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Sunday’s (4/29/07) Oregonian had a good story by Sarah Hunsberger “Remodel disaster: $50,000 vanishes, as does contractor,” on how limited Oregon law is when protecting consumers from contractors who do shoddy work or go out of business, even when the consumer takes all possible care to check out the contractor’s bona fides at the CCB and beyond:

‘As home improvement season gets under way and families gear up to make big investments this spring and summer, the O’Briens’ misfortune offers a reminder that even though Oregon regulates contractors, consumers still carry the burden to protect themselves.

An investigation by The Oregonian in 2005 revealed that weak state laws and passive enforcement by the state Construction Contractors Board have allowed unscrupulous or financially troubled contractors to remain in business and avoid paying penalties levied by the state agency.

Sunday’s (4/29/07) Oregonian had a good story by Brent Hunsberger on noncompetitive agreements, “You can’t take that job,” and how they aren’t just for executives and knowledge workers:

” Last week, less than a month into new jobs, Sean Mesarich and Scott Beeson received a call that threw them for a loop.

Their former employer was threatening to sue both for violating a noncompete agreement.

Neither recalls signing the one-page pledge. And neither is an executive, doctor or salesman, careers in which the agreements are more of the norm.”

The April 20th Gresham Outlook reports:

“Tram backers approach Troutdale“

“With gasoline prices currently stuck above $3 a gallon, global warming concerns generating headlines and the Portland-metro area gripped in gridlock that only gets worse, alternative transportation methods continue to inch toward the mainstream.
But car-pooling, driving a hybrid and taking the bus all pale in comparison to Ben Missler’s 20-year renewable energy vision of building an $800 billion network of trams powered by wind and the sun across America.

The April 24th Tillamoook Headlight Herald reports:

“Trevino named to Circuit Court post“

“Mari Garric Trevino has been appointed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski as a Tillamook County Circuit Court judge, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David Hantke.

Trevino said she is excited and honored to be appointed to the position, and will do her best to live up to the standard of integrity set by her predecessor, Judge Hantke.”

I really wanted to post to a hot law story from the Sisters’ Nugget (who wouldn’t want to post to a newspaper referred to as Sisters’ Nugget? :-), aka Nugget News, but this is the best I can do, which isn’t too bad. It must be a great and peaceful place.

“Don’t rush reform,” By Eric Dolson

“Two laws need to be recognized by the Oregon Legislature, and neither was passed in Salem.

The first is the law of unintended consequences. The second is that, given a chance, most people will do the wrong thing for all the right reasons.

These are immutable, and legislators will obey them, willingly or not.According to The Oregonian, the House and Senate will attempt to “clean up our act,” in the words of the estimable Peter Courtney, after revelations that the Oregon Beer and Wine Distributors Association paid for legislators to go to Hawaii for a little golf.”

The April 27th Roseburg News-Review reports:

“Electric car company financier arrested for fraud“

“A California man who negotiated to buy a Roseburg company working to bring an electric car manufacturing plant to Sutherlin turned out to be a con man, law enforcement authorities say.Randall Bert Foshie, 57, was arrested earlier this month by the FBI at his home in Roseville, northeast of Sacramento. He is being held on federal charges of wire and mail fraud.Foshie is accused of carrying out a scheme to defraud investors by asking for up-front “commitment fees” in order to secure loans that Foshie agreed to finance. After collecting the fees, Foshie never made good on providing funding, federal officials said.”

From the April 27th Albany Democrat-Herald:

“LUBA overturns Tangent decision“

‘The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has struck down the city’s approval of Mel Brush’s application to bring his 84-acre farm into the city and build houses on it.Brush said he and his attorneys likely will appeal the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. They have 21 days from Wednesday, when LUBA announced its decision, to file.

From the Ashland Mail Tribune, April 27th:

“Rift: Proposed charter changes are dividing Ashland“

“Charges that the town’s crown jewel, Lithia Park, and its municipal water could be sold to private interests have cast shadows over a three-year-long attempt by city officials to adopt a new, modernized city charter.

For some reason the subject of municipal courts, their jurisdiction, appeals from, and their judges keeps popping up these past couple of weeks. I was scanning the newspapers from around the state and this story from the April 27th Daily Astorian jumped out: “Astoria DUII falls under the radar: City prosecutor won’t appeal May 11 drunken driving dismissal”

“Get arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants in Warrenton, and you’ll likely face the charge in Clatsop County Circuit Court, a “court of record” held to state standards of judicial conduct.But get caught across Youngs Bay Bridge in Astoria, and the outcome in the city’s municipal court is more debatable.”

Interesting story.

The most popular reference question people ask librarians, both law and public librarians, is “is it legal?” Is it legal for me to copy this DVD, is it legal for me to evict my roommate, is it legal for the kennel to refuse to take my dog, is it legal for my HOA to remove my “vote for x” sign from my front lawn, is it legal for me to have sex with my friend, is it legal for me not to pay this bill, is it legal for the hospital to stop treatment as soon as they find out I don’t have insurance, is it legal for my employer to tell me I can’t have time off to do volunteer work, etc., etc., etc.

The most common variation on the “is it legal” question is the “can s/he do that to me?” question. “S/he” may be a landlord, an employer, a partner, a bus driver, a parent, a teacher, a traffic cop, etc. and sometimes it is prefaced with variations on “s/he done me wrong.” Apart from the fact that I always itch to say, “don’t you mean ‘is it LAWFUL?’” (but I don’t do that because snarkiness isn’t nice and besides I know what the person means and mostly because I really admire people who are brave enough to come into a law library – it is a very intimidating place), I am also full of wonder at how many people live on the edge of lawfulness and unlawfulness. My life just isn’t that exciting. Maybe I have to work on that.

Anyway, I bet public librarians get this “is it legal?” question much more than law librarians, though I have no facts to back this up – but librarians can make themselves really believable at times (trust me). Our credibility comes from all our practice solemnly swearing that “yes, I too would wear that tin foil hat, but our evil bosses who are in cahoots with the All Powerful won’t let us.” Follow this up with a loud sigh, and after a brief interval (librarians learn about this Magic Interval in Library School) we then perk up and ask, “now, how may I help you today?”