Mayor: Portland can’t require COVID-19 vaccination for cops
PORTLAND, Ore. — Mayor Ted Wheeler confirmed Wednesday that state law prohibits Portland from requiring police officers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 despite a new city mandate.
Wheeler told The Oregonian/OregonLive he’s disappointed that all city employees can’t be held to the same vaccine requirement and urges police to get vaccinated.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it doesn’t have vaccination rates for its officers.
The city attorney’s office said Tuesday the order requiring police to be vaccinated had become legally dubious because of new guidance from the Oregon Health Authority.
Under Oregon law, local municipalities can only issue vaccine mandates for police officers if a federal or state rule requires it. The city believed Gov. Kate Brown’s vaccination mandate issued in August for state health care workers covered police because they receive some medical training as part of their job.
But the guidance said officers are most likely exempt because providing medical care is “likely not a fundamental part of their job.”
Montana asks court not to block new laws targeting abortion
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s Republican attorney general is asking the court not to block the enforcement of several new abortion laws, after Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit last month claiming the law would unconstitutionally restrict access to the procedure in the state.
The laws are set to take effect Oct. 1. They would ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation; restrict access to abortion pills; require abortion providers to ask patients if they would like to view an ultrasound; and prohibit insurance plans that cover abortion procedures from being offered on the federal exchange.
The lawsuit filed in Yellowstone District Court names Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen as a defendant. The state is represented in the case by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group.
The state asked Tuesday for the court to reject Planned Parenthood’s request to block the laws before they take effect, saying the laws will “help minimize the medical risks” during pregnancy. But medical experts and abortion advocates broadly dispute that the new laws would make the procedure safer.
Funeral home investigation: Police try to identify bodies
POCATELLO — Authorities have positively identified five bodies found at a Pocatello funeral home that is under investigation and are working to identify seven others and the remains of approximately 50 fetuses have been turned over to the Ada County Coroner.
The Downard Funeral Home was being scrutinized by police after a state health inspector contacted them about the business.
The East Idaho News reported the Pocatello Police Department is working the Bannock County Coroner’s Office to contact family members of the deceased.
“At this time, detectives believe that decedents who were scheduled to be buried were buried, and the unidentified individuals that were found had been scheduled for cremation,” a news release says. “The remains of approximately 50 fetuses found at the scene are now in the custody of the Ada County Coroner for further investigation.”
The Idaho State Journal reports the owners of the Downard Funeral Home have not publicly commented on the investigation.
Police have received hundreds of tips and requests for information since news broke Friday that multiple decomposing bodies and fetuses were found inside Downard Funeral Home.
The business was previously in charge of donating cadavers to Idaho State University for scientific study but the relationship ended last year after the university had stopped receiving donations for a period of time.
In the process of ending the relationship, the university discovered some families believed the remains of their loved ones had already been donated. However, the university had no record of receiving those bodies.
