2nd Oregon News Minute from the AP

Date: 01/24/2013 09:28 AM

OR–2nd NewsMinute/293
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland commuters can again drive over the Sellwood Bridge. KATU reports it reopened yesterday, a day ahead of schedule, after a week-long closure for a move. The entire 1,100-foot span was slowly shifted 66 feet to make room for a new bridge over the Willamette River. The new bridge should open in two years. The 87-year-old Sellwood Bridge carries about 30,000 vehicles a day.

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) – If it does not fit, you must trim it. That’s what Oregon authorities learned to their chagrin as they tried to move a huge section of Japanese tsunami debris to a marine science center in Newport yesterday. A 105,000-pound chunk of the boxcar-sized concrete dock that floated across the Pacific to an Oregon beach last summer was to be part of an interactive display at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. Officials say the dock section will be cut into a smaller piece to fit its new home. Most of the 66-foot-long dock was dismantled and hauled away for salvage.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Gov. John Kitzhaber has appointed a new head of the Oregon National Guard, Brigadier General Daniel Hokanson. Hokanson is a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and served on active duty before joining the Oregon National Guard. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and commanded nearly 100 air-rescue and firefighting missions throughout the Pacific Northwest.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Employment numbers in Oregon state government fell last year, by about 500. In all, the state employs nearly 82,000 people. That takes into account both the university system, where hiring has been strong during the recession, and other state agencies, which have been shedding jobs recently.

 

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.