VOTE COUNT COMING UP
The votes on Oregon’s two tax referendums will be counted Tuesday night, and officials are expecting the results to be close.
Oregon Public Broadcasting, Fox 12 TV and the Portland Tribune conducted a poll last week that indicated both Measures 66 and 67 were winning approval of voters, albeit by small margins.
The income tax increases at issue in Measure 66, which would hit fewer than 3 percent of state taxpayers with higher rates, were winning 50 percent to 44 percent, according to the poll, and the higher business taxes at issue in Measure 67 were winning 48 percent to 45 percent.
DUCKS KICKER IMPROVING
ESPN.com reports that University of Oregon football player Rob Beard, who suffered injuries during a brawl near campus after midnight Sunday, is expected to be released from the hospital in the next few days.
Eugene Police have said the fight involved at least 20 people, and Beard, a kickoff specialist for the Ducks, became involved when he tried to defend fellow UO football kicker Mike Bowlin. Beard was knocked to the ground, kicked in the face repeatedly and lost consciousness.
Beard had facial surgery and “multiple facial injuries,” athletic department spokesman Dave Williford said. Williford also said the injuries weren’t expected to affect Beard’s UO football career. He is expected to compete for the starting placekicking job for the 2010 season.
REVERSE JAILBREAK
According to The Associated Press, a man climbed over a fence and tried to break into the Jackson County Jail in Medford on Monday afternoon.
Jail officials spotted the man scaling the fence that surrounded an area where officers unload prisoners. The officials called police, who said the 28-year-old man was distraught, and he had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. The man told officers he was trying to get help at the jail and that when he didn’t get an answer at the front entrance, he decided to go around back.
The Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford reported that police cited the man for disorderly conduct and trespassing. He was taken to the county’s sobering center and referred for mental health services.
SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS
The Associated Press reports that four young men from Linn County have been sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to shooting down high-voltage power lines near McDowell Creek Park in Lebanon. They were also ordered to pay more than $13,000 in restitution to the Bonneville Power Administration for the Dec. 2008 destruction of government property.
The men were shooting a .22-caliber rifle at ceramic insulators attached to a large transmission tower that held several high-voltage power lines supplying electricity to the Lebanon area. They shattered three insulators, downing a major electrical line and causing an 80-minute power outage to thousands of customers.
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I found this article useful in a paper I am writing at university. Hopefully, I get an A+ now!
Thanks
Bernice Franklin