(Salem, OR)  --  Bad news is coming about Oregon's public pension system.  The Oregonian reports that a status check due today shows that the PERS fund was hit hard by the stock market's fourth-quarter plunge.  Trillions of dollars in wealth were reportedly wiped out, leaving the full-year return at just under a half-percent.  It had been expected to grow by more than seven-percent last year.  The system's unfunded liability grew by four-point-three-billion dollars.  The number crunchers say some of the results are lagging a quarter behind, so things may be even worse than they appear.