Juan Carlos Gonzalez is the first Hispanic elected to Metro’s council in Portland. (Portland Tribune/Jaime Valdez) Juan Carlos Gonzalez was a high school junior from Forest Grove when he encountered President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., through the Boys Nation leadership program. Meeting the nation’s first black president made a[Read More…]
By Salem Reporter
Tough state senator gets control over Oregon budget
State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, will be co-chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee that sets spending by state agencies. (File/Portland Tribune) State Sen. Betsy Johnson, a coastal legislator known for tough questioning of state bureaucrats, is getting a more powerful perch to watch over state spending. In what one legislator[Read More…]
Contractors and land sales lining up for $620 million school construction blitz
North Salem High School is among the first schools slated for significant renovations starting in the summer of 2019. (Special to Salem Reporter/Moriah Ratner) No dirt has moved yet, but behind the scenes, the Salem-Keizer School District is hiring staff, buying land and lining up its first contractors for the $620 million[Read More…]
Oregon collecting more marijuana tax money than expected
SALEM — Oregonians are buying more legal pot than expected. That means they are also poised to pay more taxes on it — about $12.5 million more in the current budget than state economists projected several months ago. The average price of a gram of cannabis on the retail market[Read More…]
Freedom Foundation takes its latest shot at Oregon unions
A conservative think tank is suing two Oregon labor unions, saying they are collecting union dues in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June. The class-action lawsuit, Anderson et al. v. SEIU et al, was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland. In June, the Supreme ruled[Read More…]
Paul Evans and Selma Pierce battled it out in one of Oregon’s most contentious races, in a district both parties will continue to fight for
Rep. Paul Evans plays a campaign commercial on his phone in his Capitol office. Evans made the commercial in response to attack ads from his opponent, Selma Pierce. The commercial is from the perspective of his dog, Beau, to set the record straight. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) The campaign signs are[Read More…]
Legislative staffer, local accountant added to citizens examining Salem-Keizer budget
Members of the Salem-Keizer school board listen to testimony during a Nov. 13, 2018, meeting. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A bilingual chief of staff in the Oregon Legislature and a West Salem accountant will be among the citizens with a voice in how the Salem-Keizer School District spends its annual budget[Read More…]
ODOT will expand use of salt on dangerous winter roads
Oregon Department of Transportation vehicles plow snow on Interstate 5 (Courtesy/ODOT) SALEM — Chance of snow? Expect a sprinkling of salt too. On the first eleven miles of Interstate 5 north of the California border, the average number of winter crashes dropped from 115 to 54 after the state’s transportation[Read More…]
Oregon officials call for changes to law on criminal insanity
Oregon’s attorney general said the number of people deemed criminally insane who commit new crimes after their release is “definitely too high” and must be addressed by the state. She was “surprised” by the frequency of crimes, often violent, documented by the Malheur Enterprise and ProPublica. Slightly more than a[Read More…]
Oregon secretary of state privately shares dire medical news with leaders
Secretary of State Dennis Richardson privately notified top Oregon officials earlier this summer that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and fatal form of cancer, according to two state executives. The Republican from Central Point is first in line to succeed the governor. Richardson declined comment and didn’t[Read More…]
