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Betsy Johnson hired petition circulators from Craigslist to qualify for Oregon governor race
Betsy Johnson has counted on her “Betsy Brigades,” groups of volunteers circulating petitions, to gather the nearly 24,000 signatures she needs as a nonaffiliated gubernatorial candidate to make it on the November ballot. But she also paid a Washington-based signature gathering firm more than $200,000 to collect signatures for her campaign, state campaign finance records […]
Feds sending $20 million to Portland bridge, safer streets in Salem, Beaverton
A Multnomah County bridge and pedestrian-friendly street upgrades in Beaverton and Salem will receive a combined $20 million in federal funding, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday. The Oregon funding is a portion of more than $2.2 billion allocated nationally this year through a grant program funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last […]
Oregon state House candidate who reported groping by masseuse sues Woodburn Spa
Anthony Medina, the Democratic state House candidate who told police he was touched inappropriately at a Woodburn massage parlor, is suing the establishment for $450,000. Medina’s complaint, filed Thursday in Marion County Circuit Court, asks for $150,000 in economic damages, $300,000 in non-economic damages and a court order prohibiting the Woodburn Spa, its owner and […]
Oregon’s Bentz joins Republican calls to investigate FBI after Trump raid
Oregon’s sole Republican in Congress joined others in his party in calling for a congressional investigation into the FBI for executing a search warrant on former President Donald Trump’s Florida resort. The FBI searched Trump’s home on Monday as part of an investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents, according to multiple media reports. The […]
Rep. Anna Williams resigns from Oregon Legislature for new policy role
Hood River Democrat Anna Williams has spent the past four years focused on human services policy at the Oregon Legislature. Starting in mid-August, she’ll trade the state House for a new policy job. Williams, who was elected in 2018, will be the new executive director of Oregon’s System of Care Advisory Council starting Aug. 15. […]
Oregon will receive $8.5 million more in federal rent assistance funds
Oregon will get another $8.5 million in federal emergency rental assistance money, the state’s two U.S. senators recently announced. The largest portion of the money – almost $6.9 million – will go to the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, which manages statewide rental assistance programs. The department has paid more than $386 million in […]
Nick Kristof returning to the New York Times after failed run for Oregon governor
Columnist Nick Kristof is headed back to the New York Times less than a year after he quit to begin an ill-fated campaign for governor of Oregon. Kristof, who grew up in Yamhill County, previously wrote for the Times from 1984 to October 2021. He then began running for governor as a Democrat, but his […]
Drazan, Johnson, Kotek spar over guns, abortion, homelessness in first Oregon governor debate
The three women running to be Oregon’s next governor sparred over abortion, homelessness, guns and climate change in their first debate on Friday. Friday’s forum, hosted by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association at a resort in Welches, was the unofficial start of the general election campaign and the first time Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Christine […]
Oregon governor candidates will debate Friday
The three women vying to be Oregon’s governor will meet on the debate stage for the first time Friday before a room of newspaper executives at a Clackamas County resort. The debate, at 2 p.m. Friday in Welches, is part of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual convention and isn’t open to the public. Newspapers […]
Audit: Oregon Employment Department struggled long before Covid pandemic
Oregon’s unemployment insurance program was struggling long before the Covid pandemic, an audit released Wednesday by the Secretary of State’s Office found. “Antiquated” computer systems, limited phone lines and a shrunken staff caused by years of low unemployment numbers and federal underfunding left the Oregon Employment Department ill-prepared for a rapid rise in pandemic-related unemployment […]
Oregon Gov. Brown declares emergency as heatwave continues
Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Tuesday for most of Oregon through the end of July as a heatwave continues to pummel the state. The current heatwave isn’t as bad as last year’s record-breaking June heat dome, when Salem hit 117 degrees and Portland reached 116. But most of the state still faces […]
Oregon’s Brown, other Western governors call on Congress to pass CHIPS Act
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and six other Western governors are calling on Congress to pass legislation with billions of dollars in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing. The U.S. Senate will have its first vote on the legislation on Tuesday morning, Senate President Chuck Schumer said Monday, and it will move to the U.S. House after a […]