BRIEFLY.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Teacher accused

of providing pot charged

A McKenzie High School teacher arrested for allegedly providing marijuana and beer to students during an underage birthday party was formally charged Wednesday in Lane County Circuit Court.

Brandye Noelle Sauvajon, 37, of McKenzie Bridge was arraigned on a felony charge of delivering marijuana to a person under 18 and on misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and furnishing liquor to a minor.

Sauvajon was arrested Nov. 22 after students complained that the teacher had come to a student birthday party and provided pot and beer over the course of three hours. Officials at the McKenzie School District would not discuss the case, but said Sauvajon is not currently working in any district schools.

Ruling favoring district won't be appealed

The Bureau of Labor and Industries has opted not to appeal an October Lane County Circuit Court ruling favoring the Eugene School District in a long-running dispute over prevailing wages paid on several large construction projects.

At issue was whether the wage rates should have been set at the time the first advertisements ran requesting proposals for construction and general contracting services for the projects, or - as BOLI asserted - at a later date, based on when primary contractors advertised for subcontractors.

The district has estimated that back wages on all four projects - Cesar Chavez and Bertha Holt elementary schools and major remodeling projects at both North Eugene and South Eugene high schools - could have added up to about $600,000, with an equal amount in damages on top of that.

In weighing whether to appeal, Christine Hammond, administrator of BOLI's Wage and Hour Division, said the agency decided it could instead address the issue through a proposed rule change that would clarify what rates apply to projects done using a construction manager/ general contractor process. Through such a process, an agency typically will issue a request for proposals from general contractors and settle on one, which in turn hires subcontractors.