Lookout PM: Apartment fire

Good evening,

A fire last night at a fourplex in the southwest hills of Eugene left one person dead and another injured. Jaime Adame has the story, and spoke with a resident of the building who escaped safely.

Gov. Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council, a group she convened to figure out ways to boost Oregon’s economy, has released its recommendations. Among them: tax cuts; a revamp of the state’s economic development agency, Business Oregon; and replacement of Oregon’s Climate Protection Program. Oregon Journalism Project reports.

The Bethel School Board has voted unanimously to adopt a budget for the next school year. The district will trim some positions but that is to be handled through attrition. Lilly St. Angelo has the story.

Eugene police on Thursday issued 43 citations and 28 warnings during a traffic enforcement operation on Highway 99, which has been the site of at least six bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in the past few years. People were cited for failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to obey a pedestrian control device, speeding, and other violations. Jaime Adame has the details.

Legal wrangling continues in the lawsuit over the fence around the Eugene Federal Building. The federal government is asking for more time before it is forced to take down the fence, as it considers an appeal. Jaime has today’s developments, and there is surely more to come in the days ahead.

If you have illegal fireworks, you can safely get rid of them this weekend, no questions asked, by taking them to one of two fire stations in Eugene and Springfield.

Who’s in our Community Voices section today?

We have a new edition of the Lookout Look Back, wherein we republish one of Eugene illustrator Jesse Springer’s long-ago political cartoons and reflect on how eerily relevant it remains, 10 years later in this case. Today’s topic: taxes, PERS and the inability of politicians to work together.
In a letter to the editor, Erica Lyon says people who work as signature-gatherers are engaging directly in the democratic process and the least you can do is stop and learn something about their cause.

What’s on your mind? Send us a letter to the editor (350 words or less, please): lte@lookoutlocal.com

Have a news tip on something we should cover: newsroom@lookoutlocal.com

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DAILY DIGEST

One dead, one injured in fire at Eugene fourplex, officals say

By Jaime Adame

One person was found dead and another seriously injured Thursday night, June 25, after a fire at a two-story residential building in west Eugene, firefighters said.

Prosperity Council report pushes Kotek to show that Oregon is open for business

By Nigel Jaquiss / Oregon Journalism Project

The 15-member panel of business and labor leaders proposed four modest tax code changes, replacing the Climate Protection Program, and some less controversial reforms.

Court grants stay over federal building fence, but only until Monday

By Jaime Adame

The federal government asked an appellate court to effectively push back the July 2 deadline for fence removal, but instead were granted only a limited stay. The order to remove the fence can still be appealed.