Beginning October first, Oregonians can expect police to pay closer attention to their habits behind the wheel. On that day, the state’s new, fortified distracted driving law will have taken effect. The new law makes it easier for distracted drivers to get pulled over by police, who can now issue citations to anyone holding any…
Since an adolescent in the running for the 2017 Darwin Award ignited the Eagle Creek fire, tenacious firefighters have worked tirelessly to contain the flames that continue to destroy vast swaths of the Columbia River Gorge’s natural beauty. One landmark, in particular, was at risk of destruction and may not have survived the flames had…
Growing tired of a sweltering heat wave, Portland resident Liz FitzGerald was determined to cool off. She longed to be in water, so she journeyed to Punch Bowl Falls after recalling her friends’ account of splashing in the pool at the base of the falls the month before. On her way up the trail, she noticed a…
The current administration’s goal to remove two existing regulations for each new one and cap the cost of new regulations, when applied to the trucking industry, may backfire. Many in the trucking industry believe that the government’s goal to eliminate “unnecessary rules” that supposedly are bad for business threatens the safety of truck drivers and…
As of May 26, 2017, all child passengers under age two must use a child seat with a rear-facing harness, unless the child turned one year of age prior to May 26, 2017. Children under age two must be securely fastened in a car seat with harness or in a booster seat until they reach…
Falling consistently ranks among the top causes of workplace injuries and deaths, and is the #1 killer of construction workers. In 2015, 11% of 44 fatal workplace accidents that took place in Oregon were falls. This year, painters on the Ross Island Bridge were exposed to treacherous conditions when their contractor failed to follow basic…
After the regrettable death of a 15-year old girl from Albany in the foster care system, the Oregon Department of Human Services decided to review a random sample of 101 child welfare case decisions for insight into what could be improved. The disturbing conclusion found that many children were deemed safe by social workers despite…
Oregon’s Department of Human Services has just settled for a hefty $7 million to resolve a case of abuse and neglect against two preschool-aged children in foster care. State-appointed foster parents in Yamhill County nearly starved the siblings to death before turning the kids over to their aunt after announcing they could no longer care for them….
Portland Oregon, at the confluence of two rivers with a population of over 600,000, is a bridge-dependent city. Each of its thirteen bridges spanning the Willamette River are vital to keeping transportation flowing. In 2011, the city of Portland began to prepare for the inevitability of destruction from a predicted major earthquake without any usable…
New research data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicates that lane departure warning systems lower rates of single-vehicle, sideswipe, and head-on crashes of all severities by 11 percent and lower the rate of injury crashes of the same type by 21 percent. While encouraging, several limitations currently exist preventing this life-saving technology…