By Salem Reporter
Why a bill intended to avoid a legally messy election season has one campaign finance advocate worried
The Oregon Capitol (Salem Reporter archives) Rep. Dan Rayfield, D- Corvallis, wants to keep the campaign field for candidates level this year as courts and legislators untangle campaign finance reforms but he wants to short circuit a voter-approved measure to…
PERS reforms stall in face of complexity, mounting costs
State Department of Administrative Services building in Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) SALEM — Public workers who expected to contribute more to their savings in July to make up for cuts to retirement benefits will have to wait until September. The…
Salem Health builds financial muscle, anticipating future growth
Salem Hospital (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) Salem Health’s latest expansion sounds ambitious: building a $235 million, seven-story, 150-bed tower at its centerpiece facility, Salem Hospital. A decade or two ago, such a project would have seemed gargantuan for the…
Developers try for a third time to build the state’s only private casino
Rendering of the proposed casino in Wood Village. (R & S Strategy Group LLC) A pair of developers who have made two unsuccessful attempts to build the state’s first privately owned casino are trying again. Bruce Studer and Matt Rossman,…
Here is the legislation lawmakers from Marion and Polk counties have sponsored
Oregon State Capitol (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) Legislators from Marion and Polk counties are seeking changes in state law concerning mask-wearing rioters, a plant from southeast Asia, helping laid-off agricultural workers and uncompensated college athletes, as well as technical…
Michael Barton died after getting sick in prison. A lawsuit says prison staff ignored his cries for help
Oregon State Penitentiary (Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate suffering from mental illness was left to die of pneumonia after staff ignored his requests for medical attention, a lawsuit filed against the state Department of Corrections alleges. The lawsuit…
Businesses voice support for cap and trade in west coast states
Oregon State Capitol, rotunda (Salem Reporter/file) SALEM — As Oregon lawmakers prepare to meet for the month-long session that starts next week, Democrats’ effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions is getting a public nudge from business. Twenty-one companies and two…
How referendums get on the Oregon ballot could change. Here’s why it’s attracting controversy
Secretary of State’s office. (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) Changes to Oregon state administrative rules typically go unnoticed, but they are now the unusual setting for a new political conflict. Our Oregon, a union-backed political group, is alarmed over a…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Serving up even more news and now we wonder about podcasts
Les Zaitz, editor and CEO of Salem Reporter. You’re getting more news from us. That’s the result of listening closely to our readers and subscribers. And it’s the result of being a locally owned news organization that can react in…
AGENDA: Committee to get update in Salem on smoke management plan
Smoke lingering in a valley. (Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) Oregon’s Smoke Management Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday, Jan. 30, in Salem to discuss smoke intrusions, prescribed burns and to get an update from other state officials. The five-member committee was created…