News
Forest Service in ‘paradigm shift’ to use logging, controlled burns to prevent wildfires
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration will announce Tuesday it is using $3 billion from last year’s infrastructure law to revamp the federal approach to wildfire management, introducing a 10-year plan to deal with the large swaths of the West scientists consider most at risk of destructive blazes. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, is […]
Oregon scholarship for community college disproportionately going to wealthier students
Money to help Oregon high school seniors pay for community college has been disproportionately flowing to students with the least financial need. At a Senate Education Committee meeting Jan. 12, Juan Baez-Arevalo, the director of the Office of Student Access and Completion at the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, told lawmakers that the Oregon Promise grant […]
Online orders for free at-home COVID tests to begin Jan. 19
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday launched a new website for Americans to request up to four free COVID-19 tests per household. The administration is buying 1 billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, and Americans will be able to begin ordering the tests online on Jan. 19 at COVIDtests.gov. This is part of the administration’s effort […]
Oregonians invited to ‘Let’s Talk’ session to share what they want from an Oregon governor
News organizations and nonprofit groups in Oregon have teamed up to learn what voters want candidates for governor to be talking about as they compete for votes. They seek Oregonians to participate in a “Let’s Talk,” 90-minute virtual listening session to share their understanding of the race through the media. There is no cost to […]
Bridge funding in infrastructure law on the way to states
WASHINGTON – The federal government will begin releasing more than $5 billion for distressed bridges in the first year of funding under the recent infrastructure law, President Joe Biden said in a Friday video message. He specifically mentioned the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky, the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River between Oregon […]
Kristof defends residency to Oregon Supreme Court
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristof asserted Friday he paid Oregon income taxes as a full-year resident beginning in 2020, answering a question raised about whether he is qualified to run. He made the disclosure in a lengthy court filing urging the Oregon Supreme Court to restore him to the ballot. The 54-page legal brief filed […]
Oregon’s workplace safety officials will not pursue a vaccine mandate for large companies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against a federal mandate on vaccines and testing for large companies means that the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Division will not pursue a similar measure in Oregon. Following Thursday’s decision, the state agency said it would “not move forward with adopting the same or similar standard in Oregon.” The […]
Northwest Oregon gets two new state senators
A former legislative aide and a current state representative will join the Oregon Senate ahead of the February legislative session. In two separate meetings Friday, county commissioners picked Rachel Armitage, a Democrat from Warren, and state Rep. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, to fill the vacancies left by the resignations of Sens. Betsy Johnson and Chuck Riley […]
New recommendations limit contact tracing in schools to exposure in cafeterias, band, sports
New guidance from the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education could end contract tracing when a student tests positive and was in close proximity to other students as long as all were wearing masks. In an email sent Friday, the director of the state Education Department, Colt Gill, advised schools that they […]
Audit: Oregon State Police should change how it determines staffing needs
Oregon State Police should use workload, not the state’s population, to decide how many troopers it needs, state auditors said in a report released Friday. The 33-page report from the Secretary of State’s Audits Division notes that OSP staffing declined for decades beginning in 1980, when a voter-approved tax measure shifted the department’s funding source […]
DeFazio endorses Hoyle, new candidate files in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District
Retiring U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio declared Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle his preferred successor on Thursday, as other candidates entered or bowed out of races for Oregon’s open congressional seats. Hoyle, a Democrat, represented the Eugene area in the state House for eight years before she was elected labor commissioner in 2018. She announced her […]
State will add nearly 2,000 new contract professionals to ease overburdened hospitals
Oregon officials are working to discharge hundreds of hospital patients who have been languishing and taking up critically-needed beds because the care they need in the community isn’t available. The move is expected to free up hospital beds for the still-growing influx of Oregonians so ill with coronavirus they need hospitalization. State officials said Thursday […]