EUGENE MARIJUANA COMPLEX
Company plans Eugene complex to house dozens of pot growers
(Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com)
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A southern Oregon real estate company looking to capitalize on the expanding marijuana industry is planning to build a multimillion-dollar growing and processing facility in Eugene with enough space to house more than 30 different pot ventures.
The Register-Guard reports that Grow Condos Inc. has submitted its proposal to the city of Eugene for review.
Plans for the marijuana complex include dividing 50,000 square feet of potential growing space into 32 units, which would be sold or leased by the publicly traded company. The industrial spaces would be sold at $150,000 to $175,000 each.
Grow Condos CEO Wayne Zallen says the company has a similar facility in Eagle Point, where it’s based. He says millions of dollars have already been raised for the Eugene project and other potential complexes.
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OREGON-POLITICS-THE LATEST
The Latest: Gov. Brown inaugurated amid budget shortfall
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown has been sworn in to complete the remaining two years of John Kitzhaber’s term.
In her inaugural address on Monday, Brown said the biggest obstacle to creating a better future for Oregon is a $1.7 billion budget deficit. Her budget proposal that the Legislature will debate after it convenes on Feb. 1 accounts for the entire shortfall. It does so by raising some taxes and cutting some spending.
Brown said that to build the economies of rural communities that have been left behind by the recovery from the Great Recession, the state should rebuild bridges along the coast and improve Highway 97 that runs down the middle of the state.
BODY IDENTIFIED
Authorities identify woman found slain in car trunk
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities have identified a body found inside the trunk of a vehicle last week and say the woman was slain.
KOIN reports the Clackamas County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the remains to be that of missing Clackamas woman Merrilee B. Cooley, 68. Her cause of death was determined to be homicide. No other details were immediately released.
Cooley was reported missing on Dec. 28, 2016, and her Kia Optima was found on January 5 at an apartment complex in Milwaukie.
The woman’s family said she disappeared under unusual circumstances. Her house was left a mess.
COW ON ICE
A moo-ving rescue: Stranded cow winched across frozen pond
MONMOUTH, Ore. (AP) — A cow stranded on ice in western Oregon experienced what might be called a moo-ving rescue.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office got a report last Friday about a cow that had ventured onto a frozen pond, fallen and couldn’t get back up.
A sheriff’s deputy, the cow’s owner and a friend of the owner rushed to the rescue. The sheriff’s office says the owner used some lassoing skills to get a rope around the cow from shore.
Video shows the bovine being steadily winched across the ice on its belly, safely reaching shore, and then moseying back toward the barn.
Sheriff Mark Garton said Monday the cow is doing just fine.
KIDNAPPING CRASH
Head-on crash as police chase kidnap suspect; 2 killed
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman who may have been kidnapped died when the pickup she was in collided with another vehicle during a police chase in Eastern Oregon.
Oregon State Police Capt. Bill Fugate says Ontario police responded Monday to a kidnapping in progress at a convenience store. Just as officers arrived, the suspect fled in a Dodge pickup with a woman who was reportedly being held against her will.
Officers pursued the pickup onto Highway 201, where the southbound Dodge crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a Ford.
The woman in the Dodge died at the scene, as did the driver of the Ford.
Fugate says the suspect driving the Dodge suffered serious injuries, as did a passenger in the Ford.
More details were not immediately available. The investigation remains active.
NORTHWEST WEATHER-HYPOTHERMIA
Autopsy: Woman in Portland garage died of hypothermia
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon State Medical Examiner has confirmed that a Portland woman found dead in a downtown parking garage succumbed to hypothermia after being outside in freezing temperatures.
The woman has been identified as 52-year-old Karen Lee Batts.
Central Precinct officers responded to the parking garage Saturday after getting a report that a woman had been removing her clothing while appearing to struggle in the cold weather.
She was deceased when officers and paramedics arrived.
AVALANCHE DANGER
Central Oregon forecast could increase avalanche risk
(Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com)
BEND, Ore. (AP) — The Central Oregon Avalanche Association is warning that warmer temperatures and additional snow are expected to increase the potential for avalanches.
The Bulletin reports that the forecast over the next week calls for wet snow in the Cascades, which would blanket the dry powder that fell over the past week. Those conditions could increase the risk of an avalanche.
The Avalanche Association’s Trevor Miller says trained spotters who regularly visit backcountry spots hadn’t seen signs of heightened risk as of Friday.
Miller’s organization hosts a free seminar about avalanche awareness in Bend once a month during the winter. He says the talks offer tips about how to assess avalanche risk in backcountry skiing areas.
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OREGON-ESL STUDENTS
Oregon allocates $5M for teaching English as second language
(Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is allocating $5 million to help 40 school districts better teach English as a second language.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that recent graduation and test results show that three-fourths of the state’s ESL students aren’t proficient in math, 60 percent can’t read well by the end of middle school and a third never graduate from high school.
The state is providing funding to the 40 districts it says have done the worst job of helping students learn English. Each district is required to make a custom plan to improve its effectiveness and will be judged on the results achieved by 2020.
Bend-La Pine, Reynolds, Jefferson County and Umatilla school districts are among 15 singled out as having the deepest crises.
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Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
