3rd Oregon News Minute from the AP

Date: 01/18/2013 10:30 AM

OR–3rd NewsMinute/284
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A homeless sex offender says he’s being run out of Portland by attention focused on him by KATU. Gordon Strauss told the station he hadn’t been treated fairly. He was at a downtown police precinct yesterday to take his name off the list of homeless sex offenders living in Portland. Police say Strauss is headed back to Seattle where he has family and friends.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The union for Oregon prison officers has hired a lawyer to sue inmates who attack guards. Association of Oregon Correctional Employees President Mike Van Patten told the Statesman Journal it’s an attempt to stop inmates from hitting, spitting or throwing human waste at guards. The first lawsuit was filed Jan. 4 by an officer who says an inmate bit the inside of his cheek until it bled so he could spit HIV-infected blood on the officer.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A testing company that approved the concrete used in the condemned Courthouse Square building in Salem has agreed to settle a lawsuit by paying $105,000 to the owners – Marion County and Salem Keizer Transit. The five-story building was closed in 2010 after engineers determined it was unsafe because of weak concrete and a defective design. A $23 million renovation should be completed next year.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The federal government is giving Oregon $226 million to finish creating an online marketplace where people can shop for health insurance. Cover Oregon, as the exchange is branded, will enable individuals and small businesses to compare health coverage options and access financial assistance under the federal health care overhaul. Nearly all Americans will be required to have health insurance by next year.

 

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.