Oregon’s People
Oregon Capital Chronicle wins first place in national journalism awards
Oregon Capital Chronicle reporter Alex Baumhardt, with an assist from past interns Cole Sinanian and Jael Calloway, won a coveted first place prize in a nationwide journalism contest. The National Headliner Awards, which is one of the oldest and largest journalism awards in the country, announced Wednesday they had received first place in the online […]
Deputy takes over Secretary of State’s office
Shemia Fagan ended her nearly three-year tenure as Oregon’s 28th secretary of state at midday Monday, less than two hours after her staff released a statement endorsing her resignation and calling the agency “resilient.” Fagan’s deputy, Cheryl Myers, who earns more than double what Fagan was paid, took over as acting secretary of state. “Secretary […]
New Oregon behavioral health director wants collaboration among state, advocates, patients
Ebony Clarke, Oregon’s new behavioral health director, urged a packed conference in Seaside to look beyond state government for solutions and change. Clarke, appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek in February, spoke Monday at Peerpocalypse, a gathering of people who work in peer support roles. Peer workers use their life experiences to help people who need […]
Wyden aims to pursue federal legislation to curb gun violence
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden plans to pursue federal legislation to reduce the surge in gun violence. Oregon’s senior senator discussed the problem on Friday with experts at Oregon Health & Science University’s South Waterfront campus in Portland. The meeting included experts involved with a federally funded OHSU and Portland State University research project studying strategies […]
What was Fagan thinking?
There’s something called the “any damn fool” rule in politics. It’s an unwritten rule because, well, any damn fool should know better, no matter what the law says or how the rules can be interpreted to justify one’s actions. Secretary of State Shemia Fagan learned this rule the hard way, when she took on a […]
Day after apologizing and dropping side job, Fagan resigns as Secretary of State
This is a developing story and will continue to be updated Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will resign next Monday, a little more than a week after news broke of her moonlighting for a troubled cannabis company that played a key role in an audit conducted by her office. Fagan’s emailed announcement on Tuesday followed […]
Chavez-DeRemer appears ‘moderate’ but she’s anything but
Oregon’s newly-redrawn Congressional District 5 has a new representative, Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has started to cultivate the image of a reasonable, moderate member of the Republican party. She is trying to reflect the “toss-up” character of the district, as Randy Stapilus said in a recent commentary. But anyone who closely follows both her statements […]
Oregon lawmakers ponder stricter rent control laws after 14.6% increases
Four years after Oregon passed the nation’s first statewide rent control law, state legislators are considering new limits as tenants throughout the state continue receiving notices that they’ll owe hundreds or thousands more in rent each year. The state’s 2019 law limited rent increases on many buildings to no more than 7% plus inflation. High […]
Managers’ extra pay is sore spot among overworked Oregon state caregivers
Oregon Department of Human Services caregivers who tend to the state’s most vulnerable saw their paychecks shrink last spring when the state ended a temporary pay bump intended to help staffing levels and reward employees. But managers, salaried employees who generally earn more than the caregivers they supervise, continue to receive extra hourly pay when […]
Oregon lawmakers hear testimony on abortion, gender-affirming care
A sweeping bill intended to guarantee access to abortion and gender-affirming care in Oregon as other states limit rights received its first hearing in the state House Monday, with hours of often-emotional testimony.
Oregon Gov. Kotek adds Malheur, Clatsop counties to homelessness state of emergency
Gov. Tina Kotek has added two rural counties to her homelessness state of emergency so the state emergency management department can help coordinate state and local response to the homelessness crisis there. Kotek announced Friday that Malheur County, with about 31,000 residents in southeastern Oregon, will join the primarily urban counties in the state of […]
Oregon House passes $200 million for housing and homelessness, calls it a start
Oregon is on track to spend $200 million to help homeless residents move into houses, give people who have fallen behind on rent more time to pay and create new goals for cities to build homes under a pair of measures approved Wednesday by the state House.