State Library eClips – Thursday, May 5
* No. 2 Oregon lottery exec accuses ousted lottery chief of shady personnel actions
* Judge rejects feds’ Columbia River salmon plan, calls for a rewrite
* Recreational marijuana shoppers can buy marijuana edibles and extracts starting June 2
* Who’s got it? Unclaimed $50,000 lottery ticket expires Friday
* Sex offender left Oregon and disguised name to gain family’s trust, abuse daughter
* Young sea star numbers soar in Oregon, 2 years after wasting disease hit
* Medical discovery a unique opportunity for U.S., Oregon economies — Opinion
* Oregon State Hospital superintendent to retire
* Bridges in Salem, Portland go orange for work zone awareness
* Puppies meet their trainers at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution
* I-5 on-ramp at Kuebler to close for two weeks
* Oregon recreational marijuana market expanding to edibles, extracts in early June
* Veritas to lay off workers and close Springfield site by end of September, employees say
* Raise a glass to Oregon Wine Month
* State OKs rules for edible pot products
* Mosaic to hire opioid abuse treatment providers
* Medical community sounds off on challenges in opioid abuse epidemic
* Crews work to minimize wildfire risk
* Editorial: Move the wilderness boundary — Opinion
* National Vote By Mail
* Oregon To Begin Recreational Sales Of Marijuana Edibles In June
* Judge Rejects Feds’ Latest Plan To Help Salmon Survive Columbia River Dams
* FDA Acts To Regulate E-Cigarettes And Cigars For The First Time
* Study: Insect Damage May Counter Intense Wildfires
* Busy Streets Are Bad For Cyclists’ Lungs, Portland Study Says
* When A Cop Dies, Sometimes His Cases Do Too
* Opioid addiction key theme of Waldens Oregon tour
* Wyden, Merkley working on fish screens bill
* Tourism Town Hall coming to Ontario
* Our View: Wolf bill ethics complaint misguided — Opinion
* Check your freezers: Listeria outbreak linked to foods sold here
* New federal rule would permit thousands of eagle deaths
* Median house prices up 3.9 percent in county
* Climate change could alter Crater Lake’s clarity, study finds
* Plan to exclude mining near Kalmiopsis moves forward
* Pacific Connector weighs in as FERC decision looms
* Who tests best? Where our state ranks in student test scores – Slideshow
* Judge: Plan for restoring Northwest salmon runs not enough
* A trim or buzz cut? 73 million timber board feet auctioned each year
* Top U.S. health agency pushes back against reports of Oregon health premium hikes– Blog
* Oregon labor honors fallen workers
* Human Trafficking
* New Medicaid Waiver Seeks to Relieve Housing, Behavioral Health Crises
* Tobacco Reduction Advisory Committee eyes Californias proposed $2 tobacco tax
* Shortages Of Essential Emergency Care Drugs Increase, Study Finds
* Opioid Epidemic Fueling Hospitalizations, Hospital Costs
* Dr. Maggie Bennington-Davis Testified Before Senate Finance Committee — Guest Opinion
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NO. 2 OREGON LOTTERY EXEC ACCUSES OUSTED LOTTERY CHIEF OF SHADY PERSONNEL ACTIONS (Portland Oregonian)
The Oregon Lottery’s deputy director, on leave as part of a management shakeup, called himself a whistleblower and denied his boss’s claim he bullied an employee, according to a letter sent to state officials.
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JUDGE REJECTS FEDS’ COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON PLAN, CALLS FOR A REWRITE (Portland Oregonian)
A federal judge has ruled for the fourth time that the U.S. government’s plan to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin fails to address the federal hydropower dams’ effect on fish.
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RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA SHOPPERS CAN BUY MARIJUANA EDIBLES AND EXTRACTS STARTING JUNE 2 (Portland Oregonian)
Oregon continues its early roll out of recreational marijuana sales next month by allowing people to buy pot-infused edibles and extracts.
Since October, anyone 21 and older can buy a limited amount of marijuana flowers, starter plants and seeds.
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WHO’S GOT IT? UNCLAIMED $50,000 LOTTERY TICKET EXPIRES FRIDAY (Portland Oregonian)
Someone out there has an unclaimed $50,000 Powerball ticket that expires Friday.
If no one claims the prize, those dollars go back into state coffers, which took in more than $10 million in unclaimed lottery money in 2014 and 2015.
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SEX OFFENDER LEFT OREGON AND DISGUISED NAME TO GAIN FAMILY’S TRUST, ABUSE DAUGHTER (Portland Oregonian)
They called him Uncle Sam.
A Longview, Washington, woman first met him in a recovery group at a local church. He also was active in her church Bible study sessions.
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YOUNG SEA STAR NUMBERS SOAR IN OREGON, 2 YEARS AFTER WASTING DISEASE HIT (Portland Oregonian)
Researchers have recently recorded “unprecedented” numbers of juvenile sea stars along the Oregon Coast two years after a sea star wasting epidemic decimated populations, a new study found.
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MEDICAL DISCOVERY A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR U.S., OREGON ECONOMIES — OPINION (Portland Oregonian)
Despite the increasingly heated rhetoric on the campaign trail, America’s economy has significantly improved in recent years. In the past five years alone, U.S. businesses have created more than 14 million jobs, unemployment has reached its lowest level in seven years and, since 2009, the national deficit has decreased by nearly three-fourths.
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OREGON STATE HOSPITAL SUPERINTENDENT TO RETIRE (Salem Statesman Journal)
Oregon State Hospital Superintendent Greg Roberts will retire at the end of the year.
During an interview at the State Hospital on Wednesday, Roberts said he was hired to improve the hospital, and that job is done. He said he believes the State Hospital is now the best institution of its kind in the nation.
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BRIDGES IN SALEM, PORTLAND GO ORANGE FOR WORK ZONE AWARENESS (Salem Statesman Journal)
Two Oregon bridges have changed hues for the first two weeks of May in an effort to raise awareness for work zone safety.
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PUPPIES MEET THEIR TRAINERS AT EASTERN OREGON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION (Salem Statesman Journal)
-Slide Show-
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I-5 ON-RAMP AT KUEBLER TO CLOSE FOR TWO WEEKS (Salem Statesman Journal)
Starting Friday, drivers will not be able to access Interstate 5 via the southbound on-ramp at Kuebler Boulevard for more than two weeks, officials said.
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OREGON RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA MARKET EXPANDING TO EDIBLES, EXTRACTS IN EARLY JUNE (Eugene Register-Guard)
The recreational marijuana market in Oregon will grow beyond flower, into edibles and extracts, in less than a month.
Starting June 2, medical marijuana dispensaries registered with the Oregon Health Authority will be able to sell low-dose edibles containing no more than 15 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, and extracts with 1,000 milligrams of THC or less to recreational customers.
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VERITAS TO LAY OFF WORKERS AND CLOSE SPRINGFIELD SITE BY END OF SEPTEMBER, EMPLOYEES SAY (Eugene Register-Guard)
More layoffs will roll through Veritas Technologies this summer, with the ultimate closure of its Springfield operation by the end of September, according to employees.
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RAISE A GLASS TO OREGON WINE MONTH (Portland Tribune)
-With more than 675 wineries here, it’s a good time to celebrate-
There have never been as many places to sip wine in Portland and Oregon as there are now.
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STATE OKS RULES FOR EDIBLE POT PRODUCTS (Bend Bulletin)
-Marijuana dispensaries will be able to start edible sales June 2-
The Oregon Health Authority announced the rules Tuesday for selling edible forms of marijuana to adults starting June 2.
Registered medical marijuana dispensaries taking part in early sales of recreational marijuana may sell one low-dose edible with no more than 15 milligrams of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, to a retail customer per day.
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MOSAIC TO HIRE OPIOID ABUSE TREATMENT PROVIDERS (Bend Bulletin)
-Federal grant dedicates funding to substance abuse –
Mosaic Medical is venturing into a specialty that’s new for the community health center: helping patients overcome their addictions to opioids.
Until now, Mosaic, which operates 12 sites across Central Oregon, including clinics in Bend, Redmond, Madras and Prineville, has mostly referred patients with substance abuse disorders to other providers.
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MEDICAL COMMUNITY SOUNDS OFF ON CHALLENGES IN OPIOID ABUSE EPIDEMIC (Bend Bulletin)
-Walden supports bill that would expand access to Suboxone-
The U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote next week on no fewer than a dozen bills dealing with opioid drug abuse, but after a visit to Bend on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, knows there’s still more work to do.
Walden participated in a round-table discussion at St. Charles Bend that included doctors, nurses, mental health and addiction professionals. The limits of treating patients for chronic pain and addiction under Medicare was a recurring theme.
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CREWS WORK TO MINIMIZE WILDFIRE RISK (Bend Bulletin)
Federal officials are putting in emergency fuel breaks in southeast Oregon and southwest Idaho to reduce wildfire risk while they work on an environmental assessment for a larger fuel break project for the area.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management fuel break project is part of a $67 million rehabilitation effort following a wildfire last year that scorched 436 square miles of sagebrush steppe that supports cattle grazing and some 350 species of wildlife, including sage grouse.
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EDITORIAL: MOVE THE WILDERNESS BOUNDARY — OPINION (Bend Bulletin)
It makes no sense at all to allow a giant, unlit match right up next to the homes in Crooked River Ranch.
The Bureau of Land Management needs to be able to get into that area to thin and burn and create a buffer between the homes and the wilderness study area. But it cant.
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NATIONAL VOTE BY MAIL (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
We hear from Sen. Ron Wyden D-OR about his proposal to expand Oregon’s vote-by-mail system nationwide.
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OREGON TO BEGIN RECREATIONAL SALES OF MARIJUANA EDIBLES IN JUNE (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Oregonians interested in purchasing marijuana edibles have to wait less than a month until they can get their fix. The Oregon Health Authority issued rules Wednesday for the sale of marijuana edibles under the states early recreational marijuana sales program.
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JUDGE REJECTS FEDS’ LATEST PLAN TO HELP SALMON SURVIVE COLUMBIA RIVER DAMS (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
In a ruling Wednesday, Federal District Court Judge Michael Simon rejected the governments latest plan for protecting salmon in the Columbia River Basin, saying the system of fish-blocking dams cries out for a new approach.
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FDA ACTS TO REGULATE E-CIGARETTES AND CIGARS FOR THE FIRST TIME (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The Food and Drug Administration is banning the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors as part of a broad set of regulations the agency finalized Wednesday.
With the rules that were more than two years in the making, the agency is expanding its authority over e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah tobacco, in much the same way it already regulates traditional cigarettes.
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STUDY: INSECT DAMAGE MAY COUNTER INTENSE WILDFIRES (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
A new forest study reveals an unexpected silver lining for forests attacked by insects like the mountain pine beetle.
Researchers from the University of Vermont and Oregon State University studied fires in forests with outbreaks of both mountain pine beetles and western spruce budworms in the past 25 years. The new report shows that forests eaten up by insects had less severe wildfires than those that were insect-free.
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BUSY STREETS ARE BAD FOR CYCLISTS’ LUNGS, PORTLAND STUDY SAYS (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
A new study conducted in Portland neighborhoods confirms that the more traffic there is on a street, the more air pollution cyclists are breathing.
A number of studies have measured air quality along bike routes, but Alex Bigazzi wanted to see how much pollution got into cyclists lungs.
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WHEN A COP DIES, SOMETIMES HIS CASES DO TOO (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
When Seaside police Sgt. Jason Goodding was shot and killed in the line of duty this winter, his family and his department suffered. Now it turns out some of his cases have too.
In late April, Ronald Flores, a man accused of sodomizing and sexually assaulting a child, was released after spending about a year behind bars. Had he been convicted of those charges, his jail time would have been longer. However Sgt. Goodding was the sole investigator on the case, and his absence complicated its prosecution.
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OPIOID ADDICTION KEY THEME OF WALDENS OREGON TOUR (East Oregonian)
Rep. Greg Walden asked for advice this week on a subject that is grabbing plenty of headlines these days abuse of prescription painkillers.
Walden met Tuesday with health care providers, pharmacists, hospital administrators, law enforcement and others at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston for an opioid roundtable. He is having similar conversations in Bend and Medford this week is working with his congressional colleagues through 12 proposed bills to tackle the opioid addiction epidemic.
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WYDEN, MERKLEY WORKING ON FISH SCREENS BILL (East Oregonian)
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are pushing to reauthorize a voluntary, cost-share program with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife that pays for installing fish screens and passage devices in four Northwest states.
The Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act was initially passed in 2000 before expiring last year. Over the years, it has funded 127 projects that have reopened more than 1,130 miles of habitat to fish passage in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana.
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TOURISM TOWN HALL COMING TO ONTARIO (Argus Observer)
People who have a travel- or tourism-related business are invited to attend a Oregon Tourism Town Hall May 18 in Ontario hosted by Travel Oregon.
The event will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. at Four Rivers Cultural Center.
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OUR VIEW: WOLF BILL ETHICS COMPLAINT MISGUIDED — OPINION (Medford Mail Tribune)
An environmental group that filed ethics complaints against State Rep. Sal Esquivel and two other lawmakers over statements they made about a wolf delisting bill is howling up the wrong tree.
Esquivel, R-Medford, along with Reps. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, and Greg Barreto, R-Cove, were advocating for House Bill 4040, which affirmed the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s decision to delist the gray wolf from Oregon Endangered Species Act protection. The bill passed the House, then the Senate, and Gov. Kate Brown signed it into law.
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CHECK YOUR FREEZERS: LISTERIA OUTBREAK LINKED TO FOODS SOLD HERE (Medford Mail Tribune)
A company from Pasco, Wash., has recalled fruits and vegetables sold at Costco Wholesale, Trader Joe’s and Safeway, among other retailers, because of a Listeria outbreak dating from 2013 in which eight people have been reported infected, two of whom later died.
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NEW FEDERAL RULE WOULD PERMIT THOUSANDS OF EAGLE DEATHS (Medford Mail Tribune)
The Obama administration is revising a federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years, even if means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles.
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MEDIAN HOUSE PRICES UP 3.9 PERCENT IN COUNTY (Medford Mail Tribune)
The median sales price for existing houses in Jackson County rose 3.9 percent, year over year, for the three months ending April 30.
Whether that modest gain is masking a potential surge during the months ahead is to be seen.
Countywide figures compiled by Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service between Feb. 1 and April 30 showed a $222,450 median compared to $214,200 a year ago.
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CLIMATE CHANGE COULD ALTER CRATER LAKE’S CLARITY, STUDY FINDS (Medford Mail Tribune)
Climate change could threaten Crater Lake’s legendary water quality and possibly alter its deep-water ecosystem, a new study concludes.
The U.S. Geological Survey found that warmer temperatures will hamper or even end the lake’s ability to mix surface and deep water, something that’s crucial to keeping the United States’ deepest fresh-water lake among the clearest in the world.
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PLAN TO EXCLUDE MINING NEAR KALMIOPSIS MOVES FORWARD (Medford Mail Tribune)
A plan to exclude mineral development on about 100,000 acres of federal land, to thwart a proposed nickel mine near the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, is nearing fruition.
The U.S. Forest Service released its environmental assessment last week, and written comments will be accepted through May 27.
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PACIFIC CONNECTOR WEIGHS IN AS FERC DECISION LOOMS (The World)
Williams, the company seeking to build the Pacific Connector gas pipeline, is expecting a decision soon from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Jordan Cove Energy Project, but it’s anyone’s guess what will be the result.
George Angerbauer, manager of public outreach for Williams, presented an update from Pacific Connector’s side to the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s Wednesday Business Connection, as the decision is expected on Friday.
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WHO TESTS BEST? WHERE OUR STATE RANKS IN STUDENT TEST SCORES (The World)
-Slideshow-
StartClass ranked all 50 states by test scores. Check out how your state stacks up.
Ed. Note: Oregon ranked #28. Slide has mouse over displayed data _________________________________________
JUDGE: PLAN FOR RESTORING NORTHWEST SALMON RUNS NOT ENOUGH (The World)
A massive habitat restoration effort by the U.S. government doesn’t do nearly enough to improve Northwest salmon runs, a federal judge ruled Thursday, handing a major victory to conservationists, anglers and others who hope to someday see four dams on the Snake River breached to make way for the fish.
In a long-running lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon in Portland, Oregon, rejected the federal government’s latest plan for offsetting the damage that dams in the Columbia River Basin pose to salmon, saying it violates the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
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A TRIM OR BUZZ CUT? 73 MILLION TIMBER BOARD FEET AUCTIONED EACH YEAR (Daily Astorian)
Each year, the state Department of Forestry’s Astoria District sells 73 million board feet of timber out of nearly 137,000 acres in the Clatsop State Forest, providing $23 million in net revenue, two-thirds of it going to local governments and school districts.
The district is planning 12 sales across 2,200 acres of state forestlands in the fiscal year ahead. Public comment on the sales is open through June.
With pressures on the state Board of Forestry, the harvest may be in flux.
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TOP U.S. HEALTH AGENCY PUSHES BACK AGAINST REPORTS OF OREGON HEALTH PREMIUM HIKES— BLOG (Oregon Business Journal)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services went on the offensive against reports including ours that Oregon consumers will be hit hard with another round of health insurance rate hikes.
Since 71 percent of consumers who buy plans through the HealthCare.gov marketplace receive tax credits, they are insulated from sharp increases in rates, said HHS Press Secretary Jonathan Gold.
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OREGON LABOR HONORS FALLEN WORKERS (NW Labor Press)
Twelve truck drivers, four loggers, and three farmers were among 41 workers who died in job-related accidents in Oregon last year. All were remembered at Workers Memorial Day ceremonies held in Portland and Salem April 25 and 28 by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council NOLC and Oregon AFL-CIO, respectively.
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HUMAN TRAFFICKING (Bend Source Weekly)
-People are not property-
According to the latest “Global Report on Trafficking in Persons” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC, compiled in 2014, human trafficking is pervasive worldwide, including the United States. Seventy percent of victims are female and one third of all trafficked persons are children. Human trafficking’s most common form is sexual exploitation, followed by forced labor.
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NEW MEDICAID WAIVER SEEKS TO RELIEVE HOUSING, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISES (The Lund Report) https://www.thelundreport.org/content/new-medicaid-waiver-seeks-relieve-housing-behavioral-health-crises
Community health partnerships will increase coordination and support for housing among the most vulnerable Medicaid members. The state will continue to cap growth at 3.4 percent a year, with one big exception: the skyrocketing cost of high-cost prescription medications. The state will also seek additional funding to boost behavioral health coordination.
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TOBACCO REDUCTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE EYES CALIFORNIAS PROPOSED $2 TOBACCO TAX (The Lund Report)
-After playing mostly defense during Oregon’s 2016 legislative session to stop tobacco industry efforts to prevent communities from enacting their own efforts to curb tobacco use, the committee now is watching California’s efforts to raise taxes on tobacco and e-cigarettes.-
David Hopkins of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is optimistic that California’s tobacco tax on the November ballot will be successful because the last attempt, in 2012, only narrowly failed. California’s tobacco tax now is just half the national average.
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SHORTAGES OF ESSENTIAL EMERGENCY CARE DRUGS INCREASE, STUDY FINDS (The Lund Report)
At some hospitals, posters on the wall in the emergency department list the drugs that are in short supply or unavailable, along with recommended alternatives.
The low-tech visual aid can save time with critically ill patients, allowing doctors to focus on caring for them rather than doing research on the fly, said Dr. Jesse Pines, a professor of emergency medicine and director of the Office for Clinical Practice Innovation at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, who has studied the problems with shortages.
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OPIOID EPIDEMIC FUELING HOSPITALIZATIONS, HOSPITAL COSTS (The Lund Report)
Every day, headlines detail the casualties of the nations surge in heroin and prescription painkiller abuse: the funerals, the broken families and the patients cycling in and out of treatment. Now, a new study sheds light on another repercussion how this public health problem is adding to the nations ballooning health care costs and who’s shouldering that burden.
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DR. MAGGIE BENNINGTON-DAVIS TESTIFIED BEFORE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE — GUEST OPINION (The Lund Report)
-She was the only psychiatrist on the panel-
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on which Senator Ron Wyden serves as the ranking member held a hearing on the state of mental health care in America last Thursday, at which Oregons own Maggie Bennington-Davis, MD who graduated from OHSUs medical school and psychiatry residency program and went on to work at Salem Hospital, then was chief medical officer at Cascadia BH services before becoming CMO at HealthShare, the largest CCO in Oregon was one of the four notable persons invited to testify before the committee.
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