Dispatches From the Road: Fire in Big Canyon Country
In his latest dispatch, Courthouse News’ western bureau chief unintentionally follows fires from California to the canyons of Idaho.
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Peeing in Public Isn’t Littering, Appellate Court Rules
A man who urinated on the side of a building had his offensive littering conviction overturned after the Oregon Court of Appeals concluded that his urine didn’t count as a deposit of garbage.
Read moreNinth Circuit Upholds Ban on Oregon Dredge Mining
Federal law allows Oregon’s ban on suction dredge gold mining in rivers where salmon spawn, according to a Ninth Circuit ruling on Wednesday against a group of miners who challenged the restrictions.
Read moreOregon, Feds Say Higher Water Standards for Fish 12 Years Away
For over two decades, Oregon has regulated thermal pollution in rivers and streams using illegal standards. But at a hearing Tuesday, the federal and state governments said it will take another 12 years to come up with revised standards to protect threatened and endangered fish.
Read moreChallenge to Oregon Clean-Fuels Program Tossed by Ninth Circuit
Oregon can continue rating fuels based on their greenhouse gas emissions despite claims by oil and gas companies that the program is unconstitutional, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday.
Read moreUS Supreme Court Ruling in Union Dues Impacts Case in Oregon
An Oregon state employee and a labor union have reached a settlement over her lawsuit seeking payback of obligatory union fees, marking the first refund of forced fees since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late June that government workers can’t be required to contribute to labor groups, the employee’s lawyers said Monday.
Read moreFBI Agent on Trial Over Oregon Occupation Leader’s Death
An FBI agent lied about firing two shots at one of the leaders of the 2016 armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, moments before Oregon State Police shot the man in the heart, the government said in opening arguments at the agent’s trial Wednesday.
Read moreMountains of Manure
A Portland, Oregon, LLC sued Quasar Energy Group in Multnomah County Court for going over budget and missing deadlines in building a biogas facility capable of processing 8 million pounds of cow manure into natural gas each year.
Read more1 Dead as Latest Fire Portends Explosive Northwest Season
A fast-moving fire fueled by gusting winds in the Pacific Northwest killed one person, forced dozens of households to evacuate and prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency Wednesday.
Read moreWolves at the Door in Ninth Circuit Arguments
The federal government should have done more to protect Oregon’s gray wolves, no matter what farmers and ranchers say, attorneys for five environmental groups told the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday.
Read moreStudent OK’d to Wear Pro-Border Wall Shirt That Got Him Suspended
A high school senior is free to wear the T-shirt that got him suspended while his lawsuit alleging violation of his free speech rights proceeds, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Read moreJudge Fines Boy, 15, $36.6 Million for Starting Oregon Wildfire
The 15-year-old boy who admitted sparking a massive wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge by lobbing firecrackers into a ravine won’t serve any jail time, but he will have to pay a $36.6 million restitution bill that his lawyer called unconstitutional and “absurd.”
Read moreIndustries Fight Yakama Nation’s Demand to Clean Up More Fish Habitat
Lawyers for oil, gas and steel companies told a judge Friday that they shouldn’t have to pay the Yakama Nation for its efforts to clean up pollution that has migrated beyond the bounds of a federally recognized Superfund site where the Willamette River winds through the center of the city.
Read morePortland Festival Contests Coachella’s Music Monopoly
An annual music festival in Portland brought a federal complaint Monday over the Coachella music festival’s requirement that bands sit out all other West Coast festivals for the six months surrounding Coachella.
Read moreBritish Columbia Joins Washington State in Study of High-Speed Rail
A high-speed rail line connecting Seattle and Portland with Vancouver, British Columbia, could be a possibility, as Washington state’s governor and British Columbia’s premier promised more funding Friday to study such a project.
Read moreOregon Judge Suspended 3 Years for Refusing to Do Gay Weddings
An Oregon judge has been barred from the courtroom for three years, after the state Supreme Court found he undermined public confidence in the judiciary by refusing to perform same-sex marriages, letting a felon under his supervision handle a gun and repeatedly lying during investigations into his actions.
Read moreOil, Gas Industry Fights Oregon Clean Fuel Program
Attorneys representing petroleum and trucking interests told a Ninth Circuit panel that Oregon’s clean fuel program discriminates against out-of-state businesses.
Read moreRetailers Sued for Refusing to Sell Guns to Oregon Man
A 20-year-old Oregon man filed age discrimination lawsuits against Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods on Monday, claiming that the retailers refused to sell him rifles because he was under 21.
Read moreOregon Bans Gun Ownership by Domestic-Violence Convicts
Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a law Monday aiming to close the loophole that allows people convicted of domestic violence and stalking to buy and keep guns.
Read moreWatchdog Slaps Ex-Oregon Governor With Ethics Charges
A state ethics commission formally charged former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber with 10 counts of using his state contacts to benefit his fiancee’s consulting firm.
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