Around Oregon and Idaho
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 10:39 AM PDT
Ore. investigating death at Pacific Power
PENDLETON (AP) — The state agency that enforces workplace safety rules is investigating an incident that killed a journeyman lineman working in Pendleton last month.
On July 14, power poles struck Gary W. Anderson, who worked for Mount Power Construction, a contractor for Pacific Power. The 48-year-old died suffered traumatic brain injury and died 10 days later at a Portland hospital.
Oregon-OSHA spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros confirmed the agency is looking into the death.
‘‘What I understand happened, there were some power poles loaded on a trailer that came off the trailer and struck the employee,’’ Mesaros said.
Mesaros said the investigation could last several months.
Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts said his department isn’t looking into the death as a criminal case.
Idaho man injured in Ore. boat explosion
ST HELENS (AP) — A 25-year-old Idaho man has been burned in the explosion of a fishing boat docked at a marina near St. Helens, Ore.
Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson said Joshua Gifford of Cambridge, Idaho, was airlifted Tuesday evening to a Portland hospital.
The sheriff says Gifford was in the cabin when the 24-foot boat blew up about 5:35 p.m. Dickerson says he understand that Gifford was working on the vessel as it was idling and tied up to the dock. Several witnesses reported seeing the young man jump into the water after the blast.
Lottery says 1 woman arrested in security probe
BOISE (AP) — The Idaho Lottery says a single person has been arrested during an undercover investigation of stores that dispense tickets, part of efforts to ensure the integrity of the games.
The investigation of 130 of 900 Lottery retailers in 50 cities showed about 99 percent met all of the security criteria. Only two stores didn’t; the probe is continuing at one of them, located in Rathdrum.
At the other, a Stinker Store in Idaho Falls, now-former employee Shawna McKelley was arrested after she kept a decoy high-tier winning ticket she believed was worth more than $100,000.
After taking the ticket to Lottery headquarters, she was met by detectives and apprehended.
Ore. AG, NY county move to block
e-cigarette sales
PORTLAND (AP) — The state of Oregon has gone to court to block the sale of electronic cigarettes on the same day that a New York county banned their sale to minors.
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and Jon Cooper, majority leader of the Suffolk County Legislature on Long Island, N.Y., said Tuesday the lawsuit and the ban are both the first of their kind in the nation. Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices typically made out of plastic designed to look like a traditional cigarette, including a light that simulates its glow.
But instead of tobacco that burns and creates smoke, the ‘‘e-cigarettes’’ use a heating element to vaporize water mixed with ingredients in a disposable cartridge, which can include liquid nicotine.
The e-cigarettes are mostly imported from China by companies that claim they are safe because no smoke is generated or inhaled, only water vapor. But a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration test of 19 e-cigarette brands found more than half contained a cancer-causing substance.
Kroger and Cooper said the FDA has never declared e-cigarettes safe for public consumption. Kroger and Cooper also said an additional concern is the flavors offered with e-cigarettes, such as bubblegum and chocolate, that attract teenagers and even younger children.
