Date: 02/15/2013 10:29 AM
OR–3rd NewsMinute/361
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon may swap statues with Washington, D.C. A state House bill calls for a fundraising campaign to commission a statue of Mark Hatfield to be placed in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Each state is allowed two statues, so one would have to move to make way for Hatfield, the former governor who served 30 years in the Senate. He died in 2011. The Statesman Journal reports the bill calls for returning the statue of Jason Lee to Salem. Lee was a missionary and university founder known as the founder of Salem.
GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) – A robbery early today at a Gresham Park led to a SWAT team call-out and ended with a total of five arrests. The victim called 911 just after midnight and said he had been attacked and robbed by five people in Vance Park. Lt. Claudio Grandjean told KOIN patrol officers arrested two suspects right away, but three other suspects were reportedly hiding in an apartment complex. So the SWAT team was called, and soon all the suspects were in custody.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Portland march to protest violence against women drew about 300 demonstrators yesterday. The Oregonian reports that marchers who joined in a movement called One Billion Rising carried hand-made signs that read “Fight like a girl” and “I should not have to be afraid.” There was little confrontation as the protesters attended a rally at Director Park, then set out on their march. Sgt. Craig Dobson says the relative peace was about what police expected. A handful of officers walked the sidewalks alongside the marchers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Gov. Barbara Roberts attended a Valentine’s Day kick-off event for a campaign to reverse Oregon’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage. A Kitzhaber spokesman said both signed a sponsorship petition for the effort. Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s leading gay-rights group, formed a campaign organization to get a constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot. For a measure to reverse the gay-marriage ban, the group first needs to collect 1,000 valid sponsorship signatures.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
