1st Oregon AP News Minute

Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Senate has voted to carve another hole in the state’s public records law. Senators approved a bill that would prohibit disclosure of agreements signed by ranchers over conservation of habitat for sage grouse, a threatened ground bird. Proponents say the measure is needed to get ranchers to participate in the voluntary conservation program. Government transparency advocates worry about the erosion of access to public information.

ESTACADA, Ore. (AP) – A Clackamas County sheriff’s spokesman says a vacant house in Estacada, Ore., caught fire as two men who had broken in were trying to steal gas from a vehicle in the garage by drilling through the gas tank. A spokesman says the fire severely damaged the house. No dollar damage estimate was available. Wurpes says 48-year-old James Carden of Estacada and 22-year-old Richard Gardner of Eagle Creek were arrested.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Relatives of a bicyclist killed by a delivery truck in May 2012 in downtown Portland have agreed to settle a lawsuit for $700,000. KATU-TV reports that Kathryn Rickson collided with the truck as it was turning right. The Rickson family sued the company the driver worked for, Quality Custom Distribution Services, and its parent company, Golden State Foods.

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – Oregon Transportation Department officials say a roughly 50-mile stretch of Interstate 84 east of Pendleton in northeast Oregon has been closed because of hazardous driving conditions. Freezing rain, fog and black ice have led to intermittent closures of large stretches of I-84 in Eastern Oregon since late Monday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.