November 18, 2014 eClips

  • Sea star wasting on Pacific Coast linked to virus, scientists report
  • Oregon’s early use of Healthcare.gov largely successful, but faces some glitches
  • Portland can’t keep up with America’s smartest cities, Forbes magazine says
  • Civil rights and service dogs: Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian answers your questions
  • Empty promises to displaced tribal fishermen — Guest Opinion
  • Oregon environment roundup: Could hunting wolves actually boost wolf population?
  • Antibacterial soap linked to cancer; dangers of secondhand marijuana smoke: health news
  • Marijuana legalization: Oregon lawmakers will be asked to decide whether to allow local pot taxes
  • Jordan Cove LNG in Coos Bay could quickly become one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in Oregon
  • Safety board affirms government’s ability to regulate drones
  • William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge in Willamette Valley sees winter arrival of waterfowl
  • Congress must act on Oregon timber, water pacts — Opinion
  • Former Oregon RISE director pleads guilty to theft
  • Open enrollment: 3 health insurance websites to know
  • 94 percent of people haven’t fixed their ballots
  • Lane County judge announces retirement
  • Thief’s confession fails to sway case
  • Seat on state fish panel remains vacant
  • Dean of the House finishes 18-year run
  • Why Did Measure 88 Lose So Badly?– Blog
  • Death By Dirty Water: Storm Runoff A Risk For Fish
  • Pacificorp Sues To Block Release Of Bird-Death Data
  • Rogue Valley Residents Question University Biomass Proposal
  • Study: Communities Must Learn To Coexist With Wildfire
  • What A Junk Food Diet Means For Seagulls In The Northwest
  • Northwest Cities Show Food Waste Isnt A Total Loss
  • Report Finds Oregon Has Fifth Highest Percentage Of Homeless Children In US
  • No One Said Curbside Composting Would Be Easy
  • Researcher: Climate talks should focus on solutions
  • Wolves split from pack, form new pair in Eagle Cap Wilderness
  • Stormwater could kill salmon, but ‘rain gardens’ help
  • Oregon doing well in limiting unneeded antibiotics
  • Study: 11 million acres of dry NW forests need restoration
  • Crayfish in Crater Lake threaten native newt

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SEA STAR WASTING ON PACIFIC COAST LINKED TO VIRUS, SCIENTISTS REPORT

(Portland Oregonian)Scientists have isolated a virus they are pretty sure is causing the mysterious disease that has killed millions of sea stars on the Pacific Coast from Southern California to Alaska by causing them to lose their limbs and eventually disintegrate into slime and piles of tiny bones.
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OREGON’S EARLY USE OF HEALTHCARE.GOV LARGELY SUCCESSFUL, BUT FACES SOME GLITCHES

(Portland Oregonian)Days into Oregonians’ first use of Healthcare.gov, reviews are generally good, though the federal health insurance exchange is not without glitches and challenges, according to agents, insurers and consumers.
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PORTLAND CAN’T KEEP UP WITH AMERICA’S SMARTEST CITIES, FORBES MAGAZINE SAYS

(Portland Oregonian)Portland has plenty of college-educated young residents but not enough good jobs to keep up with America’s smartest cities, according to a list the magazine released Monday.
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CIVIL RIGHTS AND SERVICE DOGS: OREGON LABOR COMMISSIONER BRAD AVAKIAN ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

(Portland Oregonian)Where do the rights of a store owner and the rights of a service dog owner collide when it comes to entering a business? live chat

The state’s top labor official will answer questions about service animals and Oregon’s public accommodations law during a live chat with readers on Tuesday, Nov. 18, from noon to 1 p.m.

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EMPTY PROMISES TO DISPLACED TRIBAL FISHERMEN — GUEST OPINION

(Portland Oregonian)Ninety miles east of Portland, the Dalles Dam looms over the Columbia River and the surrounding countryside, a concrete monument to engineering and construction. It does what it was built to do provide electric power to the region, offer passage for commerce, help control flooding.

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OREGON ENVIRONMENT ROUNDUP: COULD HUNTING WOLVES ACTUALLY BOOST WOLF POPULATION?

(Portland Oregonian)The disease that’s decimating sea stars off the Pacific Coast is a virus that’s not new to the scene.
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ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP LINKED TO CANCER; DANGERS OF SECONDHAND MARIJUANA SMOKE: HEALTH NEWS

(Portland Oregonian)A chemical found in antibacterial soap has been linked to liver cancer, a study by California scientists shows.

The researchers fed triclosan, a common antimicrobial agent found not only in soap but also shampoos, toothpastes and other household items, to mice in a long-term study designed to gauge its health effects.
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MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION: OREGON LAWMAKERS WILL BE ASKED TO DECIDE WHETHER TO ALLOW LOCAL POT TAXES

(Portland Oregonian)City officials seeking to levy local taxes on legal sales of marijuana in Oregon plan to take their fight to the state Legislature next year.

The League of Oregon Cities says it will ask legislators to amend the marijuana legalization measure passed by voters two weeks ago to explicitly allow local taxes being sought by at least 70 cities, including Portland and several of its suburban neighbors.
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JORDAN COVE LNG IN COOS BAY COULD QUICKLY BECOME ONE OF THE LARGEST GREENHOUSE GAS EMITTERS IN OREGON

(Portland Oregonian)A proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay could quickly become one of the largest, if not the largest emitter, of greenhouse gases in Oregon, federal data shows.
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SAFETY BOARD AFFIRMS GOVERNMENT’S ABILITY TO REGULATE DRONES

(Portland Oregonian)The U.S. government’s ability to regulate drones was upheld today by a federal safety board, which overturned a judge’s decision that aviation regulations don’t apply to small unmanned aircraft.
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WILLIAM L. FINLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE IN WILLAMETTE VALLEY SEES WINTER ARRIVAL OF WATERFOWL

(Portland Oregonian)The geese are back in the valley.

Some, of course, never left, but it’s a much more wild experience watching and hearing them fly overhead than seeing them graze grass is a city park.
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CONGRESS MUST ACT ON OREGON TIMBER, WATER PACTS — OPINION

(Salem Statesman Journal)In the next few weeks, Congress has a bipartisan opportunity to make Oregon a national model for ending age-old disputes over natural resources.

This is a rare, almost unprecedented, opportunity to gain long-term economic and environmental certainty for the Klamath Basin and much of Western Oregon. Oregon’s congressional delegation must work together to ensure the legislation passes.
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FORMER OREGON RISE DIRECTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT

(Salem Statesman Journal)The rise and fall story of Janice Roberts came closer to completion Monday afternoon when the former executive director of the nonprofit Oregon RISE pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated theft.
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OPEN ENROLLMENT: 3 HEALTH INSURANCE WEBSITES TO KNOW

(Salem Statesman Journal)Open enrollment on HealthCare.gov began Saturday, much quieter than last year.

A vast majority of consumers around the country are having a smooth experience, according to a U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman.

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94 PERCENT OF PEOPLE HAVEN’T FIXED THEIR BALLOTS

(Salem Statesman Journal)Ninety-four percent of the Oregonians with problem ballots have yet to fix theirs, and the deadline to do so is Tuesday evening.
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LANE COUNTY JUDGE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

(Eugene Register-Guard)Lane County Circuit Judge Cynthia Carlson will retire Dec. 31, Gov. John Kitzhaber announced today.

Carlson joined the bench in 1994 after having served 15 years as a public defender.
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THIEF’S CONFESSION FAILS TO SWAY CASE

(Portland Tribune)-Appeal in Francke murder hinges on prowler’s admission-

Petty criminal Frank Gable never confessed to killing Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke 25 years ago, but Johnny Crouse, another petty criminal, repeatedly did.
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SEAT ON STATE FISH PANEL REMAINS VACANT

(Portland Tribune)It will be at least a couple months before Gov. John Kitzhaber nominates a candidate to fill a long-vacant seat on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The commission seat that represents Oregons 1st Congressional District in northwest Oregon has already sat empty since 2012 and during that time, the commission that normally has seven members has operated with only six.
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DEAN OF THE HOUSE FINISHES 18-YEAR RUN

(East Oregonian)Bob Jenson might take some time to adjust to his new life.

After all, Jenson spent 18 years and nine terms in Oregons House of Representatives, so long that his colleagues gave him the honorary title Dean of the House.
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WHY DID MEASURE 88 LOSE SO BADLY?– BLOG

(Willamette Week)-A new report blames national “Tea Party nativists.”-

This month’s election results suggest Oregon remains a blue oasis in a red political tide. So how to explain voters overwhelmingly rejecting Measure 88, which would have given drivers cards to undocumented immigrants?
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DEATH BY DIRTY WATER: STORM RUNOFF A RISK FOR FISH

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)Just hours into the experiment, the prognosis was grim for salmon that had been submerged in rain runoff collected from one of Seattles busiest highways. One by one, the fish were removed from a tank filled with coffee-colored water and inspected: They were rigid. Their typically red gills were gray.
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PACIFICORP SUES TO BLOCK RELEASE OF BIRD-DEATH DATA

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)A wind-energy company is suing in federal court to block the government from releasing information to The Associated Press about how many birds are found dead at its facilities.
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ROGUE VALLEY RESIDENTS QUESTION UNIVERSITY BIOMASS PROPOSAL

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)Southern Oregon University has a plan to make its campus the first in the Northwest to install a biomass power plant.

But its proposal is meeting some skepticism from Rogue Valley residents.

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STUDY: COMMUNITIES MUST LEARN TO COEXIST WITH WILDFIRE

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)A study from a Southern Oregon University scientist argues a global shift in mindset is needed when dealing with wildfires. Instead of viewing fire as something that can be controlled and prevented, lives and money could saved by preparing for the inevitable.
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WHAT A JUNK FOOD DIET MEANS FOR SEAGULLS IN THE NORTHWEST

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)Anyone whos been to the beach knows that seagulls will eat pretty much anything.

New research from the University of British Columbia shows just how bad seagull diets in the Northwest have become.

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NORTHWEST CITIES SHOW FOOD WASTE ISNT A TOTAL LOSS

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)-This is the first part of a three-part series, What A Waste: Why We Have To Stop Throwing Food Away.-

Wasting 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S. certainly has its drawbacks:

Its not feeding people in need, its expensive and it does a lot of environmental damage.

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REPORT FINDS OREGON HAS FIFTH HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF HOMELESS CHILDREN IN US

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)A new report by the National Center on Family Homelessness found that nearly one in 30 American children was homeless in 2013, which equates to about 2.5 million kids nationwide.

Oregon has the fifth highest percentage of homeless children, with more than 38,000 kids considered homeless in the state.
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NO ONE SAID CURBSIDE COMPOSTING WOULD BE EASY

(Oregon Public Broadcasting)-This is the second part of a three-part series, What A Waste: Why We Have To Stop Throwing Food Away.-

Seattle and Portland are working to reduce the environmental impacts of food waste by offering curbside composting. But no one said it would be easy. The cities have faced challenges from foul odors, lack of participation and plastic contamination.
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RESEARCHER: CLIMATE TALKS SHOULD FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS

(Capital Press)-An Iowa State University sociology professor who examined differences in opinion between climate scientists and farmers about climate change advises the scientists to focus more on on-farm solutions in their conversations with growers.-

Growers attitudes about climate change tend to be based on their own experiences, so scientists who interact with them should tailor their message to solutions on the farm.
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WOLVES SPLIT FROM PACK, FORM NEW PAIR IN EAGLE CAP WILDERNESS

(Capital Press)-The wolves have paired up in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of Eastern Oregon.-

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports two wolves left their birth packs over the summer and are now paired together in the Eagle Cap Wilderness southeast of Cove.
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STORMWATER COULD KILL SALMON, BUT ‘RAIN GARDENS’ HELP

(KGW)Alarming new research about the relationship between storm water runoff and salmon shows that all the rainwater that washes off our roads and highways may be killing the fish.

But that same research shows how one simple solution may be the key to saving them.
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OREGON DOING WELL IN LIMITING UNNEEDED ANTIBIOTICS

(KTVZ Bend)-They don’t help with colds, flu — and can lead to drug-resistant infections-

Oregon public health officials said Monday are seeing less resistance in bacteria most responsible for serious respiratory infections such as pneumococcus, thanks to the state’s low antibiotic prescribing rates.

But people continue to misuse antibiotics, and that can lead to dangerous and potentially deadly drug resistance, said Ann Thomas, M.D., a public health physician in the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division, and medical director of its Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education AWARE program.
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STUDY: 11 MILLION ACRES OF DRY NW FORESTS NEED RESTORATION

(KTVZ Bend)-Most need thinning, burning – and time, ecologists say-

More than 11 million acres of dry forest in Oregon and Washington are in need of restoration, according to a new study reported Monday by scientists for The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service.
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CRAYFISH IN CRATER LAKE THREATEN NATIVE NEWT

(The Columbian)-Report paints bleak picture of future of the Mazama Newt-

Mark Buktenica, whos worked as Crater Lake National Parks aquatic biologist for 30 years, remembers times not so long ago when Mazama Newts, a species found only at Crater Lake, were common sights along the lakes shorelines.

He says things changed in the 1990s, when sightings of the 8-inch long salamander, formally christened the Mazama Newt but affectionately called mud puppies, became less common.
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