Roblan picked as co-speaker nominee...

Roblan tabbed as House Speaker Nominee

The balance of power is evenly split in the Oregon House of Representatives. With 30 Republicans and 30 Democrats in the chamber, party leaders on both sides are negotiating not only who will be in charge of the upcoming legislative session, but how the various bills are brought to the floor. Typically the party in majority selects one of their own to be the Speaker of the House… that person presides over the session and has a great deal of say over committee appointments, bill placement and other administrative issues. With the 30-30 tie, one proposal being worked out right now is the possibility of co-speakers… one from each party. Coos Bay Democrat Arnie Roblan has been picked by his party as the nominee for speaker or at least co-speaker. Roblan, recently elected to his third term in the Oregon House says he’s fully prepared to work for a plan that will “honor the will” of the majority of all House members. Dave Hunt, the speaker in the last session, will continue as the House Democratic Leader. The session is set to convene January 10th.

Florence City Councilors will sit down beginning at three this afternoon to work on goal setting for the coming year. Mayor Phil Brubaker, Councilors Nola Xavier, Sue Roberts and Paul Holman will all be on the panel again beginning in January. Alan Burns’ term is expiring at the end of this month, his position will be filled by Brian Jagoe, both will participate in today’s session. Department heads for the city met last week to hammer out a list of priorities that will be presented to councilors. Councilors will take a break later this afternoon then resume work at seven for their regular agenda… on tap is swearing in Kelli Weese as the new City Recorder and conducting a hearing on a major revision of the city’s Parks Master Plan.

Police in Newport say a man wanted for the rape of at least five young women in that community has been arrested in Central Oregon and will return to Lincoln County to face charges. Michael Williams was taken into custody by Bend Police without incident over the weekend. He was indicted by a Lincoln County Grand Jury on a dozen counts. He disappeared from the coast earlier this year and is believed to have been in Bend for the past six months.

Oregon’s Dungeness Crab harvest has been certified as “sustainable” by the Marine Stewardship Council. The designation is based on a variety of factors including balancing harvest levels with the ability of the crustaceans to replenish themselves. Oregon’s Dungeness Crab harvest topped 23-million pounds last year and was valued at nearly $45-million.

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton says
the focus of the investigation into the disappearance of Kyron
Horman is narrowing. Staton says he's confident his investigators
will get to the bottom of the case, six months since the
then-7-year-old boy vanished from his northwest Portland school.
Investigators have focused on his stepmother, Terri Horman, but
haven't called her a suspect.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Newly elected Gov. John Kitzhaber says
he'll spend most of his time in Portland rather than living
permanently in the Salem mansion provided for Oregon governors.
When the Democrat does stay at Mahonia Hall, The Oregonian reports,
he will sometimes be accompanied by his girlfriend, Cylvia Hayes,
making them the first unmarried pair to share the house since it
was donated in 1988.

BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) - Baker County is moving its offices out
of the 101-year-old courthouse drenched by a pipe freeze-up. Baker
County Commission Chairman Fred Warner Jr. says it's still not
clear what caused two valves to fail the last weekend of November.
He says the county is trying to have temporary quarters set up for
county offices by Monday.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Police have searched the home of a
24-year-old neighbor of the Islamic center in Corvallis that was
torched two days after a Somalia-born teenager was charged with a
plot to kill thousands at a Portland public square. The FBI says no
one has been arrested after Monday's search. The agency has been
looking into whether the arson was in retaliation for the alleged
bomb plot.

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - Albany fire officials say a fire that
destroyed a vacant restaurant is suspicious. Albany Fire
spokeswoman Wanda Omdahl says the fire yesterday morning is
consistent with other fires in recent weeks because it involved a
vacant structure and began in early morning hours. KVAL-TV reports
nine vacant homes in Albany have been damaged or destroyed by arson
since Oct. 22.

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) - State officials say 17 complaints have
been lodged against firewood dealers so far this year, more than
twice what were filed all of last year. Buyers say some of the wood
doesn't burn well or at all, and some gripe about being sold short
of a full cord. Clark Cooney of the Oregon Department of
Agriculture says he's aware of log dealers scamming those who can
afford it the least.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Oregon high school students who studied
speech recognition took home the top team prize during a
competition honoring the nation's best math and science students.
Akash Krishnan and Matthew Fernandez of Portland won for developing
a computer algorithm that better recognizes a speaker's emotion.


PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - Agriculture researchers are working to
figure out what damaged more than 40,000 acres of wheat fields in
Umatilla and Morrow counties. Umatilla County growers noticed wheat
fields turning yellow and dying early in November. In Morrow
County, officials say more than 30,000 acres of wheat have plants
with discolored yellow or purple tips that sometimes dry out.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

The Oregon Ducks will meet number one Auburn in Glendale, Arizona January Tenth in the BCS Championship Game. It’s a matchup of title game first-timers and two of the best offenses in the country. Head Coach Chip Kelley is looking forward to it.
200 – “It’s a real honor, for us at Oregon to be, selected to play in this game. Got the utmost respect for coach Chizek and the Auburn football team. You can tell that it’s a well-coached team that plays the game. They’ve got a ton of resilience.”

Oregon downed Oregon State 37-20 in Saturday’s Civil War to earn the spot. The Ducks used stiff defense in the red zone and three interceptions to fend off their rivals for the third straight year, ending the regular season with a perfect 12-and-oh record and their second straight Pac-Ten Championship… Oregon State ended the season 5-7 overall and missed a bowl game for the first time in five years.

The Mapleton Sailors came away from the Crow Australian Challenge with a split over the weekend. The Sailor boys opened with a 57-25 win over Lowell Friday night, then fell to Crow 58-28 Saturday. For the girls… Lowell edged the Lady Sailors 36 – 31 Friday.

In College Basketball Oregon State fell to Colorado Saturday evening 83 – 57 in Boulder. Oregon snapped a two-game losing streak with a 68 – 49 win at home last night over Portland State

Number four seed Baker scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away from number two seed Douglas and claim the 4A Football championship 34-20 Saturday afternoon in Hillsboro.