Oregon Lawmakers tackle budget beginning tomorrow…
One of the first things officials will do tomorrow when they return to Salem is hear Governor John Kitzhaber’s budget plan. The Oregon Legislature is about to dive into the daunting task of balancing a bleeding state budget. Lawmakers convene tomorrow morning for their 2011 legislative session. When they're done, Oregonians will be left with less generous state services; possibly with larger classes in public schools; and maybe fewer convicts behind bars. Slicing spending and government programs will dominate lawmakers' attention as they grapple with a shortfall that totals one-fifth of the estimated cost for continuing current services. Those budget issues will dominate their time. But lawmakers also will examine issues like banning plastic grocery bags, drawing new legislative districts and overhauling the higher education system.
The Florence City Council will hold a special “Educational Meeting” Thursday at City Hall to provide information on the Florence Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The Council recently acknowledged the new plan, without formally adopting its recommendations. That leaves the old plan, adopted in 1987, as the official guide for Florence parks. The plan has been in the works for two years. The educational meeting begins at six pm Thursday at City Hall.
The town of Waldport is slowly trying to get back to normal after being swarmed for days with police trying to find a man accused of shooting an officer. Investigators hope a segment on “America’s Most Wanted” over the weekend will generate some leads in the search for David Durham, the Portland man accused of shooting Lincoln City Police Officer Steve Dodds eight days ago. Authorities now say they’re not certain that Durham is still in the Waldport area.
It’s a small fish with a big problem. The eulachon (YOO-la-kon) is a type of smelt native to the northwest that was declared a threatened species a year ago. It’s a forage fish for larger species. NOAA Fisheries outlined a plan last week to designate several coastal streams, including the lower Umpqua River and Tenmile Creek in Northern Coos County as critical habitat. Ben Enticknap, with the conservation group Oceana, says it’s a good first step, but the fish spends most of its life cycle in the ocean.
210 – “They’re not proposing any marine waters to be designated as critical, which we think is a major shortcoming in this proposal. We think that they do have enough information to identify those areas.”
NOAA lists several threats to the eulachon in its proposal, including climate change, dredging, pollution and port activity. But, it does not mention commercial fishing. Enticknap says fishing for eulachon has been prohibited, but trawling for pink shrimp kills hundreds of thousands of them each year. Public comment on the plan can be made at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website.
AP-OR--1st NewsMinute,290
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Marion County resident Jim Kramer has been
named chief of parole and probation operations for the Oregon Youth
Authority. Kramer will be responsible for oversight and support of
the youth authority's parole and probation field offices statewide.
He has most recently been supervisor of the parole and probation
offices in Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Yamhill and Polk counties.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A gift from a billionaire benefactor to the
University of Oregon won't exactly be free. The Register-Guard says
the new football operations building from Nike chairman Phil Knight
is going to cost the university athletic department between $1
million and $2 million to prepare the site for construction.
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) - Coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks are
among the winners at the 59th annual Oregon Sports Awards last
night. Kelly won the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year award,
while the Ducks were among four recipients of the George Pasero
Award for team of the year.
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - The Coast Guard says workers are trying
to stabilize a derelict vessel leaking oil in the Columbia River so
divers can remove all remaining oil. More than 50 responders from
agencies that include the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality and the Washington Department of Ecology are on the scene.
About 1,200 gallons of oil have been recovered since work began
last week.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Federal investigators are looking for the
cause of a plane crash in eastern Idaho that killed three people
from Idaho who were heading home from a funeral in Portland.
Malheur County deputies say the wreckage of the Cessna 182 was
found yesterday in a hillside near Adrian. The bodies of two men
and one woman were in the wreckage.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A search has ended for a missing Oregon
boy who disappeared from his Portland school seven months ago.
Search and rescue teams using cadaver-detecting dogs looked for
8-year-old Kyron Horman yesterday, focusing on Dixie Mountain
outside Portland. Kyron disappeared June 4 from his school in
northwest Portland.
TURNER, Ore. (AP) - An Aumsville man is dead after his truck
went into Mill Creek just outside Turner. Marion County deputies
say power crews responding to a report of an outage found the
partially submerged pickup yesterday. Emergency crews found the
body of 24-year-old James Pasley downstream of the truck. Another
man was found alive, but unconscious and bleeding.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:
Boys prep basketball… Siuslaw trailed 16-2 after the first quarter Friday night and never got into a rhythm as they fell to Sutherlin 58 – 40 on the road. In other Far West play, North Bend remained undefeated in league play, downing South Umpqua 69-42. Brookings-Harbor beat Douglas 48-33. In the Sunset League, Bandon beat Reedsport 53-33. The Mapleton Sailors fell to Mohawk 64-46 on Saturday.
On the girls’ court… The Siuslaw Vikings fell short Friday night against Sutherlin 30 – 25. The Lady Vikings were cold at the free-throw line, going three-for-15 at the charity stripe. In other Far West games; Brookings-Harbor beat Douglas 74-47; North Bend beat South Umpqua 42 – 27. The Reedsport Braves remain winless in Sunset League play, they lost to Bandon 43-30. In the Mountain West, Mapleton fell to Mohawk 66-33.
In the Pac-10 Stanford avoided its longest losing streak in 18-years by beating Oregon State 70 – 56 Saturday evening. Freshman Ahmad Starks scored a season high 17 to lead the Beavers who lost their sixth straight road game. Over in Berkeley, the Cal Golden Bears denied Oregon a rare Bay Area sweep with an 85 – 77 win Saturday afternoon.
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