Around Oregon Idaho
Sunday, September 13, 2009 12:43 AM PDT
Portland metro area Green Line opens
PORTLAND (AP) — TriMet has opened it’s new MAX Green Line to the public.
The line is TriMet’s fifth and extends from Portland to Clackamas County, running a total of 8.3 miles. The line runs through the Portland State University campus, already the top destination for TriMet riders.
TriMet began construction on the $575.7 million project in early 2007.
About 60 percent of the tab was paid for with federal funds. The rest was paid for by the city of Portland, Metro, TriMet, Clackamas County and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Handful of cities beat deadline, OK gas taxes
PORTLAND (AP) — When the Oregon legislature passed a 6-cents increase in the state gasoline tax earlier this year it also put a moratorium on increases in local gasoline taxes.
Since then nine cities and one county have pushed to beat the deadline later this month to impose or increase taxes.
Already, though, five of those gas taxes have been challenged by referendum petitions. A vote on the first, in the city of Hood River, is scheduled Tuesday.
Referendum petition drives have failed in two cases, and they are still in the works in three cities, including Eugene. Election officials there are working to verify petition signatures.
Nearly 40,000 pot plants seized
ASHLAND (AP) — The Siskiyou County sheriff’s office says nearly 40,000 marijuana plants have been pulled from the Rainbow Ridge area near Lake Siskiyou but four suspected growers spotted in the woods escaped arrest.
The sheriff’s office said Friday that eight gardens were found scattered throughout the brush and timber in a roughly one-square-mile area that was steep and inaccessible. Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Gilley notes that the start of hunting season coincides with Northern California’s peak marijuana harvest season, a dangerous time when marijuana growers have the most to lose.
NNU student has swine flu
BOISE (AP) — A private university in southwest Idaho says one student has a confirmed case of swine flu and 80 others have reported flu systems in the past week.
Officials at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa say they have been proactive in preparing for the flu season, giving students hand sanitizer, stressing prevention and providing information about the symptoms.
Students who are feeling ill are being asked to self-isolate themselves.
The university, one of eight liberal arts colleges in the country affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, says most of the students who have shown flu symptoms have recovered quickly.
The state Department of Health and Welfare says at least 364 case of swine flu have been reported in Idaho since April.
Idaho gov: Prepare for spending cuts
BOISE (AP) — Gov. C.L. ‘‘Butch’’ Otter has given state agency directors until the end of next week to draft plans to cut millions from their spending as state tax revenue continues to lag expectations.
Otter is meeting with Republican leaders Friday afternoon to discuss state finances for the 2010 fiscal year amid continued gloomy economic forecasts. He’ll meet with minority Democrats on Wednesday.
By next Friday, Idaho agencies that receive general fund money are under orders to submit plans for trimming their budgets. That includes the Department of Correction, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Welfare, all of which have already been forced to make do with less money. The state said earlier this month that general fund revenue is on track to leave a $151 million shortfall in the $2.5 billion spending plan for the 2010 fiscal year, which started July 1.
The gap likely leaves Otter and Division of Financial Management officials with little choice other than to intensify austerity measures that began in mid-2008 as the economy soured.
