Wednesday News Report With Kevin Hays

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - (Audio transcript)

Here are today`s top stories from Salem-News.com, with Kevin Hays reporting...

Length: 2:44

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, dealing an embarrassing defeat to President Bush and Republicans who hoped to use the measure to energize conservative voters on Election Day.

Supporters knew they wouldn't achieve the two-thirds vote needed to approve a constitutional amendment, but they had predicted a gain in votes over the last time the issue came up, in 2004.

Instead, they lost one vote for the amendment in a procedural test tally that ended up 49-48.

A Sweet Home man loaded with dynamite in his vest and backpack was taken into custody after he claimed he would blow himself up, along with Linn County sheriff's deputies.

Authorities called in the Linn-Benton Regional SWAT team and closed down the Crawfordsville Elementary School during the incident yesterday.

Deputies arrested 23-year-old Erik Lafond at his residence

After a two-hour stand off, negotiators were able to persuade Lafond into giving up.

The Oregon School Employees Association says it is backing Governor Kulongoski over Republican challenger Ron Saxton.

Only a few months ago, the school workers union endorsed Kulongoski's challenger in the Democratic primary, former state treasurer Jim Hill.

The union says it backed Hill because Oregon schools are worse off now than they were when Kulongoski took office.

But with the primary season over, the school employees union has decided to back Kulongoski for the general election.

The union says that's largely because the governor supports an increase in school funding to six billion dollars for the next biennium.

A convicted panty thief has been sentenced to more than five years in jail in Washington County.

Sung Koo Kim is already serving more than four years in Yamhill County _ and still faces charges in Multnomah and Benton counties.

According to testimony at his trial in Washington County, Kim began stealing women's underwear when he was 17 and had collected about 34-hundred pairs by the time he was arrested in May 2004.

Most of the underwear was taken from college dorms _ including Pacific University in Washington County.

Police also found that Kim had 40-thousand pornographic computer images of torture and rape - including sex acts involving children.

The Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation recently presented the Scio School District with a $1,000 grant to help fund an electronic scoreboard for the baseball field at Scio High School.

The scoreboard is the first for the high school and is dedicated in memory of Scio resident, Wendy Lanz. Lanz was killed in March 2005, in a dirt bike accident. Her three sons attend Scio schools and participate in local sports programs.

The latest Salem-area News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic is On-Demand at Salem-News.com

I`m Kevin Hays reporting for Salem-News.com, have a safe and wonderful day!

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