Eugene, Lane County | featured news

KLAMATH FALLS — Klamath County could face tighter regulations on burning next year as a result of weather conditions that have led to high concentrations of fine particles in the air this winter.

PORTLAND — Oregon’s labor commissioner has accused a Portland-area construction company of retaliating against employees working with state and federal investigators. The Oregonian reported ( http://is.gd/YgMfhs ) Commissioner Brad Avakian filed the whistleblowing complaint against K&O Contracting, a roofing and siding company with Aloha and Happy Valley addresses.

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. — Recent mass shootings at a Portland mall and a school in Connecticut prompted the Ridgefield School District to hire armed guards. Guards from the Spokane-based Phoenix Protective Corp. went to work this week at the district near Vancouver.

SALEM — A testing company that approved the concrete used in the condemned Courthouse Square building in Salem has agreed to settle a lawsuit by paying $105,000 to the owners — Marion County and Salem Keizer Transit. The county Board of Commissioners approved the settlement this week.

SALEM — The union for Oregon correctional officers has hired a lawyer to sue inmates who attack guards. Association of Oregon Correctional Employees President Mike Van Patten told the Statesman Journal ( http://stjr.nl/10EoCS9 ) it’s an attempt to stop inmates from hitting, spitting or throwing human waste at guards.

LOS ANGELES — Oregon wouldn’t let go of the lead no matter how many times USC rallied, and the Ducks got out of the Galen Center with a 76-74 men’s basketball victory Thursday night.

Thanks to a little charity, Faith and Hope are doing just fine. The petite pair of purebred Persian cats ended up in Eugene resident Georgene Hoester’s care last month, days after police officers rescued them from a tree branch near the edge of the Willamette River in Springfield.

Profits at Pacific Continental Corp. — the parent of Pacific Continental Bank — more than doubled last year compared to 2011, with the bank saying it had four quarters in a row of strong growth in loans and deposits.

Chip Kelly’s gone. But Duck fans, console yourselves. He’s left a big piece of himself behind. To be precise, the 6,300-square-foot house he recently built on a half-acre double lot off Gilham Road in northeast Eugene.

Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner issued an open letter to his constituents this morning on the topic of gun control. He’s one of several elected law enforcement officials in Oregon to weigh in on the issue this week.