Student with gun and knife arrested at South Salem High
Salem police say they arrested a 17-year-old student with a loaded gun and a knife at South Salem High School late Wednesday morning. Police responded to the school shortly before noon after someone reported a student had sent them a video message via social media claiming to be at the school with a gun. Officers worked with Salem-Keizer Public Schools staff to identify and locate the student. Police say the student ran from the school as officers approached, but they stopped and arrested him at a vehicle. Police say they found a knife in the student’s possession. They also found a loaded firearm after obtaining a warrant to search his backpack and vehicle. Salem police have not released the student’s name because he is a juvenile. He was taken to the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of possession of a weapon in a public building, illegal possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed knife. (Alia Beard-Rau/Salem Statesman Journal)
Senate unanimously votes to drop practice of paying state employees to travel back to Oregon
Senators in Oregon have voted to end a controversial policy that repays state employees who live elsewhere when they travel back to Oregon. COVID-19 policies allowed many state employees to work from anywhere — including the other side of the country — and be reimbursed when they returned to Oregon for work. Only a tiny fraction of the state’s more than 41,000 employees opted to do so. But stories of well-paid public workers getting free plane tickets rankled the public and many lawmakers. So much so that the bill to end the reimbursement policy, Senate Bill 853, was sponsored by all 30 state senators. It was brought forward by Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, who called it “the most bipartisan bill this session.” The bill passed unanimously and now heads to the House. (Dirk VanderHart/OPB)
Josephine County refuses to declare homelessness emergency
The Josephine County Board of Commissioners declined the Grants Pass mayor’s request to declare a homelessness state of emergency. Mayor Sara Bristol requested the action in hopes the county could secure its share of $130 million in assistance from the state of Oregon. But Commissioners Dan DeYoung and Herman Baertschiger said declaring an emergency could cause them to cede control to the state or other authority in the matter. “We give up our control when we declare an emergency,” Baertschiger said, who also denied the accuracy of annual point-in-time counts of the homeless population. Bristol said the city may choose to take action by itself. (Shaun Hall/The Grants Pass Daily Courier)
Bend is adding EVs to its fleet to help meet climate goals
Replacing gas-powered cars with electric vehicles is one way that Bend hopes to reach its lofty climate change targets, which include a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 70% reduction by 2050. The city’s fleet of government vehicles makes up about 17% of its emissions, according to Cassie Lacy, senior management analyst for the city. Bend obtained its first two EVs last year and is planning to add five more this year. The city expects to replace all 188 of its vehicles that weigh less than a half-ton with EVs over the next decade. (Michael Kohn/The Bend Bulletin)
Related: Portland approves public electric vehicle chargers in more areas to close equity gaps
UO launches a new program to turn research into startups
The University of Oregon this week announced a program it’s calling “Launch Oregon,” which aims to develop a pipeline of startups that will propel the work of university researchers and innovators. Paul Weinhold of the University of Oregon Foundation said the program could provide a total of up to $3 million in seed funding to startups through Launch Oregon. Administrators say it’s the first fund in the state to connect school innovators to capital, talent, leadership and infrastructure. (Brian Bull/KLCC)
