Multnomah County wastes $300,000 annually with cell devices
According to an audit to be presented Friday to Multnomah County’s Board of Commissioners, the county wasted more than $300,000 last year through its failure to monitor its employees’ business cell phone usage. The audit covered this usage in all departments, except the sheriff and district attorney offices, according to The Oregonian.
The audit found that, due to the lack of positions that formerly kept track of company mobile device usage, many of these employees — who did not need a company mobile device — had one. Additionally, some employees possessed more than one company device, and nearly half of the county’s employees were on a plan that did not suit their work needs.
Portland expands plastic bag ban
Portland has extended its one-year-old plastic bag ban to local retailers, food carts and farmers markets, making the total businesses affected by the ban approximately 5,000. The Portland City Council voted to expand the ban 5-0 Thursday, according to The Oregonian.
The new rule will take place in two phases beginning in 2013.
Helicopter makes emergency landing at middle school
A helicopter made an unexpected landing at a southwest Portland middle school Thursday morning, according to The Oregonian. The helicopter, piloted by two men from Hillsboro, made the landing at Robert Gray Middle School at about 10 a.m.
This is the second time an aircraft has made an emergency landing at the middle school. In 2010 a small plane was forced to make a landing at the school due to mechanical problems. No one was hurt in either emergency landing.
Oregon homeless student population over 20,000
According to data from the Oregon Department of Education, an estimated 20,370 students were considered homeless by district policy during the 2011-2012 school year. The department has been keeping track of the homeless student population since 2003 and found numbers reached an all-time high of 20,545 last year, according to The Oregonian.
Students are considered homeless if they are living in shelters, sleeping in cars, living on their own or living with relatives.
Thousands of pounds of marijuana confiscated in southern Oregon
During harvest time raids, police seized approximately 8,000 pounds of marijuana in southern Oregon. Twenty-six people have been charged or are under investigation for possession of the drug, according to The Oregonian.
Police said most of the suspects are in the medical marijuana program and exceed possession limitations of the program.
Raids took place in Grants Pass, Cave Junction, Selma, Merlin, Wilderville and Williams.@@checked all links and names of cities@@