AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute,286
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) – A stretch of state highway near Florence
has reopened after a state police bomb squad checked out a reported
suspicious object on a bridge. A stretch of Oregon Highway 126W
east of Three Rivers Casino was closed for several hours last
night. A police statement on the reopening said only that there was
no report that the object was an explosive device.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Bend man has been sentenced to six
months of home confinement and ordered to repay more than $176,000
in fraudulently obtained disability payments. Federal prosecutors
say Richard Rawlins began collecting Social Security disability
checks after a 1988 plane crash left him with severe burns over 70
percent of his body. However, a federal investigation showed he
later worked in real estate, played golf, hunted, fished and even
renewed his pilot’s license – all while continuing to accept the
disability payments.
COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) – Oregon authorities say smoking in bed
probably caused a Coos Bay-area mobile home fire that killed two
women and left a man in critical condition. The weekend blaze
killed Elaine Lowry and Diana Hammans of Lakeside and left Charles
Mitchell in critical condition. Authorities say all three suffered
smoke inhalation.
ALBANY, Ore. (AP) – The weather is rarely perfect for farmers,
and this spring has proved to be no exception in the Willamette
Valley. The Albany Democrat-Herald reports that the mid-Willamette
Valley had 11.5 inches of rain in March, more than double the
average rainfall for the month. The valley is home to a variety of
crops, and one farmer says each is affected by standing water to
some degree. Rain is in the forecast for much of this week.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-04-12 0929EDT
