Hello news readers!
This blog post represents a second attempt to post news text. This time, the 'readers' are included, but the text introducing audio segments
is left out. The audio may be heard in full at https://www.kboo.fm/media/67507-evening-news-083018 ... The stories below represent the
several styles of the reporters in the newsroom. They are edited for content, but may contain grammar, style, and spelling errors. --TM
0830 OR Toxic Algae
Health officials are warning THAT THEY’VE FOUND toxic blue green algae, in Vancouver lake.
The advisory has UPGRADED from a caution to a warning, and THEY’RE TELLING people to stay out of the water.
The cyanotoxins in the algae can be deadly to small pets and children, and cause rashes and nausea in less vulnerable people.
officials will announce when it’s safe to swim in the lake again.
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0830 OR CANNON BEACH SAFE AGAIN
THE OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY HAS LIFTED ITS ADVISORY AGAINST WATER CONTACT AT CANNON BEACH DUE TO HIGH LEVELS OF FECAL BACTERIA. IT HAD ISSUED AN ADVISORY AGAINST SWIMMING EARLIER THIS WEEK. ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT THOUGH FOR HIGH BACTERIAL LEVELS AT AGATE AND NYE BEACHES IN LINCOLN COUNTY, AND HARRIS BEACH IN CURRY COUNTY. PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE WATER IN THE AREA BECAUSE IT CAN CAUSE STOMACH CRAMPS, SKIN RASHES, AND OTHER ILLNESSES. ###
0830 OR alleged pot smugglers arrested
United States Attorney for Oregon Billy J. Williams announced Wednesday that six peOPLE ARE charged with interstate marijuana smuggling.
The federal charges related to allegedly selling Oregon pot in Florida, Virginia and Texas.
Articles in Willamette Week say that the defendants were not licensed to sell marijuana in Oregon.
The US attorney website says “Jody Tremayne Wafer, Trent Lamar Knight, and Brittany Lesanta Kizzee, , of Houston, Texas; and Raleigh Dragon Lau, and Paul Eugene Thomas, of Portland, are accused of conspiring to manufacture marijuana in Portland, and distributing it in Texas and Virginia.”
Federal agents seized guns and cash in the raids that resulted in the arrests. A federal civil complaint has been lodged to confiscate the acreage used to grow the marijuana plants.
The over-production of marijuana in Oregon has led to speculation that smuggling is taking up the slack.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates dope sales in Oregon, recently reduced the amount of marijuana that a medical card holder can buy from twenty-four ounces per day to one ounce. The OLCC cited suspicion that the larger sales, which were largely coming from a handful of stores, were being sent out of state.
US Attorney Williams said regarding the arrests, “These cases provide clear evidence of what I have repeatedly raised concerns over: Oregon’s marijuana industry is attracting organized criminal networks looking to capitalize on the state’s relaxed regulatory environment…Dismantling criminal organizations is a key focus of our marijuana enforcement strategy. We will continue to work with our federal, state, local and tribal partners to disrupt overproduction and the illegal export of marijuana out-of-state.”
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0830 OR Religious Leaders Protest ICE
Local religious leaders have again protested outside the Immigration and Enforcement facility in Southwest Portland.
The rally began at 10 am when protestors marched from Elizabeth Caruthers Park to the ICE building on Southwest Macadam Avenue.
They then held a prayer circle outside the facility’s entrance.
Their peaceful protest called for an end to immigrant detention.
The Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice is asking ICE to release the asylum seekers who are being held at the Sheridan Federal Correction Institution, and to end their contract with the NORCOR facility in the Dalles.
The faith leaders are also asking Oregon citizens to vote no on Measure 105, which would repeal the state’s sanctuary law.
This is just one of six similar rallies this month.
Several people were detained by Federal Protective Service agents at the protest.
Two weeks ago, OFFICES ARRESTED SOME faith leaders in front of the ICE building, after THEY HELD hands to block the facility driveway.
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0830 OR HATE CRIME ARREST
Portland POLICE ARRESTED A MAN THEY SAY THREATENED A PORTLAND WOMAN WITH A KNIFE, CALLING HER A RACIST AND SEXIST NAME.
POLICE ARRESTED 33 YEAR OLD JOSHUA CASTILLO, WHO THEY ACCUSE OF A HATE CRIME.
THEY SAY HE APPROACHED SIXTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD JANET MACK ON SOUTHWEST COLUMBIA STREET AND 12TH AVENUE ON MONDAY AFTERNOON.
MACK SAYS CASTILLO THREATENED TO KILL HER AND CHOP HER UP, AND CALLED HER THE N WORD AND THE B WORD.
CASTILLO FACES CHARGES INCLUDING MENACING, INTIMIDATION AND TRESPASSING.
PORTLAND POLICE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WHO ARE VICTIMS OR WITNESSES TO HATE CRIME ASSAULTS TO CALL 911 AND REPORT IT.
THEY SAY THE CITY IS A PARTNER WITH THE GROUP PORTLAND UNITED AGAINST HATE.
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0830 OR MulTnomah Culture Grants
DO YOU DREAM OF HEADING UP YOUR OWN NON PROFIT THAT CELEBRATES ARTS OR HERITAGE? THIS MIGHT BE YOUR CHANCE.
THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY CULTURAL COALITION HAS OPENED UP A GRANT CYCLE THIS WEEK. THEY’RE OFFERING AWARDS OF AS MUCH AS TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT ARTS AND HERITAGE GROUPS THAT HELP CULTIVATE OUR COMMUNITY.
TO FIND OUT MORE YOU CAN GO TO INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS STARTING ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH, AT THE HOLLYWOOD SENIOR CENTER IN PORTLAND, FROM 6 TO 8 PM. THERE ARE ALSO SESSIONS COMING UP LATER THIS MONTH AT TABOR SPACE AND PARK PLACE CAFÉ, IN SOUTHEAST PORTLAND.
YOU CAN ALSO HEAD ON LINE TO CHECK IT OUT AT MULT -CO – CULTURAL - COALITION - DOT - ORG. THE DEADLINE TO APPLY IS OCTOBER 5TH.
SINCE 2003 THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY CULTURAL COALITION HAS BEEN CHAMPIONING THE ENRICHMENT OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN MULTNOMAH COUNTY. THEY HELP FUND THINGS LIKE ART CLASSES, PERFORMING ARTS CENTERS, AND TRIBAL TRADITIONS: IN ALL, SUPPORTING 14 HUNDRED GROUPS IN OREGON.
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0830 US KAEPERNICK WINS
IT’S A VICTORY FOR QUARTERBACK COLIN KAEPERNICK, (CAP’- er- nick) AND A SETBACK FOR THE NFL. THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS AN ARBITARATOR decided THE FOOTBALL PLAYER’S LAWYERS HAVE FOUND ENOUGH EVIDENCE FOR HIS CASE TO PROCEED. KAePERNICK SAYS THE LEAGUE AND ITS OWNERS COLLUDED TO KEEP HIM OFF THE FIELD. HE FILED A GRIEVANCE AGAINST THE N.F.L. IN OCTOBER ACCUSING THE OWNERS OF CONSPIRING TO NOT GIVE HIM A NEW CONTRACT BECAUSE OF HIS DECISION TO PROTEST DURING THE PLAYING OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. IN 2016, KAEPERNICK WAS THE FIRST PLAYER TO KNEEL DURING THE ANTHEM TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT POLICE BRUTALITY AND SOCIAL INJUSTICE. DOZENS OF OTHER PLAYERS ENDED UP JOINING HIM. THAT CREATED TENSIONS WITH SOME FANS, SPONSORS AND OWNERS. PRESIDENT TRUMP ATTACKED THE NFL FOR NOT PENALIZING PLAYERS WHO DID NOT STAND FOR THE ANTHEM, IN MAY THE LEAGUE TIGHTENED ITS POLICY, FORCING PLAYERS TO STAND FOR THE ANTHEM. KAPERNICK PLAYED SIX YEARS WITH THE 49ERS AND LED THEM TO THE SUPER BOWL IN HIS SECOND SEASON. SINCE HE BECAME A FREE AGENT IN MARCH OF 2017 HE HAS NOT BEEN INVITED TO WORK OUT FOR A TEAM OR OFFERED A NEW CONTRACT.
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0830 US Trump Cancels Federal Pay Raises
President Donald Trump announced today that he is cancelling pay raises for most federal employees.
The pay increases would’ve started in January.
Trump cited government budget concerns as the reason for the suspension.
In a letter to Congressional leaders, Trump wrote, QUOTE “I have determined that for 2019, both across-the-board pay increases and locality pay increases will be set at zero. We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases.”
The proposed raises were set at 25.7 percent for localities and 2.1 percent for across-the-board pay.
Under federal law, employees get cost- of- living raises every year, unless the president determines the raises are not feasible.
Trump argues the increases would add billions of dollars to the federal deficit.
The move to stop the pay increases comes months after Trump approved a 1.5 trillion dollar tax cut for corporations and the wealthy.
This is in addition to a 1.3 trillion dollar spending bill.
the Congressional Budget Office expects the combined effect will increase the government’s budget deficit 1 trillion dollars next year.
The president of the National Treasury Employees Union, Tony Reardon, said the move to suspend pay increases shows that the Trump administration, QUOTE “simply does not respect its own workforce.”
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0830 US $40,000 Insect and Lizard theft
New York times reported that “three current or former employees at the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion are being accused of stealing about forty thousand dollars’ worth of insects and lizards.”
in the report theay said that An estimated 7,000 animals, or about 80 to 90 percent of the population in the insectarium, were stolen on August 22nd and probably other days.
The police contacted the suspects and are looking through their homes in hopes of finding the insects.
They also wrote that Security cameras around the pavilion recorded several people creeping out of the museum last week with plastic containers holding giant African mantises, bumblebee millipedes; warty glow spot roaches, tarantulas, dwarf and tiger hissers, and leopard geckos.
The desert hairy scorpions and domino cockroaches had also disappeared.
They said the staff uniforms were hung from knives that they stabbed onto the wall of the building.
John Cambridge, the chief executive of the insectarium, told the New York Times the he believed that “someone recognized an opportunity to remove some creatures” and did it.
There have been no arrests yet.
“I really don’t think the perpetrators realize the severity of what they were doing” Cambridge added. “We believe these were taken for the purpose of resale.”
The police returned a large amount of insects and a Mexican fire leg tarantula to the insectarium, but one of the most venomous 6 eyed spiders in the world is still missing.
“We are going to be able to use this as a learning opportunity to build an even better insectarium,” Dr.Cambridge said. “We just want our critters back.”
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0830 INT South Korea Bans Coffee in Schools
South Korea has banned the sale of coffee in schools, even for teachers, in order to promote healthier lifestyles among children.
The move is part of a wider government campaign to reduce the consumption of food and drink that is high in caffeine and calories.
The ban will go into effect September 14th and will restrict coffee sales in primary and secondary schools across the country.
The sale of other beverages with high levels of caffeine, such as energy drinks, is already banned in South Korean schools.
An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, QUOTE “The revision aims to create healthy eating habits among children and teenagers.”
According to the International Coffee Organization, in 2016, South Korean’s consumed 2.3 kilograms of coffee per person. While this figure is only roughly half the amount consumed in the United States, it is one of the highest among Asian countries.
Similarly, the number of coffee shops in South Korea tripled from around twelve-thousand in 2011 to over forty-nine thousand in 2015.
Critics of the plan note that students can still walk a few blocks from their school campuses in order to purchase coffee and other caffeinated drinks.
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0830 INT Monsanto faces myriad suits
The nation of Vietnam has joined the queue as Monsanto Corporation, now owned by Bayer, is facing eight thousand lawsuits worldwide over the toxic effects of its products.
Monsanto manufactured Agent Orange, which was advertised as a safe defoliant, and sprayed over millions of acres of Vietnam rainforest in the 1960s and 1970s in an effort to deprive that country’s defenders of effective cover.
Twelve million gallons of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange were used, resulting in injuries to three million Vietnamese and, through genetic birth defects, to their descendants.
Bayer Corporation’s stock has dropped precipitously since Monsanto lost a two-hundred-eighty-nine-million-dollar judgement over the cancer-causing effects of its product Roundup.
Environmental advocates are also taking the corporation to task over the sale of its weedkiller XtendiMax at a federal appeals court in Seattle.
XtendiMax is Monsanto’s answer to weeds that have evolved a resistance to its glyphosate-based product Roundup, but the new product has a habit of vaporizing off of treated plants and contaminating and damaging nearby fields and trees.
The newer product is part of Monsanto’s strategy to force sales of herbicide-resistant seeds.
Asked about Bayer’s response to the groundswell of lawsuits, Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann [VEHR-nehr BOW-man] said "We will vigorously defend this case and all upcoming cases."
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0830 INT Myanmar Dam Breaks
A Dam in Myanmar has burst and flooded eighty-five villages, forcing over sixty-three thousand people from their homes.
The Dam broke at Swar Creek in central Myanmar, flooding the nearby towns of Swar and Yedashe [YAY-DASH] as well as many neighboring villages.
The water also submerged a section of highway and damaged a bridge between the major cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and the capital, Naypyidaw [NAY-PIA-DOW].
The collapse was caused by heavy monsoon rains in the Bago region.
The flood waters have already began to recede; however, two people remain missing.
The Myanmar government has launched a rescue effort mission in response.
Deputy administrator of Yedsahe [YAY-DASH], Min Thu, said QUOTE “People whose villages are on high ground are preparing to go back to their villages.”
Work has already begun to repair the dam.
The current priority is to get as much water back into the reservoir, as it is needed for irrigation during the dry season.
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INT 0830 Venezuela flooding
Venezuela and Colombia have been experiencing heavy rainfall over the last week, causing extensive river flooding.
Two are reported dead and more than fourteen thousand families are affected, particularly in Guainia [gwah-IN-ee-ya], Vichada, Monagas, Amazonas and Bolivar provinces.
The Venezuelan government reports that the Orinoco River has swollen to an historic level and flooded Puerto Ayacucho.
The Venezuelan Interior Minister has arranged an airlift to bring in supplies.
Forecasters expect more thunderstorms today and tomorrow.
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