News Digest

Monday, October 8, 2007 11:23 AM PDT

OREGON

Alcohol sellers no fans of Oregon’s interim IDs

CORVALLIS (AP) — Oregon’s new system of issuing interim driver’s licenses is proving a hassle to businesses that sell alcohol to people in their 20s.

Owners and managers at some businesses say the paper certificates seem easy to forge. Fearful of a heavy fine for selling alcohol to minors, they require customers with an interim ID to provide a second form of identification, such as a passport.

‘‘It really is a pain in the neck,’’ said Gary Evans, manager of Clodfelter’s restaurant near the Oregon State University campus. ‘‘It really isn’t something we like to deal with.’’

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IDAHO

Idaho medical officials decry family doc shortage

NAMPA (AP) — Medical officials who fear wage-conscious doctors are choosing higher-paying specialties say Idaho needs hundreds more family doctors for the state’s growing population.

‘‘The impact on the consumer is you cannot find a primary care physician if you are new to a community,’’ Michael Patmas, the chief executive officer of the Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, told the Idaho Press-Tribune. ‘‘There are very few that can see you on short notice, (and) if your doctor is older or retiring, there’s no one to replace him.’’

Idaho, predicting a nursing shortage in coming years, has already chipped in more than $30 million to expand buildings that house training programs at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.

THE NATION

Residents question how off-duty deputy who killed 6 in Wisconsin passed background check

CRANDON, Wis. (AP) — The residents of a remote northern Wisconsin community struggled to understand Monday how a sheriff’s deputy who killed six young people and critically wounded another could have become a law enforcement officer. Tyler Peterson, 20, was shot to death after opening fire early Sunday on a group of students and recent graduates who had gathered for pizza and movies during their high school’s homecoming weekend.

Peterson was off-duty from his full-time job as a Forest County deputy sheriff; he also was a part-time Crandon police officer.

David Franz, 36, who lives with his wife two houses from the duplex where the shooting occurred, said it was hard to accept that someone in law enforcement was the gunman.