Month: March 2019

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A Woodburn has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce false documents after agents found a document-forging lab in his apartment that had allegedly produced over 10,000 fake social security cards, drivers licenses and immigration-related documents. Federal prosecutors say Miguel Merecias-Lopez, 24, was part of a criminal conspiracy based in Oaxaca, Mexico.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Norwegian musher Joar Ulsom is at the top of the leader board in the world’s most famous sled dog race. Ulsom, the defending champion, was the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher to reach Nikolai, Alaska on Tuesday. He pulled into the checkpoint 263 miles into the nearly 1,000-mile race

Whether or not you believe a few packets of Taco Bell’s spicy sauce helped a Sunriver-area man survive five days stuck in the snow with his dog, Ally – a story that has circled the planet – you might have seen this next development coming. “Taco Bell fire sauce saves lies,” Jeremy R. Taylor said

Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 11,000 jobs in January after a revised loss of 1,700 jobs in December, while the state’s unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent for a third straight month, the Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday. Six industries each added at least 1,000 jobs in January. Strong gains in the goods-producing industries

This week, the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday feature focuses on building a digital defense against fake bills. Agggh – you just opened your email and find what looks to be a receipt for a purchase from a really big, reputable company. The company is so big and well known you’ve probably purchased items from it

Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would require a prison sentence for drug dealers whose drugs cause an overdose death. Right now, if a supplier’s drugs cause someone’s death, the punishment is probation. There’s no specific Oregon law to add to that punishment. However, some lawyers say the bill could hinder the judicial system’s

A Redmond man was arrested Monday, accused of a road rage incident in which he allegedly blocked a Head Start school bus with several 5-year-olds inside on a snow-narrowed road, banged on the door shouting to get in and made a “finger gun” motion at the driver. The bus driver for the NeighborImpact Head Start

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon refuge occupier was briefly back in custody and appeared before a federal magistrate judge on an accusation of violating the conditions of his supervised release. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Jason Patrick was sentenced in February 2017 to one year and nine month in prison in the armed occupation of the

A total of 35 people covered by the Oregon workers’ compensation system died on the job in 2018, according to preliminary figures issued Tuesday by the Department of Consumer and Business Services. That’s the same as 2017’s figure. Total fatality counts in 2014, 2015, and 2016 were 31, 27, and 29, respectively, meaning that 2017

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., renewed his call for reforming the tax code to better support investment and innovation in clean energy during Tuesday’s U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the electricity sector in a changing climate. Wyden highlighted his proposal to replace the current 44 separate energy tax breaks with a

Senior Senate Intelligence Committee member, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on the National Security Agency (NSA) telephone records program Tuesday: “I cannot comment on classified matters referenced in media reports. However, it is increasingly clear to me that the NSA’s implementation of reforms to the phone records dragnet has been fundamentally flawed.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., last week joined Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and colleagues in reintroducing the Marijuana Justice Act to end the federal prohibition on marijuana. “The War on Drugs destroyed lives, and no one continues to be devastated more than low-income communities and communities of color,” said Wyden. “There is a

Sen. Jeff Merkley announced Tuesday that he is not running for President, telling supporters in a video that he will remain in the Senate after mulling a presidential bid for months. In a video that in many ways mimicked a presidential announcement, Merkley laid out his life story, described issues that he believes need to

Sen. Jeff Merkley pushed U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Tuesday to make sure that new rural broadband funding reaches the communities it was intended to help. As the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Merkley’s news release said he successfully fought to secure a massive, $1.15 billion

Good Tuesday Morning, Everyone… Culver Schools: Buses are on snow routes. While we will see a slight chance of snow flurries through the day, out best chance of snow will be this evening and into tonight. Highs will be in the mid 20’s to low 30’s and northerly breezes will be gentle at 5-10 mph.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $2.97 million to a researcher at Oregon State University-Cascades to develop a new technology to treat hydraulic fracturing wastewater and improve the public health and environmental impact concerns associated with untreated wastewater. The work is important because while hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, enables increased production of

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon woman claims in a lawsuit that a nursing home’s neglect caused her mother additional health problems and deprived the woman of prescription medication. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the lawsuit filed by Laurie Jeandin last week seeks up to $18 million in damages from Linda Vista Nursing and Rehab Center in

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Monday they are leading a national lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new rule that will significantly restrict access to reproductive health services and information for women and families. They said the complaint will be filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, with

Oregon’s historic cemeteries are set for a spring spruce-up during Historic Cemetery Cleanup Day on Saturday, May 11. The event, organized by SOLVE and the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries (OCHC), is a volunteer-led effort across the state to care for and preserve Oregon’s historic cemeteries. Historic cemetery caretakers are encouraged to register their properties

Bend officially received nearly 46 inches of snow in February, nearly doubling the more than century-old record for the month, the National Weather Service in Pendleton reported Monday. Snowfall totaled 45.8 inches, with at least an inch of snow reported on eight days. The heaviest snowfall was 12.5 inches, reported on the 25th. Bend’s previous