AP-OR–2nd Right Now/1211
MINIMUM WAGE
Employers, workers get clarity on Oregon minimum wage rules
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The first of several gradual increases to Oregon’s minimum wage is set to begin in two weeks, and on Wednesday the state clarified how businesses will pay their employees who travel throughout the state.
On July 1, the state will be broken into three geographic regions with their own minimum wages, which is a unique approach under Oregon’s new wage law this year that gained national attention.
State labor officials released final rules this week that say employees will earn the hourly wage in whichever of the three regions they spend more than half their time. For those with more transient schedules, their bosses can either pay the highest rate or break out their minimum earnings by hours worked in their prospective regions.
PORTLAND POLLUTION-LAWSUIT
Woman with lung cancer suing Portland glass company
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 63-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against a Portland glass company, saying it caused her terminal lung cancer.
Valerie Silva filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Documents say she lives in Washington but works at a Fred Meyer store near the Portland Bullseye Glass plant.
She accuses the business of negligence in releasing toxic levels of arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals into the air.
She is suing for punitive damages and attorney fees.
Bullseye didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The state issued a cease-and-desist order to Bullseye in May after monitoring showed high lead levels in the area. Bullseye has since agreed to toxic metal restrictions and had the order lifted.
The company is also facing a class action lawsuit filed by neighbors.
PORTLAND-ZOMBIE HOMES-THE LATEST
The Latest: Portland plans to foreclose on ‘zombie homes’
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The City Council has voted to proceed with plans to foreclose on five so-called “zombie homes” for the first time in 50 years.
The four council members present Wednesday voted unanimously to send the homes to the city treasurer for action. A fifth member was not present.
Booming Portland has grappled with a swelling population and skyrocketing home costs that threaten to lock new homeowners out of the market.
The foreclosures are part of a plan to free up housing in an overheated market while clearing out squatters that have plagued developing neighborhoods outside the downtown area.
The five homes in question have racked up more than $375,000 in unpaid liens over the years.
The action applies only to vacant and abandoned homes in cases where owners can’t be found.
Owners have a grace period of one year to recover their property after the foreclosure sale.
MADRAS INFANT DEATH
Woman charged with Madras infant’s death accepts plea deal
(Information from: KOIN-TV, http://www.koin.com/)
MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — A Jefferson County woman initially charged with murder in the death of an infant has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
KOIN-TV reports that Raine Austria pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. As part of the plea agreement, she will receive credit for the 171 days she has already served.
The plea deal also drops Austria’s previous charges of murder, manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the March 2015 death of 1-year-old Katerina Austria.
Austria’s husband and co-defendant, Garry Vineyard, is still awaiting trial.
Court documents say Austria and Vineyard caused Katerina’s death by neglect and maltreatment. They are accused of withholding food and medical attention from the child and keeping the child in “a chronically dirty home.”
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OREGON CITY POLICE SHOOTING
Oregon City officers found justified in man’s shooting death
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two Oregon City police officers are allowed to return to active duty after a Clackamas County grand jury determined they were justified in their involvement in a fatal shooting.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Officers David Edwins and David Plummer had been on administrative leave following the May 21 death of Travis Anthony Moore. The grand jury’s ruling Wednesday allows them to return to work, but the Oregon City Police Department will still conduct an internal review of the shooting.
The two officers had gone to Moore’s apartment to arrest him on a warrant when they say he started fighting with Plummer. Edwins reportedly used a Taser to stop Moore, but was unsuccessful.
The officers’ claim Moore grabbed at Plummer’s gun before Edwins shot Moore, who died at the scene.
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RANCHING STANDOFF
Judge denies Ryan Bundy’s request to go to San Francisco
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge rejected Ryan Bundy’s request to be released from custody so he can argue a case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bundy serves as his own lawyer in a criminal conspiracy case stemming from the armed occupation of an Oregon bird sanctuary. He’s also charged in connection with an armed standoff with federal agents at his father’s ranch in Nevada.
Bundy and lawyers for the other defendants charged in both cases have said it’s improper to make them defend two cases at once in different states.
The Appeals Court plans to hear oral arguments Thursday in San Francisco. Bundy wants to be there, but U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown on Wednesday denied his request for transfer or release.
NAIL GUN ATTACK
Oregon man says woman asked him to kill her with nail gun
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Police say an Oregon man says he shot a woman with a nail gun after she recruited him to kill her.
The Register-Guard reports that the 46-year-old Cresswell man is accused of firing nine nails into the woman’s head on June 1 before turning the nail gun on himself.
According to a police report, the man told state troopers he first met the 31-year-old Eugene woman the day before the incident, when she told him she needed someone to kill her because she didn’t want to be committed to a mental hospital.
Prosecutors have charged the man with assault but have not taken steps toward trial. The man was put in jail after his release from the hospital.
Police said last week that the woman was in critical condition.
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SHAKESPEARE LAWSUIT
Judge rules Shakespeare festival’s insurer breached contract
(Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/)
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Shakespeare Festival can go to trial or pursue a settlement under a judge’s ruling that an insurer should have covered damage and cancellations related to wildfire smoke.
The Mail Tribune reports Judge Mark Clarke dismissed the festival’s claim that Great American Insurance Co. was negligent.
OSF spokesman Eddie Wallace said the festival is discussing whether the next step will be a trial or pursuing a settlement. He said the festival has switched insurers.
The insurance company argued that the case should be dismissed because cancellations were voluntary and the policy did not cover air quality inside buildings.
Smoke from five lightning-caused wildfires canceled events in southern Oregon in the summer of 2013.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
