Alex Baumhardt - Oregon Capital Chronicle
Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post. She previously worked in Iceland and Qatar and was a Fulbright scholar in Spain where she earned a master's degree in digital media. She's been a kayaking guide in Alaska, farmed on four continents and worked the night shift at several bakeries to support her reporting along the way.
Oregon assessments show little student improvement over last four years
Student proficiency in English language arts and math remain 10 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels, but declines appear to be leveling off.
Two dozen Oregon school districts will split $53 million for summer, after-school programs
United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley will get about $500,000 per year to offer its Enrichment Academy program in the Salem-Keizer School District, part of a round of state grants.
Plan to protect threatened and endangered species in Western state forests could face new delay
The chair of the state forestry board is proposing experts revise the Western Oregon State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan.
Oregon attorney general joins Democratic peers calling for strategy to curb new plastic production
Democratic attorneys general want an aggressive EPA strategy to reduce new plastic production, but their Republican peers want EPA to step aside.
Oregon’s new education leader wants more, diverse teachers to get students caught up from Covid
Charlene Williams, the new director of the Oregon Department of Education, says she will unify the state’s 197 school districts on prioritizing students who’ve fallen furthest behind during the pandemic
Grand Ronde tribe reaches agreement to hunt, fish on ancestral lands without state permit
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are the last western Oregon tribe to reach an agreement with the state allowing hunting on the area of their historic homelands.
Oregon cherry growers ask governor for disaster declaration after third bad season in a row
Climate change has not only limited Oregon’s cherry growing season but delayed California’s, leading the market to be flooded and prices to drop.
Gov. Kotek signs into law measures to increase funding for schools
Bills recently signed by Gov. Tina Kotek included $140 million to improve literacy and more than $10 billion for general school funding.
West Coast gray whale population still declining, but signs of recovery begin to show
The North Pacific gray whale population is down 46% in the last seven years, but healthier mothers and more calves could be signs of a rebound.
No compliance issues with farmworker overtime law yet, but reporting could be delayed
Oregon authorities haven't received wage complaints about overtime pay from farmworkers this summer, but advocates say many delay reporting for fear of retaliation