News Digest

Monday, July 9, 2007 1:24 PM PDT

OREGON - Oregon joins other states in ethics crackdown

SALEM (AP) — When Oregon lawmakers recently approved the first overhaul of government ethics laws since the Watergate era, they became part of a coast-to-coast movement to rebuild public confidence in government after a series of national and local scandals involving lobbyists.

Oregon is one of 43 states that have moved to strengthen ethics laws over public officials or lobbyists since last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Storm damages crops

MALIN (AP) — A severe thunderstorm damaged alfalfa, potato and strawberry crops in southern Oregon.

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Several alfalfa fields in Malin, where the crop had been more than 4 feet tall, were sheered, as though cut by mowers, the (Klamath Falls) Herald and News reported. Irrigation lines were scattered, with some draped around power poles.

Cory Turner, a Malin farmer, said quarter-sized hail was followed by heavy rains that left standing water nearly a foot deep in some fields. He said the roll-up door at his garage was blown in, and the roof at his home almost flew off.

‘‘Everything was underwater. It flat blew hard,’’ Turner said.

INTERNATIONAL

In wake of botched terror plot, Scottish Muslims fear retaliation; revenge attacks reported

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — In the entire row of stores, the only one that was targeted — the one that still smells of smoke — is owned by a man of Pakistani descent.

Shafiq Ahmed said vandals rammed a car into his ‘‘One Stop Shop’’ convenience store, then set a fire — an assault disturbingly reminiscent of the attempted terror attack just days earlier on the airport of this gritty Scottish city. Police are investigating the alleged attack and others as part of an apparent backlash against Glasgow’s Muslims since the failed airport assault and attempted car bombings in London. At least 24 incidents are being probed, from graffiti on a mosque to firebombed businesses. Unlike in Muslim enclaves in northern England, Asian Muslims in Glasgow do not live in complete isolation.