Month: October 2017

In September, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 3,800 jobs, following a revised loss of 7,000 in August, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday. The job losses followed rapid gains during February through July, when a total of 42,600 jobs were added in just six months. Recent forest fires did not have a noticeable impact

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon woman seeks $500,000 in a lawsuit against a popular Ashland restaurant, contending she damaged her digestive system by swallowing a fragment from a wooden skewer. The woman goes by the pseudonym Mary Doe in the lawsuit. It says she began to suffer pain the day after eating a lamb burger

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. (AP) – A 74-year-old man has been identified as the victim in a fatal skydiving accident in southern Oregon. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says Jackson Jerome Kern of Central Point died at the scene Sunday afternoon. Deputies say the experienced jumper deployed his parachute, but it appears a malfunction in the chute’s toggle

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Tuesday that Oregon has joined nine other attorneys general in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its failure to respond to a request for information relating to the detention and deportation of immigrants. The complaint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, says

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon State Bar has determined there’s probable cause to bring ethics charges against a former U.S. attorney who authorities say lied about a sexual relationship with an assistant prosecutor in her office. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the agency’s disciplinary board made the decision on Saturday after reviewing the bar investigation into

Major highway projects are not cheap. That’s why the Oregon Department of Transportation is looking for all the funding it can get, to turn a plan for improving Highway 97 on Bend’s north end into reality. That new reality would include rerouting Highway 97. If funding is provided and plans are approved, Highway 97 would

Lighting efficiency improvements, especially the growing market for LED lights, helped Northwest utilities reduce electricity demand in 2016. The efficiency improvements totaled 275 average megawatts, the average power demand of 184,000 Northwest homes, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The achievement far surpassed the first-year efficiency milestone of 185 average megawatts in the

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A member of the jury that convicted a father and son in 2010 for a bank bombing says she abused prescription pain pills during the trial and may have improperly influenced other jurors. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that juror Tasha Hobbs wrote to the court last month, saying she wouldn’t have reached the

Mountain View High School senior Abigail Jeffcott is searching for the owner of a 1996 high school diploma found in Arizona. According to Jeffcott, the high school received the diploma in the mail close to a year ago. A staff member in the counseling office showed it to her Monday and told Jeffcott someone in

Debris burning has been closed in the Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District #2, for Tuesday and most likely Wednesday due to increasing winds as a frontal system passes through. Burning is ALWAYS prohibited within the Bend city limits, fire officials said. When burning reopens, be sure to have a copy of the Burn Regulations

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland code officers have been told to “deprioritize” enforcement against tiny homes and RVs parked on private property. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that Commissioner Chloe Eudaly told officers the enforcement change is effective immediately. The call for allowing the additional housing units on private property is in response to the city’s growing

SEATTLE (AP) – A King County judge has voided a ballot measure that would have banned safe injection sites for drug users. Superior Court Judge Veronica Alicea Galvan ruled Monday that Initiative 27 extends beyond the scope of the initiative power. She ordered that it not be placed on the February ballot. The judge wrote that the

CENTRALIA, Wash. (AP) – The second of two suspects has pleaded guilty to neglecting a boy who was found at 16 years old to weigh only 54 pounds. The Centralia Chronicle reports that 43-year-old Mary Foxworth pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree criminal mistreatment in Lewis County Superior Court. Her husband, 45-year-old Anthony Foxworth, pleaded guilty Wednesday to

The Northern California wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes and communities, killing more than 30 people. The Oregon state fire marshal has deployed 10 strike teams to help in the firefight. Five strike teams including the Bend, Sunriver and Sisters-Camp Sherman fire agencies were quickly assigned to the Southern LNU Complex Fire, which is burning

Madras is hoping a brewery or brewpub of its own will be on tap soon. The city has hired a marketing firm to help attract a potential match. The city does not have a designated site, but it is looking to reinvigorate the downtown area. Employees at several businesses in the area said it’s hard

Voters last November approved a bond measure for the new Crook County Jail, and they are now going to see their property taxes rise to pay for it. Crook County Assessor Brian Huber said Monday the county has been certified to collect $532,000 of that bond this year. That means property owners in Crook County

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is seeking a representative of the hiking community for a vacant volunteer position on the Recreation Trails Program Advisory Committee that evaluates grants for statewide trails projects. The competitive grant program is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and administered by OPRD. Grants are awarded

Vehicles in this active hurricane season can make their way across the country to Oregon and be put up for sale as undamaged vehicles, the Oregon DMV warned used-car buyers on Monday. Sometimes buyers are aware a vehicle was damaged in some way, but they may be unaware the damage was caused by flooding. Often

Here are the results of Friday’s KTVZ.COM Poll, asking if the California wildfires had affected people’s travel plans: And Friday’s poll was anything but close;-) Have the California wildfires affected your travel plans? Yes – 6% (45 votes) No – 94% (684 votes) Total Votes: 729

Oregon State University has been ranked in the top 1 percent out of more than 27,000 degree-granting institutions of higher education worldwide in this year’s CWUR (Center for World University Rankings) World University Rankings, the school announced Monday. The CWUR rankings are the largest academic ranking of global universities. Oregon State came in at No.