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Oregon Bill Takes Aim at Smokers

The proposal faces an uncertain future amid concerns that the bill places an unfair burden on smokers.

(SALEM) - Smokers could have to dig a little deeper in their pockets to buy a pack of cigarettes in Oregon, under legislation pending in the state House of Representatives.

To finance a dramatic expansion of Oregon’s Healthy Kids Program, Gov. Ted Kulongoski is seeking an 84.5-cent increase to the state’s cigarette tax to pay for healthcare coverage for an additional 117,000 uninsured children.

If approved, the state’s cigarette tax would rise to $2.02.

Flu Alert: Oregon Cases Increasing

Influenza is not an illness to take lightly. It can cause serious illness and kills more than 400 Oregonians every year.

(PORTLAND) - Reports of laboratory-confirmed flu cases in Oregon are nearing a peak for the current flu season, and public health officials in the Oregon Department of Human Services want people to know there is still time to get a flu vaccination.

The number of lab-confirmed cases rose from 58 two weeks ago to 84 last week.

"Flu season is definitely in full swing, with cases spread across Oregon," said Susan Allan, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., DHS Public Health Division administrator.

Update in Search for Missing Oregon Woman

Ms Kline has been missing since Saturday morning 1:30 AM.

(CLACKAMAS) - The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office will be launching a watercraft onto the Tualatin River in an effort to locate Dena Kline. The river will be searched from about the city limits of Tualatin to the diversion dam near West Linn.

This search is due to the most recent report of Ms Kline being seen at the Corner Saloon, SW Borland and SW Stafford Rds, which is near the river.

Time to Invest in Poor Children and Their Families

For more than a decade of welfare reform, Oregon’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program has been focused on reducing the number of families receiving assistance.

(SILVERTON) - Last year, Congress significantly changed the federal rules that govern how states must operate the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. This program provides job training and temporary cash assistance to poor families with dependent children. Oregon must adapt its program to meet the new rules, but retains substantial flexibility in how the state program will be structured.

Let’s hope state legislators turn the need to reform our program into an opportunity to strengthen how Oregon helps very low-income children and their families.

Fire Investigation Results in Arrests and Children Taken Into Protective Custody

Fire officials say the damage was surprisingly minor with a damage estimate of about $500.

(SALEM) - A fire at an apartment in Salem Monday led to an investigation and the arrests of two local residents.

A Fire Marshal from Marion County Fire District #1 called Sheriff's Office arson investigators to the scene at 4150 Campus Loop NE where the fire occurred in a multi-unit apartment building.

Kevin Rau with the Marion County Shriff's Office says the initial investigation was to determine the cause of the unexplained fire. "It became apparent to those investigators that the fire may have been intentionally started."

The Sometimes Invisible Disease – Multiple Sclerosis

MS affects the central nervous system, restricting nerve fibers from conducting electrical impulses to and from the brain.

(SALEM) - Four-hundred thousand Americans suffer from Multiple Sclerosis which has the subtleness of invisibility to others, but is devastating to those afflicted with this debilitating disease.

In researching Multiple Sclerosis, I came to realize how little I knew about it, and was soon to learn that those not specifically educated on MS have very little insight.

Several years ago there was an instructor at the business school I attended who told his students about the disease he had. He informed us if we were to see him stagger or act a little “out of it”, that he was not on drugs but was suffering from MS. What an eye opener...

Attempt to Create Rainy Day Fund in Oregon Defeated by House Republicans

Standard & Poors has assigned Oregon a AA- credit score, three rungs from the premium AAA rating. The mediocre bond rating costs the state taxpayers millions of dollars each year in increased borrowing costs.

(SALEM) - Legislation that supporters believe would have helped to ensure Oregon’s financial future failed Tuesday in the state House of Representatives amid Republican opposition, forcing Democrats to look to voters to create the rainy-day fund they so doggedly seek.

The plan, supported by an unusual coalition of Democrats and business groups, would have redirected an estimated $275 million in corporate tax rebates this year into a budget reserve created to help avert the type of deep budget cuts that lawmakers made in the 2002-03 recession.

Senator Burdick Testifies to Washington State Legislature

Washington Senate Bill 5197, which would close the state’s gun show loophole, passes out of committee for the first time ever.

(Salem) - Senator Ginny Burdick (D-Portland/Tigard) testified earlier this month in Olympia, Washington in the state’s Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce Research & Development. She was invited to testify on Senate Bill 5197, legislation that requires background checks to purchase a firearm at Washington gun shows. The bill passed out of committee today, sending it to the Senate floor for the first time in state history.

Senator Burdick was chief petitioner and champion of Oregon’s Ballot Measure 5 in 2000, requiring a criminal background check for firearm purchases at gun shows. The measure passed with 62% of the vote statewide.

Oregon Pastor Arrested for Using Wooden Paddle to Discipline Teenage Son

Police said the father used the paddle to discipline his child as a form of corporal punishment.

(ALBANY) - An Albany pastor was in a Benton County courtroom Tuesday to face second-degree assault and first degree criminal mistreatment charges after he allegedly stuck his 13-year-old son multiple times with a wooden paddle.

Albany police Capt. Eric Carter says when police arrived they found the boy with welts, bruising, and red marks, on his thighs, arms and buttocks.

Oregon, Nationwide Gas Prices Continue to Climb

In the past week, the average price in the Salem-area rose 8-cents to $2.52 a gallon.

(SALEM) - As retailers across the nation prepare for the March switch from winter to summer grade fuels, pump prices continue to climb.

In the past week, the national average price for a gallon of regular jumped by almost 11-cents to $2.37 -- the highest it's been since September 2006.

Oregon's statewide average price rose by about six cents per gallon to $2.519.