Date: 04/05/2013 09:28 AM
OR–2nd NewsMinute/298
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
ALOHA, Ore. (AP) – Witnesses who saw a car hit a pedestrian on a sidewalk in Aloha caught the driver when he tried to run away. The Washington County sheriff’s office says when deputies arrived yesterday afternoon they found a 17-year-old girl on the ground near a car that had crashed into a utility pole. And two men were holding the driver on the ground nearby. The 25-year-old Beaverton driver was jailed on charges that include DUI, assault and hit-and-run. The girl was hospitalized with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Legislature is wading into the national debate over gun control today. Earlier this year, Oregon lawmakers abandoned legislation that would have banned military-style rifles and large capacity ammunition magazines. But gun-control advocates have forged ahead with a package of four bills. A Senate committee will hear public testimony on all of the bills during a marathon hearing this morning, but the committee will not vote.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The budget committee of the Oregon Legislature today takes up a Democratic effort to curb pension benefits for public employees. Public-employee unions oppose the measure, but Democrats say it’s necessary to boost school funding. Republicans are vowing to oppose the Democratic measure. They say it’s too paltry to effectively deal with rising pension costs.
PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – The Umatilla County Fair will restrict smoking at this year’s fair and ban it entirely in 2014. The fair joins more than a dozen others in Oregon that have instituted smoking restrictions. The move was prompted by a handful of 4-H club members who had asked the fair board to declare fairgrounds smoke-free. They said smoke drifted into camping areas and animal barns.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
