COOLEST COOLER INVESTIGATION
Portland cooler company says it’s done nothing wrong
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â A Portland company that raised $13 million online but then struggled to deliver its promised product to thousands of supporters says it’s done nothing wrong.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the Oregon Department of Justice has confirmed it’s investigating the company after receiving 315 consumer complaints against Coolest Cooler in the past year.
The company raised money in a Kickstarter campaign to produce coolers that include blenders, speakers and USB chargers. Creator Ryan Grepper says the company has delivered coolers to nearly 40,000 of its more than 62,000 backers, and it’s working to deliver coolers to the rest.
In a lengthy email to backers this weekend, Grepper assured them the state investigation would find no wrongdoing. He attributed delivery delays in part to Amazon.com’s decision to sell the coolers for $225 instead of $399, and said the company doesn’t plan to issue immediate refunds.
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NURSING HOME-EMPLOYEE LAWSUIT
Woman claims nursing home fired her for reporting neglect
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â A former employee of a Portland nursing home has filed a lawsuit against the facility for $575,000, alleging she was fired in 2014 for reporting that a patient had been wounded because of neglectful care.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Stacy Molina, who worked as a nursing assistant, says other employees failed to properly care for her patient while she was on leave with the flu. She claims she returned to work to find the man had developed a large, infected wound on his leg.
Molina says she turned over photos of the wound to a medical educator to try to report what she considered was medical neglect.
The lawsuit says she was then fired for sharing the photos, which her supervisors said violated the patient’s medical privacy.
Molina claims she was fired for bringing attention to the alleged neglect.
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HIGHWAY CLOSED
Lane of Willamette Highway to stay closed after tanker crash
OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) â The Oregon Department of Transportation says the eastbound lane of the Willamette Highway will remain closed for at least several days west of Oakridge after a fuel truck crashed.
The department says the semi-truck crashed and caught fire late Saturday night while carrying more than 10,000 gallons of fuel, and hazmat crews will be responding for several days.
There will be short delays in both directions as equipment is moved on and off the highway. The highway is also known as Oregon Route 58. It runs southeast of Eugene.
GRESHAM FATAL
Gresham man dies after he was hit by SUV; driver arrested
GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) â A 56-year-old pedestrian has died after he was hit by an SUV while crossing a street in Gresham. The driver has been arrested.
Gresham police say 56-year-old Janice Taylor was booked into Multnomah County Jail Saturday on investigation of drunk driving, reckless driving and second-degree manslaughter.
Police say she remained at the scene and cooperated with police Friday night’s crash.
The Gresham man died at a local hospital. He has not been identified.
OREGON-WASHINGTON ST
Ground game carries Washington State over Oregon 51-33
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) â Luke Falk threw for 371 yards and Washington State scored six rushing touchdowns as the Cougars beat Oregon 51-33 on Saturday.
Jamal Morrow, Gerard Wicks and James Williams each ran for two touchdowns for Washington State (2-2, 1-0 Pac-12), which was coming off a bye week. Washington State defeated Oregon in double overtime last year, a game that sparked the Cougars’ run to a 9-4 record.
Oregon (2-3, 0-2) has lost three straight games and held a team meeting earlier in the week to seek a turnaround.
Royce Freeman, who missed the last game with a leg injury, ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns for Oregon.
Washington State piled up 651 yards of total offense, including 280 on the ground, to 416 total yards for Oregon.
Falk completed 36 of 48 passes with one touchdown.
Oregon’s Dakota Prukop completed 14 of 22 passes for 132 yards.
Washington State came in averaging 121 rushing yards per game.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oregon: The Ducks lead the all-time series 47-40-7, but are clearly not as formidable as in recent years. Their defense looks suspect.
Washington State: The Air Raid offense also has a ground attack this year. The Cougars appear to be rebounding from an 0-2 start, and have topped 50 points for two consecutive games. WSU, which beat the Ducks 45-38 in double overtime last season, notched consecutive wins over Oregon for the first time since 2002 and 2003.
UP NEXT
Oregon hosts No. 10 Washington
Washington State plays at No. 7 Stanford, which lost big at Washington on Friday.
GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE-BOOED
Candidate Pierce booed for sexual assault remarks at debate
(Information from: KOPB-FM, http://news.opb.org)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â The Republican candidate for Oregon governor drew boos at a Portland debate Friday when he suggested successful women aren’t susceptible to sexual violence.
Dr. Bud Pierce’s remarks came after his Democratic opponent Gov. Kate Brown also disclosed she has been a victim of domestic violence.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that Pierce said “a woman that has a great education and training and a great job is not susceptible to this kind of abuse by men, women or anyone.”
The line drew groans and boos from the audience at the Portland City Club.
Pierce later issued a statement saying in part that he “knows that any woman, regardless of economic status, can be subject to domestic violence and sexual abuse.” He also apologized to Brown and “anyone else who may have taken my comments the wrong way.”
A Brown campaign official told KGW-TV that the incident referred to did not involve her husband Dan Little.
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HEPATITIS C SETTLEMENT
Portland to pay teen who got Hepatitis C from officer mom
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) â The city of Portland has agreed to pay $89,000 to the 18-year-old son of a city police officer who was infected with Hepatitis C while working in the late 1990s.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the teen is believed to have contracted Hepatitis C while his mother was pregnant with him.
City documents say the officer spent much of the 1990s working undercover posing as a prostitute and a drug buyer and that she was bitten, pricked by intravenous drug needles and exposed to the blood of suspects. Documents say at least three suspects said they had Hepatitis C.
A medical expert hired by the city “determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty” that the officer was infected with Hepatitis C one of those times.
The payment is to cover related medical expenses.
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WHITE PRIVILEGE SURVEY
High school teacher assigns white privilege survey
(Information from: KATU-TV, http://www.katu.com/)
ALOHA, Ore. (AP) â A white privilege survey was assigned as homework for a group of Oregon high school seniors.
Parent Jason Schmidt provided KATU-TV a photo of the survey his son was given. He says it’s inappropriate to teach students about what he called the latest political fad.
Parent Sarah Rios-Lopez said she applauds teachers who give students information to form opinions.
The survey photo shows students were asked to assign numerical values to various statements based on how often it is true for them.
The first statement said that the student can be in the company of people of his or her own race most of the time.
Beaverton School District officials say the class is intended for students to have civil discussions on topics including race, sexuality and religion.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.