Wednesday, November 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon senator is warned not to touch women
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — A long-
time Oregon state senator
has been warned bluntly by
the Senate president not to
touch any women following
complaints of inappropriate
contact.
“Let me very clear,” says
a letter from Oregon Senate
President Peter Courtney to
Sen. Jeff Kruse, a Republican.
“Women in the Capitol do
NOT want you to touch
them.”
Courtney’s letter to
Kruse, written on Friday
and released to the media on
Tuesday, came as aftershocks
from movie mogul Harvey
Weinstein’s fall from grace
due to numerous allegations
of sexual harassment hit an
unexpected place: the Oregon
State Capitol.
Gov. Kate Brown noted
Tuesday that a national dia-
logue has been stoked over
sexual harassment and abuse.
“It is all too clear that no
workplace or community is
immune to them — sadly
even in our state capitol,” the
Democratic governor said in
a statement. “It is long past
time for these issues to be
openly discussed and directly
addressed.”
Courtney told Kruse in
the letter that he had been
previously instructed by offi-
cials in the Legislature not to
touch women, and that he was
removing the senator from the
committees he sits on because
of two new alleged incidents.
The committees are important
because that’s where bills are
shaped and either move ahead
for a vote on the Senate floor
or wither.
Let me very clear, women
in the Capitol do NOT want
you to touch them.
— Peter Courtney
Courtney, a Democrat, also
said he was having the door
to Kruse’s office removed
because he has continued to
smoke there — despite warn-
ings doing so is against the
law and exposes the Senate to
“public scorn and charges of
hypocrisy.”
Kruse has denied any inap-
propriate contacts and says he
is being denied due process,
although he acknowledged
the smoking.
Courtney, Oregon’s lon-
gest-serving current law-
maker with 33 years in office
and 14 as Senate president,
called his actions “an unprec-
edented step for me.
“I have never taken this
kind of action before but I
am left with no other options
at this time to protect our
employees, members of the
legislature and the public,” he
wrote.
Senate Republican leader
Ted Ferrioli said in a state-
ment that “we take seriously”
an ongoing investigation into
the allegations against Kruse,
but added that he knows of no
formal complaint filed against
the senator.
Courtney said he has
reported the two new alleged
incidents of Kruse’s behav-
ior toward women to the
Legislature’s lawyers and
human resources. He wrote
that Kruse was instructed in
March by those departments
“not to touch women at work.
Period.”
Legislative Counsel
Dexter Johnson clarified to
reporters Tuesday that the
instruction to Kruse was in
March 2016, not this year.
Kruse said in an email
Monday that he has been
“denied access to any of
the specifics of the allega-
tions and actually I am being
denied due process in this
whole thing.”
He said he’s learned more
from newspapers than from
the Senate about his situation.
Kruse said that what he’s read
suggests this is more about
boundary issues than any-
thing of a sexual nature, The
News-Review, the newspaper
in his hometown of Roseburg,
reported.
“I’m assuming at this point
you cannot touch a woman on
her shoulder, or you cannot
whisper in her ear, or any-
thing like that,” Kruse said.
I’m assuming at this point
you cannot touch a woman
on her shoulder, or you
cannot whisper in her ear,
or anything like that.
— Jeff Kruse
Democratic Sen. Sara
Gelser, who is from the uni-
versity town of Corvallis, had
complained that a senator was
making unwanted physical
contact with her. On Monday,
she identified him as Kruse.
She said she had filed com-
plaints with the Legislature’s
human resources and attor-
neys. It was unclear if any
complaints had been made by
anyone else.
The Legislature is cur-
rently in recess and doesn’t
reconvene until early next
year.
WRECK: Rider had
non-life threatening
injuries
Continued from page 1
A 34-year-old man was
operating a 2008 Kawasaki
Concours and traveling
behind the GMC Yukon.
The rider was unable to stop
for the GMC Yukon and
put his motorcycle down
on the roadway, striking the
rear of the GMC Yukon.
The rider came to rest on
the south side of the road-
way. He was attended to by
emergency personnel and
transported to St. Charles
Hospital in Bend with non-
life-threatening injuries. The
motorcycle fire was extin-
guished by responding fire
personnel.
No occupants of the
GMC Yukon were injured.
Highway 20 was closed for
approximately 30 minutes
in both directions to clear
the roadway. The cause
of the crash is still under
investigation.
The Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office was assisted
by Cloverdale Fire and
EMS, ODOT, and Davis
Towing.
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