Oregon

Proposed legislation would mean stiffer penalties for street racing in Oregon

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2023

Proposed legislation would mean stiffer penalties for street racing in Oregon

A state senator representing Troutdale has proposed a invoice that may improve the punishment for drivers caught avenue racing in Oregon.

If the laws turns into legislation, first offenders may very well be convicted of a misdemeanor and resist one yr in jail and a high quality of greater than $6,000. If convicted greater than as soon as, the penalty would rise to a felony with a most jail sentence of 5 years and a $100,000 high quality.

The invoice, launched by Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-25, comes because the Portland space has been coping with a surge in harmful – and typically lethal – avenue racing.

A driver died and a passenger was severely injured Saturday in a fiery crash in North Portland that police mentioned occurred when two vehicles had been racing and collided. Final week, a Portland man was arrested and charged with manslaughter in reference to a avenue racing crash that killed a pedestrian in August.

Since 2015, not less than eight folks have been killed in street-racing associated incidents, and extra injured – together with an 11-year-old boy injured by gunfire final March and an 18-year-old lady in a coma after being hit by a racer in 2018.

Gorsek’s invoice not solely will increase jail time and fines, it proposes taking away convicted avenue racers’ wheels.

“If folks aren’t dissuaded by the potential of jail time, then we have to maintain reckless drivers accountable, and one solution to make that hit house is to grab their automobile – making it troublesome for them to proceed such harmful actions,” Gorsek mentioned.

Below Oregon state legislation now, racing on a public highway is a Class A visitors violation with a typical high quality of about $440. For these accused and convicted of organizing a avenue race, it turns into a felony.

In 2021, the Portland Metropolis Council responded to the rise in avenue racing by growing penalties, together with towing vehicles, in a brand new ordinance.

The “good factor” about altering a state statute, Gorsek mentioned, “is that everybody from Portland to Lakeview has the identical capability to implement the legislation if the issue pops up.”

Portland’s crackdown got here after racers repeatedly took over main metropolis intersections and bridges.

Dan Legree, a enterprise proprietor who belonged to the North Portland Coalition for Secure Streets, moved his enterprise, Savoy Studios, off Marine Drive partly attributable to frequent racing on the highway.

He needs police may confiscate racers’ vehicles and “crush them.”

“It’s simply unlawfulness, and there’s no person to carry them accountable,” Legree mentioned. “Hopefully one thing will get handed with just a little enamel in it.”

The commercial part of North Portland continues to be a hotspot because of the extensive roads, mentioned Ty Engstrom, the Portland Police Bureau’s solely full-time visitors division sergeant. North Precinct officers staged a number of particular missions there final yr that centered on avenue racing.

Police-bureau staffing points and adjustments within the pursuit coverage have made it robust to stop avenue racing, Engstrom mentioned.

There’s additionally the issue in getting cooperation from individuals who attend avenue takeovers for racing. Few witnesses will inform police what occurred, Engstrom mentioned.

“You continue to should show they had been concerned in a pace competitors,” he mentioned. Crash investigators usually should depend on bodily proof from the scene, like skid marks, he added.

Engstrom mentioned that previously couple years, he’s been to not less than 4 deadly crashes the place racing was an element. Three of these crashes “appeared to kill bystanders,” Engstrom mentioned.

“It’s fairly unhappy to clarify to a household that their beloved one has died as a result of folks had been out screwing round with vehicles and bikes,” he mentioned.

Engstrom mentioned he helps harsher penalties for avenue racers.

Multnomah County District Legal professional Mike Schmidt additionally mentioned he totally helps the proposed laws.

“These occasions are harmful, folks can get severely injured or worse, they maintain neighborhood residents hostage they usually characterize a critical public security risk by diverting already-thin legislation enforcement sources away from different locations they’re desperately wanted,” Schmidt mentioned in a press release to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Even with a harder legislation, enforcement will stay troublesome, particularly with pinched staffing at police departments and district lawyer workplaces, Gorsek admitted.

“The objective is to not give the impression that individuals can do no matter they need and never be held accountable,” Gorsek mentioned. “That is one piece of the puzzle that we’ll be higher capable of take care of statewide as we get extra officers, deputy district attorneys and public defenders in order that the system can shortly course of people who do get arrested.”

— Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonian.com; 503-221-6651; @savannaheadens

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Oregon

Will No. 13 Oregon men’s basketball be able to slow down Braden Smith, No. 17 Purdue?

Published

6 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Will No. 13 Oregon men’s basketball be able to slow down Braden Smith, No. 17 Purdue?

EUGENE — By far Oregon’s biggest remaining home game this season, a top 20 clash with two-time reigning Big Ten champion Purdue carries significant stakes.

The No. 13 Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) are ahead of the No. 17 Boilermakers in the polls, but behind them in the conference standings and NET entering Saturday’s game (12 p.m., NBC) at Matthew Knight Arena.

Both teams could use the Quadrant 1 win to improve their respective resumes come Selection Sunday, with Purdue (14-4, 6-1) arguably in bigger need of the road victory with all of its losses coming away from home. But as jockeying at the top of the Big Ten intensifies these are the matchups that will go a long way to determining the top four seeds in the conference tournament, which all receive double byes.

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Oregon

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

Published

14 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

A Happy Valley man died Wednesday after being washed out to sea by abnormally high tides just south of Depoe Bay.

It’s the second fatal incident blamed on the so-called “king tides” — the largest tides of the season — this winter.

Hong B Su, 45, was fishing on the rocks of the shoreline at the north end of Otter Crest Loop when he was “washed out to sea by a wave” at roughly 2:04 p.m., according to Oregon State Police.

Su was in the water for approximately 39 minutes before he was recovered by the United States Coast Guard. He was pronounced deceased when he reached the Depoe Bay Coast Guard station.

The tides were near their highest level of the month on Wednesday. The peak of the king tides was recorded on Jan. 12 at 9.84 feet in Newport, and on the day Su was swept into the sea, Jan. 15, they were just a bit lower at 9.33 feet, according to the National Weather Service. On Friday, high tide was under 8 feet. King tides is an unofficial term for the highest tides of the year.

In December, a 72-year-old North Bend man who went to photograph the king tides at the beach also died after apparently being swept into the surf. His body was recovered nearly a month later in Haynes Inlet.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

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Oregon

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Published

22 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Putting the ball in the basket didn’t seem to be a problem for Gonzaga during Thursday night’s battle with Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.

The issue for the Bulldogs (14-5, 5-1 WCC), however, was on the other end of the floor. Led by 29 points from Michael Rataj and 20 from Nate Kingz, the Beavers (14-4, 4-2 WCC) made 58.5% of their field goal attempts to outlast the Zags in a 97-89 overtime final from Gill Coliseum.

“[Oregon State] made shots and [isolated] guys and posted us,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of the Beavers’ attack strategy after the game. “And when we did guard them well, they hit some tough shots [and] some tough pull-ups.”

Here’s more from Few after the loss.

On Gonzaga’s struggles defensively against Oregon State:

Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7) shoots the ball against defensive pressure by Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We played really, really good offense. We just could not get consistent stops for longer stretches. Came out in the second half with more intensity on the defensive end. [The Beavers] were still able to get some tough shots. I mean they had some real backbreakers, the bank 3 and contested 3. Even when we did play good defense, they were able to knock in some really tough shots. You almost have to play perfect on offense when you’re playing defense like that.”

On Graham Ike’s big night:

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) shoots the ball over Oregon State Beavers forward Michael Rataj (12). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“He was great. Graham was terrific. He delivered time and time again in a high-level game against a very good, physical, big postman. You know, you also got a guard at the other end too. So again, our offense wasn’t the problem — our defense was at pretty much all five spots.”

On the positives the Bulldogs can take from the loss:

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) shoots a three point shot against Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We competed, great environment, fought, dug our way back in after our slow start; played some good ball there in the middle of the second half. We just had a couple of possessions, I think we missed a lay-up on one of those; and then again, just not even some of the stops, we foul a lot off the ball. We fouled on the ball. They were able to get critical free throws when they were in the bonus, and you just can’t do that.”