Latest Oregon news, sports, business and entertainment

DOOMSDAY DRILL

Rehearsal for mega-quake, tsunami starts in Northwest

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. (AP) — The Pacific Northwest kicks off a massive earthquake and tsunami drill as part of a multiday event to rehearse scenarios on how the region would deal with a dual natural disaster.

The four-day event, called Cascadia Rising, begins Tuesday.

Federal officials say about 20,000 people will be involved in the disaster drill, representing various federal agencies, the U.S. military, and state and local emergency response managers from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, Native American tribes and emergency management officials in British Columbia.

One main goal of the exercise is to test how well they will work together to minimize loss of life and damages when a mega-quake of 9.0 rips along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and unleashes a tsunami. More than 8 million people live in the zone, which contains the most heavily populated areas of the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle and Portland.

PORTLAND POLLUTION-GOVERNOR

State officials lift moratorium on glass company over metals

(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon state officials have lifted a cease-and-desist order on a Portland company after the company agreed to restrictions on its use of toxic metals, including lead.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Bullseye Glass agreed to a state mandate on Monday to stop using certain heavy metals.

The company in February voluntarily ceased using arsenic, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in furnaces lacking pollution controls. The agreement adds lead to the list.

Gov. Kate Brown issued the order to Bullseye in May after monitoring at a daycare near the business showed lead levels four times higher than the 24-hour benchmark.

The agreement also allows Bullseye to resume using other metals if they submit a written request that is approved by state regulators, who will check the use of the metals with air test results.

___

MOTORIST’S THROAT SLASHED

Woman accused of cutting man’s throat after asking for ride

(Information from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com)

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — A Pendleton woman has been charged with attempted murder after police say she sliced the throat of a motorist who gave her a ride.

Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan says the motorist was near Pilot Rock on Saturday when 30-year-old Vanessa Logman flagged him down and asked for a ride to the hospital. She was with her four children.

The family climbed into the back seat, and the vehicle headed down the road.

The sheriff says the woman reached over the seat and cut the driver’s throat. The driver stopped, pulled the woman out of the pickup and, with help from others, subdued her.

Undersheriff Jim Littlefield tells the East Oregonian newspaper that the woman said she suffers from mental illness and was hallucinating.

The driver needed 11 stitches.

___

TRAIN DERAILMENT-THE LATEST

The Latest: Oregon leaders want temporary stop to oil trains

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Several top Oregon leaders are calling for a temporary halt to oil train traffic in the Columbia River Gorge after Friday’s fiery train wreck.

U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Gov. Kate Brown and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici released a joint statement Monday afternoon.

They say Union Pacific Railroad should not resume oil train traffic until the company thoroughly explains the cause of the derailment and provides assurances that it’s taking steps to prevent another one.

Union Pacific spokesman Justin Jacobs said Monday morning that freight traffic — though no crude oil — has been moving through the area since Sunday night after multiple parties determined the area and the new track is safe.

He says the railroad “will not run any crude oil trains through this area any time soon.”

—

WILLAMETTE RIVER DROWNING

Oregon man drowns while trying to stay cool during heatwave

WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) — A dive team has recovered the body of a 36-year-old man who drowned in Marion County.

The Oregon State Police said Monday that Dagoberto Nava Castro of Woodburn vanished Sunday afternoon after jumping from a dock near the Wheatland Ferry boat ramp, an area of the Willamette River with swift undercurrents.

The dive team found the deceased swimmer at about 9 p.m.

ROUGE RIVER-LIFE JACKETS

Student push for loaner life jackets encounters red tape

(Information from: Daily Courier, http://www.thedailycourier.com)

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — High school students in southern Oregon are continuing to press for the installation of life jacket loaner stations along the Rogue River despite bureaucratic obstacles.

The Daily Courier reports that the group from Hidden Valley High School in Murphy wants to construct two life jacket loaner stations to help prevent summer drownings. They received approval for the project from the County Board of Commissioners and the Parks Department, but teacher Chris Pendleton is still working on the terms of an agreement with the department.

Pendleton says the student group it is not yet satisfied with the language in the memorandum of understanding with the parks department. He didn’t say what changes the group wants.

County parks director Sarah Wright says she believes the hang-up is because of liability issues.

___

POLLUTED SHIPYARD

Clatsop officials fight to keep polluted shipyard open

(Information from: The Daily Astorian, http://www.dailyastorian.com)

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — Clatsop County officials are asking the state Department of Environmental Quality to keep a polluted shipyard open for a few more years.

The Daily Astorian reports that Clatsop Economic Development Resources Director Kevin Leahy says the Astoria Marine Construction Co. shipyard on the Lewis and Clark River is important to the commercial fishing industry and that a shutdown would seriously hurt the region’s economy.

In a letter to the Department of Environmental Quality, Leahy asked that regulators hold off on closing the shipyard for five to 10 years.

The 90-year-old shipyard was contaminated during contracts to build vessels for the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War. The state was awarded cleanup oversight in 2012 and efforts to remove contaminated sediment are estimated to cost more than $2 million.

___

EARLY CHERRIES

Early Northwest cherry harvest sets May record

(Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakimaherald.com)

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Thanks to a warm spring, the Northwest’s cherry season is off to a hot start.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that a record number of cherries were shipped in May — more than 651,000 20-pound boxes. That’s according to the Northwest Cherry Growers, which represents 2,500 growers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana.

The earliest cherries were shipped on May 20, much earlier than in past years: Five years ago, the first cherries weren’t shipped until June 15.

The growers organization predicts that about 18.4 million boxes will be shipped during this year’s harvest, with a little more than half of that coming this month.

Despite the early start, the total harvest is expected to be a little less than last year’s, due in part to problems with the Bing variety.

___