Oregon’s People
Oregonians worry about housing, homelessness, survey focused on rural voices shows
Oregonians in every county worry about a lack of affordable housing and rising levels of homelessness, and while many said they appreciate the state, some people of color and LGBTQ residents said they felt uncomfortable in their communities, survey data released Tuesday showed. The Oregon Voices survey, a joint project from the Ford Family Foundation, […]
54 years after officer’s death, Oregon Senate standoff leaves family waiting longer for state honor
Every day since May 4, the first bill on the agenda for the Oregon state Senate has been a resolution to honor a small-town reserve police officer shot and killed by a teenager during a car chase in 1969. Every day since May 4, the Senate has adjourned without a quorum, leaving Gary LaVaughn Sumpter’s […]
LBGTQ students oppose selection of Republican Rep. Chavez-DeRemer as commencement speaker
A group of LGBTQ students has called on Central Oregon Community College to rescind its commencement address invitation to U.S. Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, saying she has “a record of transphobia and supports anti-transgender policies.” In a letter to the college leaders on Wednesday, they pointed to her support for House Resolution 734, the “Protection […]
All Oregon Capital Chronicle staff win journalism awards
Less than two years old, the Oregon Capital Chronicle just won its second set of regional journalism awards. Three staff members took home second-place awards for their 2022 coverage in the regional Society for Professional Journalists contest for Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Washington. The results of the large regional contest demonstrate that the Capital […]
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 […]