Oregon
New Oregon football running backs coach on quick turnaround after hire: ‘You don’t sleep’
Former OSU kicker Atticus Sappington on joining Oregon football
Oregon kicker Atticus Sappington answers why he transferred from former rival Oregon State and his transition to the Ducks.
New running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples hasn’t been sleeping much after getting hired last week by Oregon football in the midst of spring practices.
“You don’t sleep,” Samples said Saturday. “You just be relentless about your approach. You spend all night up here and then you wake up and you come up here early in the morning. You use the outlets you have, you lean on the players, you lean on the coaches, and you just spend the time grinding and picking it up.”
The 29-year-old previously served as the receivers coach at Arizona State before accepting the job vacated by previous Oregon RB coach Carlos Locklyn, who left for the same position at Ohio State.
Because the Ducks were already in the heart of spring ball, Samples left Tempe on April 9 and started studying the playbook on the flight to Eugene.
While on the plane Samples heard from former Duck All-American LaMichael James, and has also been in contact with Kenjon Barner.
Continuing a strong tradition at running back, while progressing his career and surrounding himself with other young coaches like Dan Lanning, Will Stein, and Junior Adams were appealing to Samples.
“I want to continue to grow,” Samples said. “Being around guys like Dan is important to me. Wanting to get the opportunity to be a young head coach, learning from Dan, learning some of the things he’s done and how he does things is important.”
Samples and the Oregon running back room, which includes Noah Whittington, Jordan James, Jay Harris, and Jayden Limar, will make their 2024 debut in the spring game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
Three Oregon lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bill that would bar utilities from raising rates if they have unresolved wildfire lawsuits for three or more years, describing it as an effort to hold PacifiCorp accountable as the utility faces a series of lawsuits stemming from the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.
Republican state Reps. Jami Cate, Virgle Osborne and Ed Diehl announced their proposal in a statement Monday, on the heels of an approved rate increase for PacifiCorp customers and a federal lawsuit against the electric power company.
The federal government sued PacifiCorp last week over the Archie Creek Fire, which ignited in Oregon’s Douglas County in September 2020 and burned more than 200 square miles, about half of which was federal land. The complaint accuses the company of negligence for failing to maintain its power lines to prevent wildfires. In its filing, the government says it brought the suit to recover “substantial costs and damages.”
A PacifiCorp spokesperson said in an emailed statement Monday that the company was working with the U.S. government to resolve the claims.
“It is unfortunate the U.S. government decided to file a lawsuit in federal district court, however PacifiCorp will continue to work with the U.S. government to find reasonable resolution of this matter,” the statement said.
The federal lawsuit was filed on the same day the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved a 9.8% rate increase for PacifiCorp’s residential customers next year. In its rate case filings, the company said its request to increase rates was partly due to higher costs stemming from wildfire risk and activity.
When the new rate takes effect in January, PacifiCorp rates will have increased nearly 50% since 2021, according to the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which advocates on behalf of utility customers.
The three lawmakers said they will introduce their bill in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.
“The federal government is doing the right thing by filing this lawsuit, and we stand firmly behind it,” Osborne, who is set to be the future bill’s co-chief sponsor, said in a statement. “PacifiCorp needs to pay up and take responsibility for the destruction they’ve caused, and putting a stop to rate hikes is the best way to achieve it.”
PacifiCorp is poised to be on the hook for billions in damages in the series of lawsuits over Oregon’s 2020 fires.
The company has already reached two settlement agreements over the Archie Creek Fire, including one for $299 million with 463 plaintiffs impacted by the blaze and another for $250 million with 10 companies with commercial timber interests, according to its website.
In other litigation, an Oregon jury in June 2023 found it liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials and determined it should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties. Since then, other Oregon juries have ordered the company to pay tens of millions to other wildfire victims.
The wildfires that erupted across Oregon over Labor Day weekend in 2020 were among the worst natural disasters in state history, killing nine people and destroying thousands of homes.
— The Associated Press
On Wednesday at 2:18 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory valid from 10 p.m. until Thursday 10 a.m. for North Central Oregon and Central Oregon.
The weather service states, “South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.”
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” adds the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Oregon
Oregon lawmakers to introduce bill barring utility rate increases amid unresolved wildfire lawsuits
Beyoncé brings 'Cowboy Carter' to the NFL on Netflix
Wendy Williams Has Fiery Confrontation With Caretakers, On-Camera
Opinion: Is Donald Trump a NIMBY or a YIMBY? The president-elect's housing views are a puzzle
Chip Kelly played key role in Ohio State earning rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl
Dozens feared dead as Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Five journalists killed in Israeli strike near Gaza hospital
NYC cab jumps curb, injures 7 on Christmas Day
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants death penalty for migrant who allegedly set woman on fire on subway: 'Finish him'
Who is Europe's top investor in space in 2023?
American Airlines lifts ground stop that froze Christmas Eve travelers
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24924653/236780_Google_AntiTrust_Trial_Custom_Art_CVirginia__0003_1.png "Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps")
Technology5 days agoGoogle’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps
-
News6 days agoNovo Nordisk shares tumble as weight-loss drug trial data disappoints
-
Politics6 days agoIllegal immigrant sexually abused child in the U.S. after being removed from the country five times
-
Entertainment6 days ago'It's a little holiday gift': Inside the Weeknd's free Santa Monica show for his biggest fans
-
Lifestyle6 days agoThink you can't dance? Get up and try these tips in our comic. We dare you!
-
Technology1 week agoFox News AI Newsletter: OpenAI responds to Elon Musk's lawsuit
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25672934/Metaphor_Key_Art_Horizontal.png "There’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does")
Technology1 day agoThere’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does
-
News2 days agoFrance’s new premier selects Eric Lombard as finance minister