Date: 02/09/2015 03:59 AM
AP-OR–1st NewsMinute/257
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon Senate committee is hearing two bills that try to settle tax uncertainty that some blame for delaying two high-tech Oregon projects. Last week, an official with the online giant Amazon told lawmakers that the company could build many more data centers in Oregon if they address the property tax issue.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Independent Party of Oregon wants the Secretary of State to quickly certify the party, after it picked up enough members to qualify as a major political party. State law sets a mid-August deadline for Secretary of State Kate Brown to recognize a new major party. Party officials say they hope she’ll do it soon so they can prepare for 2016 elections. They say any delay would hurt the party’s ability to attract serious candidates.
NORTH BEND, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division says it has found no violations in relation to a construction worker’s death at McCullough Bridge in North Bend last fall. The World newspaper reports 52-year-old Mark Fortune of Florence died after backing his pickup truck off a work platform below the bridge into the Coos Bay.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The owner of a company called Whoops Towing who was arrested earlier this year as he tried to haul off an undercover vehicle has pleaded not guilty to operating an illegal towing business and several other charges. The Statesman Journal reports 36-year-old Michael Selmer of Falls City is scheduled in court on Feb. 12.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.