Date: 03/02/2016 03:59 AM
AP-OR–1st NewsMinute/285
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Gov. Kate Brown has announced the resignation of the director of the Department of Environmental Quality. Brown says Dick Pedersen is stepping down as Oregon’s top environmental official for health reasons that she did not identify. Pedersen’s resignation comes amid a public outcry over discovery of hazardous levels of cadmium and arsenic near two glass-making facilities in Portland. Questions have been raised about whether the environmental agency took too long to respond to discovery of the toxic hot spots.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Salem City Council has decided on a site for the police department’s proposed new home. The Statesman Journal reports the council voted to pursue properties at the corner of Commercial and Division streets NE. The council has been working for years to find a larger, seismically stable headquarters for the Salem Police Department. The projected cost could be as high as $81 million, and the city hopes to put a levy on the ballot.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Authorities say a pregnant driver was killed when a tree fell on her SUV in Multnomah County. A Sheriff’s spokesman says the woman was traveling westbound on Southeast Oxbow Drive when the falling tree crushed the driver’s side of the vehicle. The woman’s name has yet to be released.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland Fire & Rescue says the preliminary damage estimate from Sunday night’s fire at a Hayden Island marina has reached $24 million. The department says about 350 boats were in the dry dock storage facility at Sundance Yacht Sales & Marinas. The 90,000-square-foot building collapsed during the four-alarm fire. Investigators have yet to determine what caused the blaze.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
