Ore. bans gay job discrimination SALEM, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon Court of Appeals ruling Wednesday has effectively outlawed job discrimination based on sexual orientation across the state, state officials said. The ruling involved a lawsuit by three lesbian employees at Oregon Health Sciences University who claimed their domestic partners were entitled to benefits. Though the school began offering such benefits last June, the court nailed down the university's obligations. The "denial of insurance benefits to the unmarried partners of its homosexual employees" violated the equal protection provisions of the Oregon Constitution, said a unanimous three-judge panel. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557550095-8c5> Treesitter marks year of protest STAFFORD, Calif. (AP) - It's been one year since Julia Hill last set foot on Earth. On Dec. 10, 1997, the logging activist clambered 180 feet to the top of a redwood she calls Luna to protest a $490 million state-federal deal to purchase 10,000 acres of forest from Pacific Lumber Co. The land, which includes 3,000 acres of ancient redwoods in the nearby Headwaters Forest, would be turned into a public preserve. Hill and other environmental groups want the entire 66,000-acre Headwaters Forest included in the preservation deal. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557552925-fe8>
