PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Latest on the after-effects of the winter storm that hit Oregon (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
The Salvation Army in Portland said Friday that its holiday kettle donations are down dramatically because of recent bad weather.
The charity said Friday that it makes half of its annual budget by sending volunteers to ring bells by the famous red kettles, but snow and ice kept many volunteers at home in recent days.
It said in a news release that donations are at 52 percent of normal for a week before Christmas.
The Salvation Army in the Portland metropolitan region has raised about $389,000 out of a goal of $750,000 for the 2016 kettle season.
___
2 p.m.
After snow brought Portland to a standstill this week, state officials have decided to expand the use of rock salt on wintry roads - something many other states have done for decades.
Don Hamilton, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said Friday the department will begin using rock salt during extreme winter conditions in areas that are usually problem areas for motorists during a storm.
Hamilton said it will be done not as a rule of thumb, but on a case by case basis.
Long lines of trucks and cars that were stymied Wednesday by an inch or two of snow brought attention to the Portland area’s difficulties in handling a winter storm.
Oregon has not made general use of rock salt because of environmental concerns, and because winter storms are rare in the most populated areas of the state.
Five years ago, as a pilot project, ODOT begin using rock salt at Oregon’s borders with Nevada, Idaho and California, all states that use salt on their own roads.
___
7:20 a.m.
Schools across the Portland metro area are closed for another day as below-freezing temperatures prevent ice from melting.
The National Weather Service says Friday’s high temperature will be around 32 degrees. It’s expected to warm to the upper 30s Sunday and then hit the 40s on Monday.
It’s a similar story in Eugene, which is enduring its worst ice storms in years. The Register-Guard reports more than 20,000 households in Lane County remained without power late Thursday, and tree branches continued to snap.
In Central Oregon, which got buried with snow, Redmond and Sisters were among the school districts canceling classes for a third day.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.