Category Archives: Oregon

‘Bomb cyclone’ brings high winds and soaking rain to north-west US

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Strongest atmospheric river seen by California, Washington and Oregon this season knocks out power and downs trees

What was expected to be one of the strongest storms in the north-west US in decades arrived on Tuesday evening, knocking out power and downing trees across the region.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning on Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river – a large plume of moisture – that California and the Pacific north-west has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone”, which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

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Bomb threats targeted Oregon election offices days after election day

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Local clerks say they received threatening emails last week, amid a series of hostile election-related incidents

The FBI confirmed it is “aware” of bomb threats that targeted election offices in several Oregon counties. Local clerks in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson reported receiving threatening emails last week, just days after election day.

The FBI said that none of the threats were deemed credible.

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US tourist killed while on vacation in Hungary as suspect taken into custody

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Mackenzie Michalski, 31, from Portland, Oregon, met 37-year-old man from Ireland at nightclub in Budapest

Family members of a 31-year-old American tourist who was killed while on vacation in Hungary’s capital mourned their loss while a 37-year-old suspect was in custody Saturday.

The victim, Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on 5 November after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, where they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.

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Secretaries of state ask social media companies for moderation plans on election day

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Democratic top elections officials are concerned about inflammatory and AI-generated content

A group of Democratic secretaries of state are calling on social media companies to detail their plans to moderate inflammatory content and artificial intelligence on their platforms during and after election day.

Seven secretaries of state – representing Maine, Rhode Island, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and New Mexico – sent the letters to Google, X and Meta on Friday. Secretaries of state typically play some role in overseeing elections in their states.

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Early ballots burned in suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon

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Hundreds of ballots damaged in fires that police believe are linked and vehicle involved has reportedly been identified

Hundreds of early ballots cast for the US presidential election have been burned in two suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon, exacerbating tensions ahead of next Tuesday’s knife-edge contest.

Police said Monday that the fires in the two states were believed to be connected and that a vehicle involved had been identified, according to the Associated Press.

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Salmon swim freely in Klamath River for first time in more than 100 years

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News comes after Iron Gate dam was removed to let river near California-Oregon border return to natural flow

For the first time in more than a century, salmon are swimming freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, just days after the largest dam removal project in US history was completed.

Researchers determined that Chinook salmon began migrating on 3 October into previously inaccessible habitat above the site of the former Iron Gate dam, one of four towering dams near the California-Oregon border that were demolished as part of a national movement to let rivers return to their natural flow and to restore ecosystems for fish and other wildlife.

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Boeing workers walk off the job after vote to strike and rejecting pay deal

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US Pacific north-west region workers voted 96% in favor of the strike and walked off the job early on Friday

Tens of thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job early on Friday after voting overwhelmingly to strike for higher pay, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with chronic output delays and mounting debt.

The company said on Friday it was ready to talk and “get back to the table to reach a new agreement” as striking workers picketed.

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Oregon: drug possession to be a crime again as decriminalization law expires

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First-in-nation trial comes to an end, as new law gives those caught with hard drugs option of charges or treatment

Oregon’s first-in-the-nation experiment with decriminalizing drugs will expire on Sunday as a new law taking effect will once again make it a crime to possess small amounts of hard drugs.

The new recriminalization law, HB4002, will give those caught with illicit drugs – including fentanyl, heroin and meth – the choice to either be charged with possession or treatment, which includes completing a behavioral health program and participating in a “deflection program” to avoid fines.

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Three people dead after small plane crashes in Oregon town

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Officials say two people on board Cessna plane that struck row of townhouses, displacing families and causing fire

Three people were dead after a small plane crashed into a row of townhouses on Saturday morning in a neighborhood east of Portland, setting the homes ablaze, authorities told KATU-TV.

Officials earlier in the day had said the plane was carrying two people and that at least one resident had been unaccounted for.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that a twin-engine Cessna 421C came down at about 10.30am local time near the Troutdale airport.

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US pilot who took magic mushrooms and tried to cut engines says behavior ‘unfathomable’

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Joseph Emerson charged with 83 counts of reckless endangerment over incident on flight to San Francisco

An Alaska Airlines pilot who attempted to shut off the engines of a passenger plane mid-flight after ingesting magic mushrooms said his actions were “unfathomable”, in some of his first public remarks after he was indicted on 83 counts of reckless endangerment.

In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Joseph Emerson described the events of 22 October as “30 seconds of my life that I wish I could change, and I can’t”.

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US chip factory workers say it’s a ‘struggle to survive’ on their wages as industry booms

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Companies stand to gain billions in federal funds and tax breaks as employees suffer in poor working conditions

As chip manufacturers grapple for billions of dollars in federal funds and tax breaks designed to boost the US semiconductor industry, they face growing calls from inside their factories to improve working conditions and pay.

Workers and labour unions are urging key companies in the sector to “do the right thing” and prioritize the wellbeing of employees over the wealth of their shareholders.

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Man accused of starting California’s largest wildfire of the year is arrested

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Suspect allegedly pushed burning car into gully which started Park fire as other fires scorch Pacific north-west

A California man was arrested on Thursday and accused of starting the state’s largest wildlife of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully.

The flames have since exploded into what is now the Park fire, which has burned more than 71,000 acres (28,733 hectares) near the city of Chico. Evacuations were ordered in Butte and Tehama counties, with the blaze only 3% contained early on Thursday.

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Las Vegas sets record for number of days over 115F amid its ‘most extreme heatwave in history’

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City hits all-time high of 120F as officials set up emergency cooling centers at community centers across south Nevada

Las Vegas set a new record on Wednesday as it marked a fifth consecutive day over 115F (46C), amid a lingering hot spell that will continue scorching much of the US into the weekend.

The blazing hot temperatures climbed to 115F shortly after 1pm at Harry Reid international airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days above 115F set in July 2005.

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US swelters on Independence Day with over 150m people under heat alerts

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‘Severe’ and ‘potentially record-breaking’ heatwave sends temperatures soaring across US

More than 150 million people were under heat alerts on Thursday morning, as a brutal and potentially historic heatwave sent temperatures soaring across the US on Independence Day with little chance of relief over the next week, even after dark.

Forecasters warned that high overnight temperatures and the long-lasting duration of the extreme event will increase the danger, posing additional risks to human health and the rapid spread of wildfires.

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Firefighters near Phoenix battle wildfire as temperatures surpass 100F

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Residents evacuate after Boulder View fire rips alongside Scottsdale, and wildfires in California and Oregon rage

A wildfire north-east of Phoenix has, as of Saturday, threatened scores of homes, forced dozens of residents to evacuate and required more than 200 firefighters to battle it.

No structures have been damaged as the wildfire has traversed nearly 6 sq miles (15 sq km) on the cusp of the Boulder Heights subdivision of Scottsdale, said Matthew Wilcox, spokesperson for a multi-agency wildfire response team.

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Wind-driven wildfire spreads near popular Oregon vacation spot

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Officials urged the continued evacuations of hundreds of homes in the area as stronger winds were forecasted

A wildfire near a popular vacation destination in Oregon’s high desert has been spreading rapidly since erupting on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of families out of heir homes and businesses.

The fire exploded near the popular vacation destination of Bend in central Oregon, an area known for its microbreweries, hiking, river rafting and skiing on nearby Mount Bachelor.

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US admits dams in Pacific north-west have devastated Native Americans

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US says dams killed off salmon, inundated villages and burial grounds, and spirited wealth away from tribes

The US government, in a report published on Tuesday, acknowledged for the first time the harms that federal dams have inflicted on Native American tribes in the US Pacific north-west.

The report by the interior department details the “historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia River Basin Tribes”, including how dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have devastated salmon runs, inundated villages and burial grounds, and deprived tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life.

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Oregon officials rescue 28 people stuck upside down on amusement park ride

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Visitors to the Oaks Amusement Park were stuck on the AtmosFear ride for a half hour after it unexpectedly stopped

Emergency crews in Oregon rescued 28 people on Friday after they were stuck for about half an hour dangling upside down high on a ride at a century-old amusement park.

Portland fire and rescue said on the social platform X that firefighters worked with engineers at Oaks Park to manually lower the ride, but crews had been preparing to conduct a high-angle rope rescue if necessary. All riders were being evacuated and medically evaluated, and there were no reports of injuries.

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Party Bus the rodeo bull escapes Oregon arena and wounds three people

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Bull hopped fence and ran through concession area, lifting one person off the ground, before professionals secured it

A rodeo bull named Party Bus hopped a fence surrounding an Oregon arena and ran through a concession area into a parking lot, injuring at least three people before wranglers caught up with it, officials said.

The crowd at the 84th Sisters Rodeo in the city of Sisters was singing along with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA on Saturday night, most with their cellphone flashlights on, as the bull ran around the arena before what was to be the final bull ride of the night, when the bull hopped the fence, according to a video shot by a fan.

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Pride flag in window of Oregon library apparent target of BB gun attack

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Newberg-Dundee police department said in addition to vandalism were ‘concerns of biased intent’

A Pride flag that hung in the window of an Oregon library was the apparent target of BB gun fire amid Pride month and a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures from US legislatures.

In a Facebook statement on Wednesday, the Newberg public library in Newberg, Oregon, said that around 7.10pm, a BB gun was fired at a window on the south-east corner of the library. A picture showed a shattered window, behind which a Pride flag hung.

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