Setback for gay rights; gain for property rights.Byline: David Steves and Diane Dietz The Register-Guard Oregon voters Tuesday favored banning gay marriage and requiring the government to compensate landowners when it reduces their property value. The two proposals, Measures 36 and 37, were winning Tuesday night, and a third measure, which would cap malpractice malpractice, failure to provide professional services with the skill usually exhibited by responsible and careful members of the profession, resulting in injury, loss, or damage to the party contracting those services. lawsuit awards, was barely leading in a too-close-to-call contest. Oregonians were rejecting three other citizens initiatives placed on the ballot: proposals to abolish the state-owned workers compensation insurer, SAIF Corp.; to limit logging on two state forests; and to expand the state's medical marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. law. Measure 33: By 58 percent, voters were rejecting the lowest profile initiative put on the ballot by citizen petition. It would have expanded the medical-marijuana law passed by Oregon voters in 1998, allowing patients and caregivers to grow and possess more marijuana and establishing state-regulated dispensaries for the drug. Measure 34: Voters were trouncing - with a 58 percent no vote - a measure that would have placed half of the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests off-limits to logging. Lane County's biggest lumber lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmills), sawing the logs into boards, grading the boards according to producers lined up against the environmental group-sponsored measure. Lane County's Rosboro Forest Products and Seneca Jones Timber Co. were major contributors in opposition. "People just realized basically we were going to put half that forest into wilderness and that was ridiculous - to let half that forest rot and burn. We had enough funds to educate people," said Dale Riddle riddle, puzzling question, specifically one that consists of a fanciful description or definition of something to be guessed. A famous riddle was asked by the Sphinx: "What goes on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, on three at night?" Oedipus guessed the , vice president of legal affairs at Seneca Jones. Measure 35: Oregon also was one of four battleground states in the war over malpractice awards. Voters here were closely divided, with 50.2 percent in favor and 49.8 percent opposed with partial returns counted. The medical industry has pushed for caps on awards for such noneconomic factors as pain and suffering, contending that insurance rates are going sky-high because of frivolous Of minimal importance; legally worthless. A frivolous suit is one without any legal merit. In some cases, such an action might be brought in bad faith for the purpose of harrassing the defendant. lawsuits over malpractice, pushed by greedy trial lawyers. Attorneys in Oregon and other states where the issue appeared on the ballot pushed back, saying it wouldn't cause insurance rates to fall, but would harm the rights of plaintiffs. Measure 36: The measure had 56 percent of the vote in favor of defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Backers said the measure, similar to those passing in 10 other states, was necessary to halt this year's court rulings that state constitutions - including Oregon's - guarantee to gay and lesbian couples the right to marriage or at least all its benefits. "I think the message here is that Oregonians are very intent on keeping marriage between one man and one woman. They were very clear," said Tim Nashif, who headed the campaign for Measure 36. The measure drew impassioned opposition from gay-rights groups and advocates of civil rights, including some mainline mainline Drug slang verb To inject a drug religious groups. They described Measure 36 as an attempt to prevent gay and lesbian couples from enjoying the rights heterosexual spouses are entitled to, including the ability to visit a partner in the hospital or to receive a partner's Social Security benefits. Shauna Shindler Ballo, a spokeswoman for the anti-36 campaign, said attorneys would continue to seek ways to establish the marriage rights of same-sex couples A same-sex couple is a pair of people of the same gender who pursue a romantic or sexual relationship together. The term "same-sex relationship" may be used when the sexual orientation of participants in a same-sex relationship is not known. , but conceded that "it's much harder to find the marriage laws unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. once you change the constitution." Measure 37: With a 59 percent lead, voters were approving the measure to require state and local governments to compensate landowners for actions that would affect property values. Under the measure, if a regulation reduces the sale value of property, and if that regulation was adopted during the time the current owner held title to the property, that person can demand the city, county or state pay compensation. "You're taught it's your property and if government wants it for the good of society, (they're) going to have to chip in and pay for it," said Riddle, a Seneca Jones executive who drafted the measure. Voters approved a similar measure in 2000, but a court ruled that it was flawed. This time the outcome will be different, Riddle said. "I'm confident we can make it work," he said. Measure 38: Liberty Mutual, the multinational firm that bankrolled the ballot measure through a subsidiary, conceded in an e-mail just after the first returns emerged showing the measure failing with a 60-plus percent no vote. By the end of the night, the measure was going down 62 percent to 38 percent. The measure would have dismantled dis·man·tle tr.v. dis·man·tled, dis·man·tling, dis·man·tles 1. a. To take apart; disassemble; tear down. b. SAIF, the state-owned workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. company, which is Liberty Mutual's chief competitor in Oregon. Despite any qualms voters had about SAIF, they rejected the idea of changing the system at the instigation INSTIGATION. The act by which one incites another to do something, as to injure a third person, or to commit some crime or misdemeanor, to commence a suit or to prosecute a criminal. Vide Accomplice. of one firm, said Pat McCormick Pat McCormick may refer to:
"Oregonians sent a clear message," McCormick said. "It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the company to end its vendetta vendetta (vĕndĕt`ə) [Ital.,=vengeance], feud between members of two kinship groups to avenge a wrong done to a relative. Although the term originated in Corsica, the custom has also been practiced in other parts of Italy, in other against SAIF and mind its own business for a change." Measure 33 Medical marijuana ... Failing Measure 35 Medical malpractice Improper, unskilled, or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional. ... Tossup Measure 36 Gay marriage ban ... Passing Measure 37 Property takings ... Passing Measure 38 Abolish SAIF ... Failing Measure 20-87 Lane Library District ... Failing Measure 20-88 Eugene police bonds ... Failing Measure 20-90 Eugene school levy ... Passing Measure 20-91 Springfield jail bonds ... Passing Measure 20-100 Willamalane bonds ... Failing East Lane commissioner Faye Stewart ... Elected Oregon Legislature House majority ... Republican Senate majority ... Democrat |
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