3rd Oregon News Minute from the AP

Date: 09/21/2012 10:28 AM

OR–3rd NewsMinute/268
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A study finds that the base salary makes up about half the total cost of compensation for public employees in Oregon. The study results released this week by Portland State University found that vacation, overtime, health and pension benefits can often exceed base wages. The Oregonian reports the study examined compensation for 11 job titles in 21 cities and counties in Oregon and southwest Washington.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A 23-year-old man has been sentenced in Salem to life in prison for strangling a transient after they had been drinking at a motel. Hugh Edward Crow was sentenced yesterday for the death last December of 61-year-old Jeffrey Stow. Stow was temporarily living in a motel and let Crow and another man stay with him when he learned they also were homeless.

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) – Police believe they have caught the man responsible for a string of burglaries from Beaverton to Lake Oswego. Washington County deputies say detectives arrested Thomas Phelps on Tuesday at a motel in Rhododendron. In the room and two nearby storage units they found jewelry, tools, sports equipment and furniture that apparently had been stolen. Detectives think Phelps used Facebook and Twitter to learn when residents would be out of town and then broke into their homes.

REEDSPORT, Ore. (AP) – Oregon State University is looking at Reedsport and Newport as possible sites for a wave-energy testing facility. The Pacific Marine Energy Center will test devices that generate electricity from the motion of waves. The World reports community members will be involved in the process of selecting the site.

 

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.