Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon House of Representatives has approved landmark legislation that not only raises the state’s minimum wage for all workers to the highest level in the country, but does so through an unprecedented three-tiered system that sets different rates by geographic region. The measure will now go to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown for final signoff. Brown has said she supports the proposal.
SUTHERLIN, Ore. (AP) – Crews have used explosives to help clear massive boulders that crashed onto a road in southwestern Oregon. The Register-Guard reports that rocks as large as 40 feet by 40 feet landed on the road west of the city of Sutherlin this week. Officials say the contractor expects to finish the cleanup by tomorrow, with the road reopening Sunday at the earliest.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – The U.S. Department of Energy has announced an agreement with an energy cooperative that could lead to the building of small commercial nuclear reactors at an eastern Idaho federal nuclear site. The agency granted a site-use permit to Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to access the 890-square-mile area containing the Idaho National Laboratory to find a spot to build what are called small modular reactors.
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) – A Washington County man accused of fatally stabbing his former girlfriend while on temporary release from a halfway house has been sentenced to life in prison. The Oregonian reports that 25-year-old Eric Petersen pleaded guilty to aggravated murder. At the time of the killing, he was serving 60 days in a minimum-security transitional facility in Hillsboro and had a day pass to go to a job search service.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.