Federal district Court Judges Ancer I. Haggerty and Garr M. King are both taking senior status and will be replaced by two new appointees. Names are being reviewed now by a 13-member citizen panel set up by Oregon's two Democratic senators.

For years, the Oregon Attorney General has tagged along or ignored major legal events while attorneys general from other states led the way. The days of lackadaisical consumer protection may be over. Attorney General John Kroger and State Treasurer Ben Westlund announced suit in state court against Oppenheimer Funds. The suit alleges violation of state security laws, negligence and misrepresentation of the risks associated with the so-called "conservative option" college savings plan.

The House and Senate Committees on Health Care and veterans affairs will hold a work session on Monday night to consider House Bill 2009. This omnibus bill will establish a Health Care Authority that will have jurisdiction over dozens of aspects of health care regulation in Oregon. Some of the key provisions of the plan include:

• Establishes cost controls to ensure that increases in health care costs in Oregon are limited to the Consumer Price Index for medical care, minus 1 percent.
• The purchasing of individual and small business health care plans shall be purchased through an exchange administered by the agency.
• Does not allow insurance to be denied on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

Federal investigators responsible for tracing food-borne pathogens are only able to fully trace 12.5% of food back to its original source, according to a report released yesterday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Government investigators bought several items including eggs, milk, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, and tomatoes and tried to trace 40 of the consumer goods back to their source. They were unable to accurately assess the source in 31 out of of 40 of the items purchased, and could find no record of the originating source in 4 instances.