State Ousts Leader Of Oregon Amateur Radio Service

OEMLogo_2014-COLOR_mediumOREGON — The state is cutting ties with the head of Oregon’s amateur radio service, Vince Van Der Hyde.

The cut comes after he asked volunteers not to take part in a recent emergency drill — because of bad equipment and control issues.

When Oregon suffers a major earthquake, cell phones, telephone lines and other communication systems may fail — or be overwhelmed. So the state has an agreement with amateur radio enthusiasts to provide a backup system.

That system was scheduled to be tested during a drill last week.

Read more at Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Congressman submits bill limiting the ability of Forest Service and BLM to create travel management plans

Representative Walden of Oregon.  (House Photo)

Representative Walden of Oregon. (House Photo)

WASHINGTON — Greg Walden of Oregon (R-2 district) introduced H.R. 1555, yesterday, which purports to require the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to obtain the consent of the local affected communities prior to implementing any travel management plans affecting access to National Forest System lands.

The Summary and Text of the bill is currently not posted so it is unclear how much limitiation will actually be included.

Congressman Walden wrote a letter earlier this month to Randy Moore and Jim Pena, U.S. Forest service Foresters for Region Five and Six, respectively. The letter was signed by all members of the Oregon delegation, five members from Washington State and one from California.

The letter complained about the manner in which the Forest Service holds their input sessions. The letter complains that the input sessions were urban focused and limited access to rural dwellers who would have difficulty traveling to the site to give their input. The letter stated:

For over 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has profoundly impacted the communities within our districts and any revisions to the plan will have a similar effect. Holding only three listening sessions disadvantages our constituents in these rural communities. Many of our constituents would have to travel several hours and hundreds of miles to participate. The cost and time commitments involved would likely present an unacceptable hardship for many residents who would otherwise participate in these sessions.

Forest Service notices usually include electronic and mailing addresses for input, as well.

The current title of the bill is:

To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel management rule and require the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to incorporate the needs, uses, and input of affected communities, and to obtain their consent, before taking any travel management action affecting access to National Forest System lands derived from the public domain or public lands, and for other purposes.

Oregon Compounding Centers, Inc. Issues Voluntary Recall of Unexpired Sterile Products in Oregon and Washington

Wilsonville, Ore. – Oregon Compounding Centers, Inc., dba Creative Compounds, is voluntarily recalling certain unexpired human and veterinary sterile products to the consumer level due to lack of sterility assurance.

The company has not received any reports of product contamination or adverse events to date, but is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution following a recent inspection which identified an issue with sterility assurance. If there is microbial contamination in products intended to be sterile, patients are at risk of serious infections which may be life threatening.

“We are fully cooperating with health officials,” said Denise Burnham, R.Ph., owner and pharmacist. “We deeply regret the impact this voluntary recall has on our customers, but patient safety is our highest priority.”

All recalled products have a label that includes the Creative Compounds name as well as a lot number. The recalled products were made from July 1, 2014 through September 22, 2014, and distributed to health care facilities, physicians, and patients in two states, Oregon and Washington.

The recall does not pertain to any non-sterile compounded medications prepared by the pharmacy.

All unexpired lots of the following sterile compounded products are subject to the recall:

Continue reading

‘Carloads’ of terrorists turned Oregon ranch into training camp

According to al-Masri’s lawyer last week, the camp was similar to being in the “Cub Scouts,’’ with the men riding horses, tending to little lambs and telling campfire stories.

Abu Hamza al-Masri sits next to defense attorney Lindsay Lewis in Manhattan federal court in New YorkAn Oregon woman says she thought she was opening up her family’s ranch to local Muslims to teach them how to grow and can veggies — and that her husband was even expecting a tax write-off.

But US-born Muslim convert Eva Hatley testified in Manhattan federal court Tuesday that after the “carloads’’ of fellow Muslims she met through her mosque arrived at the 160-acre ranch in Bly in 1999, the couple watched helplessly as their home was turned into an al Qaeda training camp.

“It wasn’t anything like I envisioned for the property,” insisted Hatley, testifying at the trial of one-eyed, hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Hatley, a two-time witness-protection-program flunky who prefers going by her Muslim name, Ayat Hakimah, said other Muslims from London would soon arrive on al-Masri’s orders.

Read more at the New York Post

Citizens take law into own hands after cash-strapped Ore. county guts sheriff’s office

nvcwWhen budget woes reduced the sheriff’s department in one rural Oregon county to a bare-bones force, residents decided to take matters into their own hands — creating armed patrol groups in defiance of local officials.

Their decision has raised safety concerns with the county government, which would prefer residents instead hike their own taxes to fund the hiring of trained deputies. But despite the risks, the move stands as a unique, some would say innovative, response to one of the country’s most severe local budget crunches.

The government in Josephine County, where nearly 70 percent of the land is owned by the U.S. government, had long relied on federal timber subsidies to pay the bills. When the feds terminated the funds, county officials scrambled to pass a May 2012 tax levy to make up a nearly $7.5 million budget shortfall.

Read more at FOX News