State Library eClips
* State orders Bullseye Glass to clean its smokestacks in hopes of curbing toxic pollution
* First half of 2016 points to another deadly year for motorcyclists
* Oregon, Waze ink agreement to share traffic data
* Section of U.S. Highway 20 will close for two months
* State police forensic scientist faces federal charges, accused of stealing drug evidence
* Salem company fined $75,710 for illegal waste discharge
* Major highway to Central Oregon will close Aug. 2
* Oregon prison on lockdown after fight, warning shot
* ODOT partners with Waze app to help drivers avoid traffic
* Top earners in state government
* Role of private funds rises — Opinion
* Auxiliary lane on I-5 planned to relieve congestion
* OSP forensic scientist charged, accused of stealing drugs
* Grant money headed to new Bend bus stops
* Highway through Cascade Mountains to close in August
* Renaissance turns around fortunes of Oregon’s popular nut
* State of Oregon owes counties — Opinion
* The rest of the story of a county’s threat to farmland — Guest Opinion
* Warning shot fired at EOCI to stop inmate brawl
* Final EIS released for major forest project
* Our View: Water Commission credibility in question — Opinion
* DMV office moving to Medford Center
* PenAir gets warm reception in Klamath Falls
* Archaeologist strives to put new sites on history list
* Nurse surrenders license after violating probation
* County looks at potential evacuation routes during disasters
* Worried about lead? Here are some options
* Editorial: Email ruling is a victory for openness — Opinion
* Editorial: Let’s talk about scaling back vacation — Opinion
* Oregon gets funding from CDC to fight Zika
* Utah, Oregon, Delaware lead U.S. job growth
____________________
STATE ORDERS BULLSEYE GLASS TO CLEAN ITS SMOKESTACKS IN HOPES OF CURBING TOXIC POLLUTION (Portland Oregonian)
Bullseye Glass must thoroughly clean its smokestacks because state officials suspect it is one of two possible sources of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium in Southeast Portland’s air, the Department of Environmental Quality announced July 21.
_________________________________________
FIRST HALF OF 2016 POINTS TO ANOTHER DEADLY YEAR FOR MOTORCYCLISTS (Portland Oregonian)
This year could join 2015 as one of the deadliest in recent memory for Oregon motorcyclists if current trends continue.
Thirty-one motorcyclists died in Oregon wrecks in 2016 through July 7, on par with the same period last year. By the end of 2015, 60 had died on Oregon roads in the worst year for the state’s motorcyclists in decades.
_________________________________________
OREGON, WAZE INK AGREEMENT TO SHARE TRAFFIC DATA (Portland Oregonian)
The Oregon transportation department and the crowd-sourced navigation app Waze have inked an agreement to share real-time traffic data.
The state has displayed user-submitted data from Waze, such as reported crashes and traffic jams, on its online TripCheck map for about a month. The Oregon Department of Transportation is also sending data from its dispatch centers to Waze, which the Google subsidiary could add to its software.
_________________________________________
SECTION OF U.S. HIGHWAY 20 WILL CLOSE FOR TWO MONTHS (Portland Oregonian)
Driving to central Oregon is about to get a little bit harder.
On Aug. 2, a section of U.S. Highway 20 which runs across central Oregon will close for six to eight weeks to reset a bridge threatened by an active landslide.
_________________________________________
STATE POLICE FORENSIC SCIENTIST FACES FEDERAL CHARGES, ACCUSED OF STEALING DRUG EVIDENCE (Portland Oregonian)
Nika Elise Larsen, who has worked as a forensic scientist for the Oregon state crime lab, is now facing federal criminal allegations, accused of obtaining controlled substances through fraud and deception.
_________________________________________
SALEM COMPANY FINED $75,710 FOR ILLEGAL WASTE DISCHARGE (Salem Statesman Journal)
State environmental regulators have fined a Salem company $75,710 for discharging industrial waste into Rickreall Creek.
_________________________________________
MAJOR HIGHWAY TO CENTRAL OREGON WILL CLOSE AUG. 2 (Salem Statesman Journal)
A major highway through the Cascade Mountains will be closed for six to eight weeks, limiting the number of roads people can travel from the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon and back.
_________________________________________
OREGON PRISON ON LOCKDOWN AFTER FIGHT, WARNING SHOT (Salem Statesman Journal)
An eastern Oregon prison is on full lockdown and 47 inmates are in special housing following a fight in the recreation yard, during which a staff member fired a warning shot, officials said.
_________________________________________
ODOT PARTNERS WITH WAZE APP TO HELP DRIVERS AVOID TRAFFIC (Salem Statesman Journal)
In an announcement made Thursday, the Oregon Department of Transportation said it will help drivers avoid traffic by partnering with Waze, a crowdsourcing app that allows anonymous users to report traffic and weather information.
_________________________________________
TOP EARNERS IN STATE GOVERNMENT (Salem Statesman Journal)
Please contact the State Library for access to this premium story from the Statesman Journal via email library.help@state.or.us or phone 503-378-8800.
The top state government earners aren’t agency directors or elected officials. They’re physicians, psychiatrists and dentists at the State Hospital and Oregon prisons.
_________________________________________
ROLE OF PRIVATE FUNDS RISES — OPINION (Eugene Register-Guard)
When the University of Oregon announced a $2 billion fund-raising goal in 2014, the target seemed far from reach. It looks closer now that the university has passed the halfway mark. All who understand higher educations central role in the states economic and social success will welcome the evidence of an upward trajectory and should also contemplate what would be possible if the UO could be as bullish about public support as it is about increasing private donations.
_________________________________________
AUXILIARY LANE ON I-5 PLANNED TO RELIEVE CONGESTION (Portland Tribune)
Two Metro-area highway projects designed to ease the movement of trucks and traffic have been added to the Oregon Transportation Commissions four-year statewide plan.
_________________________________________
OSP FORENSIC SCIENTIST CHARGED, ACCUSED OF STEALING DRUGS (Bend Bulletin)
-Nika Larsen worked in Bend lab-
An Oregon State Police forensic scientist who worked in Bend was charged Thursday with two federal crimes alleging she stole pills submitted to OSP crime labs as evidence, federal court records show.
Nika Larsen was charged with two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud and deception on Thursday. One count alleges she obtained drugs in Umatilla County and the other alleges she obtained drugs in Deschutes County.
_________________________________________
GRANT MONEY HEADED TO NEW BEND BUS STOPS (Bend Bulletin)
-Cascades East Transit plans to construct 56 new bus stops and replace buses-
Cascades East Transit plans to create 56 new bus stops in Bend starting next week after receiving state grant money that will also be used to purchase new buses in Jefferson and Crook counties.
The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, which manages the transit system, received $340,000 in state special transportation funding earlier this year. The program is overseen by the Oregon Department of Transportation.
_________________________________________
HIGHWAY THROUGH CASCADE MOUNTAINS TO CLOSE IN AUGUST (Bend Bulletin)
A section of U.S. Highway 20 through the Cascade Mountains and Willamette National Forest will be closed for six to eight weeks starting Aug. 2 for landslide-damage repairs to the Sheep Creek Bridge, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
_________________________________________
RENAISSANCE TURNS AROUND FORTUNES OF OREGON’S POPULAR NUT (Capital Press)
Nurseryman Rich Birkemeier cant keep up with the demand for hazelnut trees.
The owner of Birkemeier Nursery supplies farmers with young hazelnut trees, but the demand has been so great that his 300-acre hazelnut farm and nursery is sold out for 2016 and has already sold out of some varieties for 2017. Birkemeier has been forced to start a waiting list for new growers who want to plant the popular nut tree.
_________________________________________
STATE OF OREGON OWES COUNTIES — OPINION (Capital Press)
Across the West, rural counties, school districts and local governments that once depended on natural resources such as timber have been slowly sinking into a sea of red ink.
The problem: State and federal land managers have unilaterally changed the rules of how natural resources are managed. The result has been less economic activity such as logging, leading to ever-tighter local budgets. Those local governments and school districts once shared the revenue from timber cut on public lands. Now they receive only a small fraction of what they previously received.
_________________________________________
THE REST OF THE STORY OF A COUNTY’S THREAT TO FARMLAND — GUEST OPINION (Capital Press)
As a long-time subscriber, I say kudos to the Capital Press for publishing Eric Mortensons article on farmland development in Clackamas County Conservation district fights farmland development, July 8.
One county within Metro Portland, Ore., is a small part of the Capital Press publishing coverage, but this a story that merits consideration. Eric captured the essence of the matter: A local Soil & Water Conservation District is asking, What is going on? And their concern is loss of irreplaceable farmland.
_________________________________________
WARNING SHOT FIRED AT EOCI TO STOP INMATE BRAWL (East Oregonian)
Correctional officers at EOCI fired a warning shot Thursday after dozens of inmates brawled in the west recreation yard.
No injuries were reported.
According to a press release from the Oregon Department of Corrections, a number of inmates engaged in a series of fights about 2:30 p.m. in a yard at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton.
_________________________________________
FINAL EIS RELEASED FOR MAJOR FOREST PROJECT (East Oregonian)
The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is in the home stretch of permitting an ambitious project designed to make 98,000 acres of land healthier and more resilient to wildfire, part of a broader strategy to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration in Eastern Oregon and Washington.
The Lower Joseph Creek Restoration Project calls for 17,240 acres of timber harvest on the Wallowa Valley Ranger District north of Enterprise.
_________________________________________
OUR VIEW: WATER COMMISSION CREDIBILITY IN QUESTION — OPINION (Medford Mail Tribune)
The continuing saga of the Medford Water Commission’s handling of lead contamination is less about public health than about public disclosure.The potential harm to water customers from ingesting lead is certainly a concern, but so far, there is no evidence that anyone’s health has been affected. The commission’s credibility, on the other hand, is on life support.
_________________________________________
DMV OFFICE MOVING TO MEDFORD CENTER (Medford Mail Tribune)
-Office will be closed week of July 25 during move-
The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles’ Medford office is returning to the Medford Center, which it left 15 years ago.
Lance Westland and other local DMV employees waited for years to move to a new building before finally moving from Medford Center to Progress Square in 2001.
_________________________________________
PENAIR GETS WARM RECEPTION IN KLAMATH FALLS (Herald and News)
-Commerical air service to return Oct. 5-
About 300 people streamed into Crater Lake-Klamath Falls Regional Airport Thursday to welcome PenAir and the return of commercial airline service to the city.
PenAir, an Anchorage, Alaska-based airline, will begin two flights a day between Klamath Falls and Portland on Oct. 5.
_________________________________________
ARCHAEOLOGIST STRIVES TO PUT NEW SITES ON HISTORY LIST (The World)
-Gold Beach area filled with history of war-
In 1856, Miner’s Fort north of Gold Beach housed over 100 people for 30 days as they were attacked by Native Americans during the Rogue River Indian Wars. Mark Tveskov, professor of anthropology at Southern Oregon University, has done extensive research on the war, that desperate moment of history, and he and his students are excavating sites from that period with the goal of adding them to the National Register of Historic Places.
_________________________________________
NURSE SURRENDERS LICENSE AFTER VIOLATING PROBATION (Daily Astorian)
Registered nurse Jamie D. Grijalva, of Astoria, voluntarily surrendered her license last month for violating the terms and conditions of her probation, according to the Oregon State Board of Nursing.
Grijalva was placed on probation in November 2012 after she was reported to the state board for diverting eight hydrocodone from the workplace in October 2011, and supplying improper documentation.
_________________________________________
COUNTY LOOKS AT POTENTIAL EVACUATION ROUTES DURING DISASTERS (Daily Astorian)
Seldom used back roads outside Astoria and Seaside could offer a lifeline in a Cascadia earthquake.
Clatsop County Public Works is exploring ways to create alternate and evacuation routes and have identified several possibilities, including some that are currently gated off on private timberland.
_________________________________________
WORRIED ABOUT LEAD? HERE ARE SOME OPTIONS (Albany Democrat Herald)
Worried about the potential for lead in your own drinking water after reading accounts of elevated levels found in local schools?
If you live in a newer home or have replaced your fixtures recently, you probably don’t have to be. But if you’re concerned, Oregon has options for testing.
First, mid-valley cities want to stress, municipal water is considered safe. State law requires a battery of tests, including ones for lead contamination, and water reports with test results are made public annually.
_________________________________________
EDITORIAL: EMAIL RULING IS A VICTORY FOR OPENNESS — OPINION (Albany Democrat Herald)
A recent ruling from a federal appeals court could be viewed as a rare legal victory for former Gov. John Kitzhaber.
But the ruling also had a very clear message to public officials: Even if you’re using a private email account to handle government business, emails regarding public business are public documents.
_________________________________________
EDITORIAL: LET’S TALK ABOUT SCALING BACK VACATION — OPINION (Albany Democrat Herald)
An interesting story last Sunday in the Democrat-Herald examined the phenomenon that educators have termed the “summer slide” the natural tendency for students to lose academic ground during the long, warm weeks of summer vacation.
School districts around the mid-valley have started programs intended to help students keep an educational mindset during the summer months, and those are showing some signs of success.
_________________________________________
OREGON GETS FUNDING FROM CDC TO FIGHT ZIKA (Oregon Business Journal)
Oregon was awarded $632,654 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fight the Zika virus
_________________________________________
UTAH, OREGON, DELAWARE LEAD U.S. JOB GROWTH (MarketWatch)
Utah, Oregon, and Delaware have the country’s fastest-growing job markets, according to government data released Friday.
For the year through June, nonfarm employment rose by 3.2% in Utah and Oregon, and 3.1% in Delaware, the Labor Department reported.
_________________________________________
State Library eClips Blog & Disclaimer: http://library.state.or.us/blogs/eClips/wordpress
For State Library Patron access to Statesman Journal Articles & other Oregon
newspapers: http://bit.ly/1IjlkDj
To subscribe/unsubscribe visit: http://library.state.or.us/services/awareness/eclips
Hosted by the Oregon State Library – (503)378-8800
