Date: 08/27/2015 09:22 AM
AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute/255
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – State economists say that $402 million will be returned to taxpayers under Oregon’s “kicker” law. In the past, taxpayers were mailed a check for their share. This time, the refund can be claimed when Oregonians file their 2015 tax return next year. The refund will be worth 6.3 percent of a taxpayer’s 2014 tax bill, which will be added to any refund or subtracted from a tax liability for 2015.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – State regulators will hold a public hearing on the proposed expansion of five dairies around Oregon after multiple requests from Salem vegan groups. The Statesman Journal in Salem reports that this will be the first hearing in more than four years on changes to Oregon confined animal feeding operations, which are sometimes called factory farms. The hearing is expected in September or October.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – The director of the BLM says the agency can reseed and rehabilitate a 443-square-mile area on the Idaho-Oregon border where a wildfire scorched primary sage grouse habitat and grasslands. Neil Kornze visited the burned area yesterday and said that the restoration could take years.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says his agency plans to spend more than $200 million over the next three years on programs to protect greater sage grouse – regardless of whether the bird receives federal protections. Vilsack told The Associated Press he wants to almost double protected habitat for the chicken-sized bird to 8 million acres across the West.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
