News
Billions targeted to state wildlife conservation under bipartisan push in Congress
A bipartisan pair of senators on Wednesday called for Congress to approve billions in new funding for states to manage wildlife recovery work. At a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sens. Martin Heinrich, (D-N.M.), and Roy Blunt, (R-Mo.), said a bill they introduced this year would help protect 1,600 threatened species, relieve the […]
Salem City Councilor Chris Hoy wins state House appointment
Chris Hoy, a Salem city councilor, on Wednesday won an appointment to the state House to finish the term of Democratic Rep. Brian Clem, who resigned in November to care for his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Hoy, a retired law enforcement officer, won a special election to the city council in 2017. He told […]
Montana’s Jon Tester to vote with U.S. Senate GOP to undo Biden vaccine rule
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana is one of at least two Democrats who are expected to join every Senate Republican in a vote Wednesday night opposing President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private employers. In a written statement late Tuesday, Tester said that he’s heard from concerned constituents in his state about that pending […]
Oregon airports big and small ready to improve with millions coming from infrastructure package
The new federal infrastructure package set to bring more than $200 million to Oregon airports couldn’t have come at a better time for Eugene’s Mahlon Sweet Field. The airport, already the second largest in Oregon, just added service from an eighth airline and started a year-long study into what it needs to meet current and […]
Christmas tree growers adapt to Oregon’s destructive heat wave
The summer’s extreme heat wave decimated scores of Christmas trees. Many older trees suffered sunburn while many seedlings were killed. But don’t worry about scoring a tree for your home this season. “There will be plenty of trees,” said Chal Landgren, Christmas tree specialist at Oregon State University’s Extension Service. “But I would suggest people […]
State work group targets stress and attrition among Oregon school employees
In a meeting with Portland teachers last month, state Senator Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, “really got an earful” about how bad staff shortages had gotten. A lack of substitute teachers, special education teachers and paraprofessionals as well as classified workers such as bus drivers and janitors had many school employees taking on extra work and being […]
Oregon Health Authority director: ‘We know almost nothing about Omicron’
Scientists know little about Omicron but they expect it to emerge in Oregon this week. “We know almost nothing about Omicron,” Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority told the Oregon Health Policy Board on Tuesday. He said there has been a lot of “supposition and speculation” in the media that is “well-informed” but […]
Brown calls for $200 million in workforce spending, offers few details
PORTLAND – Gov. Kate Brown used an annual gathering of Oregon politicians and business leaders to push for a new $200 million package she plans to seek during the 2022 legislative session. During a brief speech responding to the Oregon Business Council’s plan for the next decade, Brown urged a crowd at the Oregon Convention […]
Investments needed in higher ed, job training to recover from pandemic, Oregon leaders say
Oregon can’t recover jobs lost during the pandemic and meet the needs of industry without new investments in training the workforce, state leaders declared Monday. Gov. Kate Brown and Ben Cannon, executive director of the state Higher Education Coordinating Commission, underscored that point in speeches to an annual gathering of business leaders and public officials. […]
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown brushes off criticism of maskless photos
Gov. Kate Brown’s political adviser on Monday brushed off criticism that she attended a seemingly maskless D.C. gala as Oregon continues to live with some of the nation’s strictest mask mandates. On Saturday, the LGBTQ Victory Institute inducted Brown into its hall of fame to honor her as the nation’s first openly LGBTQ governor during […]
Oregon state senator honored for pressing for fixes to Oregon’s foster care system
State Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin has been working on child welfare issues for a long time. In 2007, after being elected to the Oregon House for Corvallis, the Democrat sponsored Karly’s Law, which strengthened protections for abused children. In 2015, she was elected to the state Senate, where she spearheaded legislation that makes investigations into […]
Oregon scientists know enough about Omicron to be worried
The latest Covid-19 variant of concern has never appeared in Oregon – ever. Dr. Melissa Sutton, the Oregon Health Authority’s medical director of respiratory viral pathogens, reviewed all of the state’s genome sequencing data on Covid-19 samples last week. She told the Capital Chronicle that none of the samples resembled Omicron. But that’s likely to […]