AP-OR–1st NewsMinute,327
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Jury deliberations will resume in Portland
Tuesday in a lawsuit over the 2008 crash of a helicopter that
killed nine firefighters on a wildfire in Northern California. A
pilot who survived the crash and the widow of one who didn’t are
suing General Electric for $177 million, claiming that the company
knew the engines it made for the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter had a
design flaw.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon officials hoping to save more than
10,000 homeowners from foreclosure face a tight deadline to get a
counseling and mediation program ramped up. The Legislature passed
a bill earlier this month requiring lenders to sit down with
homeowners who request mediation, and the attorney general’s office
will have about three months to get the program in place. The Salem
Statesman Journal reports that the experience of other states
suggests it will have to be tweaked after that.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Coast Guard’s final report on a fatal
2010 helicopter crash finds that lack of communication in the
aircraft and a failure by the pilot and co-pilot to properly
perform their duties contributed to the crash. The report released
Monday also finds that lack of markings on the power transmission
lines the helicopter crashed into may have contributed to the
accident. Three Coast Guard members died when an MH-60 Jayhawk
helicopter flying from Oregon to the crew’s base in Alaska hit the
low-hanging wires and crashed off the Washington coast.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Police say a Eugene, Ore., man accused of
aiming his pickup truck at a neighbor out walking his dog has
surrendered. Police allege that 33-year-old Frank Mario Ochoa ran
his truck into a 50-year-old man and his dog as they walked on a
sidewalk on March 14. The pickup then hit another vehicle and
finally crashed into a garage. The driver ran off. A police
spokeswoman says the victim remains hospitalized with
non-life-threatening injuries. The dog was killed.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-20-12 0404EDT
