Pot rules — Oregon lawmakers have approved nearly $600,000 so the Liquor Control Commission can begin making rules for legal marijuana. The Legislature’s Emergency Board approved the funding Wednesday. The move will allow the commission to hire four workers: a program manager, two policy analysts and a public affairs staffer. One state estimate said regulating recreational marijuana would eventually require up to 30 workers. Taxes collected on marijuana sales are expected eventually to cover the regulatory costs. The money approved Wednesday will come from liquor sales and must eventually be paid back with interest once marijuana sales start generating taxes. The measure voters approved last month makes personal possession and home grown pot legal as of July 1. But the commercial sales the rules will govern aren’t expected to begin until 2016.

Noxious weeds — A new study shows two dozen of Oregon’s most significant invasive noxious weeds cause an estimated annual loss of about $83.5 million to the state’s economy. Losses include livestock deaths, reduced cattle foraging and wildlife grazing, smaller crop yields, decreased quality of seed and crop, and even the loss of available fishing and hunting opportunities. Two weeds — Scotch broom and Armenian blackberry — contribute nearly $80 million of the losses. Twenty-three other species are under intense management to stop their spread. The study shows if the state did nothing to control them, it could lead to potential losses of about $1.8 billion. The study was prepared by The Research Group, LLC of Corvallis for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Accidental shooting — Clackamas County deputies a 22-year-old man trying to fix a firearm has been shot to death, and the evidence suggests it happened when he was trying to remove a stuck cartridge. The sheriff’s department said the death is believed to have been an accident. The man is identified as Alexander Keith Olenslager of Eagle Creek, an unincorporated community. Family members told deputies that he had told them earlier he was having trouble with one of his weapons and was working in an outbuilding.