Ben Botkin - Oregon Capital Chronicle
Ben Botkin covers justice, health and social services issues for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. He has been a reporter since 2003, when he drove from his Midwest locale to Idaho for his first journalism job. He has written extensively about politics and state agencies in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon. Most recently, he covered health care and the Oregon Legislature for The Lund Report. Botkin has won multiple journalism awards for his investigative and enterprise reporting, including on education, state budgets and criminal justice.
Oregon task force finds ways to prevent patients from boarding in hospitals
For more than a year, a state task force has tackled the problem of people stuck in hospitals with nowhere to go, taking up beds that others need.
Medicaid funding for addiction treatment has not slowed national overdose deaths, OHSU study finds
An Oregon Health & Science University study found states cannot slow the opioid crisis solely with more flexibility to use Medicaid funding for addiction treatment.
Oregon will get up to $40 million in a new opioid settlement with Kroger
Oregon will receive up to $40 million to fight and prevent drug addiction as part of a national opioid settlement with Kroger. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on Tuesday announced the deal, which is part of a $1.37 billion national…
More than a dozen Oregon communities vote to ban psilocybin businesses
Voters in more than a dozen Oregon cities, including in the Portland area, voted to ban the regulated sales and use of psilocybin mushrooms.
Democratic Rep. Salinas declares victory in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, the Democratic incumbent, is fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Mike Erickson
Former Oregon inmate sues corrections agency, alleging it failed to fix a broken middle finger
Benjamin K. Vesa’s lawsuit alleges doctors told him his finger cannot move properly because the Oregon State Penitentiary delayed care for months.
State officials argue in favor of firearms law put on hold by Harney County court
A three-judge appeals panel will decide whether to uphold or overrule a Harney County judge’s finding that found gun control Measure 114 is unconstitutional.
DHS caregivers reach temporary agreement in labor dispute
Oregon Department of Human Services caregivers have paused a planned vote of “no confidence” in DHS Director Fariborz Pakseresht.
Oregon Health Authority to launch new rental assistance program in November
Oregon will be the first in the nation to offer a statewide rental assistance program through Medicaid.
Washington and Clackamas counties sue Oregon Health Authority over Measure 110 funding
Officials with the two Portland-area counties worry they’ll lose millions under a new funding formula set to go into effect next year.