1st Oregon News Minute from the AP

Date: 04/25/2014 03:59 AM

AP-OR–1st NewsMinute/254
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The full Cover Oregon board today will take up an advisory panel’s recommendation that Oregon drop its trouble-plagued online health exchange for private policies. The advisory panel proposes that Oregonians shop for them instead on the federal online marketplace. The recommendation comes more than six months after Oregon’s online site was supposed to go live.

BEND, Ore. (AP) – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is trying to get geocaches removed from wilderness and environmentally sensitive areas in Central Oregon. Geocaches are the containers at the end of high-tech treasure hunts undertaken by hobbyists. The Bend Bulletin reports the bureau has a policy nationwide to get man-made objects out of wilderness areas. That avoids paths getting beaten to popular caching sites.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A state report shows methamphetamine-related deaths in Oregon up by almost a third. The 2013 statistics show more than 220 drug-related deaths overall, and said 123 of the deaths were meth-related, the highest number since 2000. The State Medical Examiner says the majority of meth-related deaths were not from overdoses, but from other events such as traffic accidents and drowning.

BEND, Ore. (AP) – It appears that lightning struck at least twice in nearly the same place, disabling two lifts on the west side of the Mount Bachelor ski area. A spokesman says lightning strikes are rare during the ski and snowboard season. The Bend Bulletin reports the lifts’ electrical systems were disabled, but no other damage was observed.

 

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