Thu 5 May, 2016 / by Cable Huston / Verdicts & Cases
The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, ruling that the City of Gresham’s attempt to raise right-of-way access fees from 5% to 7% of revenues was an improper intergovernmental tax on a fellow municipal entity, Rockwood Water People’s Utility District (“PUD”). In Northwest Natural Gas Co. v. City of Gresham, 359 Or 309 (2016), the City of Gresham enacted an ordinance increasing the fees it charges both investor-owned utilities (including Northwest Natural and …
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Fri 22 Apr, 2016 / by Cable Huston / Verdicts & Cases
The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals again stating that a social host can be liable for overserving a guest, or for failing to control the activities that occur at the host’s house. In Baker v. Croslin, (Or. S. Ct. April 21, 2016) a young man was shot and killed accidentally by another guest at a party where copious amounts of alcohol were served by the homeowner. The Court held that there was …
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Mon 31 Aug, 2015 / by Cable Huston / Verdicts & Cases
Congratulations to Cable Huston client Stewart Title Guaranty Co. on a recent victory before the Oregon Court of Appeals in a complex tax dispute with the State of Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. On July 1, 2015, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment by the trial court in Stewart Title’s favor invalidating the State’s attempt to assess Stewart Title’s so-called “retaliatory taxes” based on portions of the premiums paid by its …
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Tue 30 Jun, 2015 / by Cable Huston / Verdicts & Cases
Up until now, the members of NWPPA have been focused on electric power. That could change in the future, however, if existing consumer-owned electricity utilities decide to branch out into natural gas service. A court in Eastern Oregon has paved the way for this diversification by ruling that cities in Oregon have authority to build, own, operate, and maintain a natural gas distribution utility. Cities in Oregon also have the power to “exclude or eject” …
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