Date: 04/14/2015 09:10 AM
AP-OR–2nd NewsMinute/263
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Federal prosecutors in Portland say “Kevin Thomas'” name was phony and so was his pitch: he told potential investors that he and a partner were going to convert the seeds of 5 million acres of trees in Ghana into oil that would be refined as biodiesel. The Oregonian reports the man was really Lloyd Sharp, who was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for bilking 14 investors of $1.4 million in the scheme.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A Portland man has been accused of stealing $60,000 worth of tools from his employer, Leatherman Tool Group, before he resigned last September. Prosecutors say Hai Loc Vu stole more than 800 items and sold some of the tools on Craigslist. The Oregonian reports that Vu pleaded not guilty yesterday to theft charges.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Senate has voted to require cable barriers between opposing traffic lanes on interstate highways. The vote follows the death last year of Dr. Steven Fritz and Cary Fairchild. They were killed on their way to work at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem when a northbound vehicle crossed the median and struck their car traveling south.
YREKA, Calif. (AP) – Federal biologists have pushed back the deadline for deciding whether to grant Endangered Species Act protection to the Pacific fisher, a cousin of the weasel that lives in forests in California and southern Oregon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says wants more information on risks that may be pushing the Pacific fisher toward extinction, particularly rat poisons left around illegal marijuana gardens.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
