address Saturday.
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OREGON WILDFIRES CONTROLLED, BUT COLORADO WILDFIRES ONLY 45 PERCENT CONTAINED (Christian Science Monitor)
-Oregon wildfires have been stemmed by better weather and more fire crews, but the Colorado wildfires are still raging. The Colorado wildfires already have destroyed nearly 500 homes.-
Wildfire update: Oregon’s wildfires have slowed, thanks to better weather and more firefighters, while Colorado firefighters “are getting the upper hand” on the most destructive wildfire in state history.
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LEGISLATORS: GMO WHEAT DISCOVERY COST FARMERS (KGW)
A group of legislators has asked Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to direct the state attorney general to help farmers recover money lost after genetically modified wheat was found in an Oregon field.
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FATHER’S DAY BITTERSWEET FOR OREGON LAWMAKER (KGW)
For Father’s Day weekend, a lot of people are thinking about their dads and the influence theyve had. For a rising star in the Oregon Legislature, Jason Conger, the relationship with his father is one of the few failures he regrets.
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MORNING REPORT: BIOMASS PLANT WITHDRAWS PROJECT APPLICATION (Herald and News)
A proposed and controversial biomass plant off Highway 66 will not be built due to complications with its federal funding source.
Klamath Falls Bioenergy withdrew its application for a site certification Tuesday. The certification process had been mired in delays with the Energy Facility Siting Council, the state body that oversees the regulation of large electric generating plants.
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STATE REP. JOHN LIVELY CALLS FOR MORE POST-INCARCERATION TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES (KLCC)
Twelfth District Representative John Lively says the key to diminishing our prison population is by focusing on transition programs for ex-convicts.
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