Date: 02/05/2013 09:28 AM
OR–2nd NewsMinute/286
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would expand the definition of drunken driving to include prescription drugs and synthetic substances that mimic drugs. Currently “intoxicants” cover only alcohol, controlled substances and inhalants. The Statesman Journal reports the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing yesterday on the bill that would include any drug that affects a driver’s mental or physical faculties.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A state commission says a magnitude 9 earthquake off the Oregon coast and tsunami could cause more than $30 billion damage to the state economy. Such a quake also could kill as many as 10,000 people in the state, but the report from the Earthquake Commission focuses on survival and recovery. The report calls for 50 years of seismic upgrades to limit the damage.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A long-time Oregon graffiti tagger has been given an unusually long sentence of a year in jail after police tracked down photos he posted on Facebook that showed his most recent work. The Oregonian reports that the judge found Isaiah Joel Schwebke in violation of his probation for a 2009 graffiti-related conviction. Portland police say he’s been a “habitual tagger” since 1996.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A federal indictment accuses two men of falsifying the weight and takeoff power of a helicopter that crashed in Northern California more than four years ago, killing nine people. The 25-page indictment names the former vice president and the maintenance chief of Carson Helicopters Inc., based in Grants Pass. Steven Metheny and Levi Phillips are charged with conspiracy, fraud and endangering the safety of an aircraft. The crash killed nine men, including seven contract firefighters with Grayback Forestry of Merlin, Ore.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.