Salem-News.com Oregon articles

Western Oregon Autism Study Enrollment Open for Kids Ages 6-11

Families enrolled in the study receive all services for free, including training, treatment and assessments.

(MONMOUTH, Ore. ) - The Teaching Research Institute at Western Oregon University and Louisa Silva, M.D., M.P.H. are announcing a first time opportunity for parents with children between the ages of 6 and 11 with autism to enroll in a research study to receive free training and treatment.

Enrollment is open now through Sept. 5 for residents of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Linn, Benton, Lincoln and Lane counties.

WOU’s early research with 46 children evaluating a five-month period of massage showed promising improvements in the severity of autism.

Oregon Voters to Get Say on Recreational Marijuana

Oregon's proposal will come before voters just two years after they rejected a similar measure.

(SALEM, Ore. ) - An initiative seeking to legalize, tax and regulate recreational marijuana in Oregon has qualified for the November ballot, the state said on its website on Tuesday.

Only two U.S. states, Washington and Colorado, currently allow recreational marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

Red Cross Facing Blood Shortage in Oregon

Eligible donors with types O negative, B negative and A negative blood are especially needed at this time.

(PORTLAND, Ore. ) - The American Red Cross is facing a looming blood shortage in Oregon, and nationwide leading to an urgent need for donors of all blood types to roll up a sleeve and give.

OSU`s Food Preservation and Safety Hotline Now Open

Master Food Preservers answered 2,262 calls during the 2013 summer season.

(CORVALLIS, Ore. ) - The Oregon State University Extension Service's food preservation and safety hotline will help Oregonians safely can and preserve their garden's abundance again this summer.

The hotline remains a useful resource for food safety information even in the Internet age, said Nellie Oehler, a faculty member with the OSU Extension Service's Family and Community Health program and Master Food Preserver coordinator in Lane County.

President Signs Executive Order Banning LGBT Job Discrimination

This order affects 24,000 companies that employ about 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the lead Senate sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the leading congressional advocate for an executive order to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT Americans in the workplace, released the following statement on President Obama’s signing of an executive order that bans workplace discrimination against millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors.

Oregon High School Track Coach Arrested on Sex Abuse Charges

Investigators are concerned there may possibly have been other victims.

(MADRAS, Ore. ) - The head track and field coach at Madras High School was arrested Monday by Oregon State Police related to an investigation into an alleged unlawful relationship with a 17-year-old male member of the high school track team.

Subsequent investigation, in cooperation with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, identified the juvenile male and developed evidence that led to her arrest related to alleged unlawful conduct since May 2014.

UPDATE #2: Human Remains Found in NE Salem

Video by Salem-News.com's Jerry Freeman.

(SALEM, Ore. ) - As Salem-News.com was first to report, Salem police are investigating human remains found Sunday evening in the 200 block of Hawthorne Ave NE near Pipebend Place NE.

Police on scene told Salem-News.com that it appears the body had been there for sometime. It was found in heavy brush. Police would not say who found the body.

UPDATE #2: Woodburn Man Shot in the Back by Car Passenger

Video by Salem-News.com's Jerry Freeman

(WOODBURN, Ore. ) - As Salem-News.com was first to report, police in Woodburn, Oregon are investigating what appears to be an accidental shooting Sunday evening.

A Woodburn police spokesman tells Salem-News.com that a 24-year-old male was shot by a handgun in the back by a passenger in the back seat of a vehicle while they were parked at the Woodburn Safeway store.

Former Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh Dead at 91

Atiyeh, was the first Arab-American governor in the country.

(PORTLAND, Ore. ) - Former Oregon Governor Victor G. "Vic" Atiyeh succumbed to renal failure at a Portland hospital his spokesman said.

Atiyeh, a Republican, was the state's 32nd Governor, and served two terms from 1979 to 1987.

Historic Oregon Restaurant Destroyed by Fire

Mt. Angel Fire says the restaurant was a total loss, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Historic Oregon

(MT. ANGEL, Ore. ) - An early morning fire has destroyed a Willamette Valley landmark restaurant east of Mt. Angel.

Firefighters from Mt Angel, Silverton, Woodburn, Molalla, Monitor and Canby were called to a commercial structure fire at the Markum Inn off Highway 213 between Molalla and Silverton just after 4:30 a.m. Sunday.