A reckless and dangerous driver caused problems on I-5 this afternoon but is now in jail, according to The Oregonian. The newspaper’s website reports that a 26-year-old Portland man is being held in the Marion County jail on charges of reckless driving and “18 counts of recklessly endangering another person.”…
Yesterday’s announcement that Toyota has reached a settlement with the Justice Department was striking on several accounts. First there is the settlement’s sheer size. “Toyota will pay a $1.2 billion penalty to settle the criminal probe into its handling of unintended acceleration problems that led to recalls of 8.1 million…
We have all heard stories of medical price-gouging, but an investigation published earlier this week by the Tampa Bay Times shows that in Florida hospitals have taken the practice to a new level. According to a lengthy investigation by the newspaper, a change in Florida law several years ago allowed…
A disturbing article published this week in the New York Times outlines a series of failures by both corporate America and the federal government. Its focus is General Motors’ recent recall notices involving well over a million vehicles manufactured since the 2003 model year (click here for GM’s latest news…
When attention focuses on the question of sports and traumatic brain injuries we usually think of football, hockey or boxing. A new study from Boston University, however, highlights the potential TBI dangers of a sport we do not often think of as violent: soccer. As outlined by the New York…
In Salem today the Senate Judiciary Committee sent to the full Senate an important bill that could change the way Oregon drunk driving cases are decided. According to The Oregonian the legislation “would no longer require everyone on diversion for drunken or drugged driving to install… interlock devices, which force…
An effort in Salem to close a striking loophole in Oregon’s laws regulating class action lawsuits is attracting attention across the country as legislators seek both to bring Oregon into accord with practice in most of the rest of the United States and to help poor Oregonians overcome the challenges…
New York City’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio, unveiled a plan yesterday designed to eliminate pedestrian traffic deaths in America’s largest city. His proposals are worth looking at here in Oregon because they may contain lessons we can learn from here in Portland. According to the New York Times, the…
Two former Portland-area prosecutors made headlines in The Oregonian this week with their advocacy of marijuana legalization. According to the newspaper Norm Frink and Mark McDonnell both believe that legalization is inevitable and, as a result, are trying to focus public attention on getting the details right. “This is just…
With an ice storm warning now extending throughout the day Sunday and road closures throughout the Pacific Northwest this is a weekend to avoid any travel that is not absolutely necessary. That is not just my opinion, it is the official word from public safety officials throughout the state. As…