Portland approves paying $125,000 to man hurt in police chase
PORTLAND, Ore. — A cab driver seriously hurt after being hit while a Portland police officer chased a motorist the wrong way down Interstate 84 will receive a $125,000 settlement from the city.
The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to pay Ethiopia Amdino to settle a claim brought by his attorney, Phillip C. Gilbert, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. They sought more than $260,000 in reimbursement for medical expenses, lost income and other damages, city senior claims analyst Jessica Bird told the council.
According to police, 59-year-old Christopher Cannard hit another car on April 19, 2018 and then drove away. Then-Portland officer Alfonso Valadez Jr. later saw Cannard’s vehicle and chased him onto I-84.
Bird said Wednesday that Cannard and Valadez were heading west on the freeway’s eastbound lanes when Cannard crashed head-on with Amdino, about 30 seconds after the police started the chase. Valadez violated police bureau policy by continuing the chase, Bird said.
The collision killed Cannard and left Amdino with head, neck, chest and back injuries that required more than a year of treatment. He also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Journalists at Billings Gazette trying to form union
BILLINGS, Mont. — Most members of the news staff of the Billings Gazette newspaper have asked owner Lee Enterprises to voluntarily recognize their formation of a union, the Montana News Guild, a union backer said Friday.
Nineteen of 21 staffers who would be covered by the union signed a letter that was sent to the newspaper’s publisher, Gazette reporter Juliana Sukut said.
The staff has also submitted information to the National Labor Relations Board to seek a vote authorizing the union’s formation if Lee chooses not to recognize the union. Lee had not responded to the request for recognition by Friday morning, Sukut said.
Newspapers have struggled nationally because of the loss of advertising revenue to online sites and newsroom employment has dropped by about half from 2008 and 2019, according to Pew Research.
The Gazette’s staff has mirrored that trend, dropping from 50 employees to 25 in the past 20 years, reporter Anna Paige said.
Iowa-based Lee Enterprises owns four other newspapers in Montana — the Missoulian, the Independent Record, the Montana Standard and the Ravalli Republic.
Longshore union can immediately appeal jury verdict damages
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge has ruled that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union can immediately appeal a jury verdict that it was liable for damages and must pay millions of dollars to former Port of Portland Terminal 6 operator ICTSI Oregon Inc.
A federal jury in November awarded $93.6 million in damages to ICTSI Oregon. In March, however, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon decreased the amount to just more than $19 million, finding the evidence at trial didn’t support the jury’s larger award, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The judge gave ICTSI Oregon the choice of accepting the lower amount or holding a new trial on the damages. ICTSI rejected the lower amount, setting the stage for a new trial.
