Category Government
Once a foster child, Maryland leader takes on troubled Oregon program
SALEM — Adopted out of foster care as a baby, Rebecca Jones Gaston will now oversee the welfare of thousands of Oregon kids in similar situations. Jones Gaston was born in Minnesota and raised in Iowa. After an East Coast education and more than two…
City cuts back more access to Cascades Gateway Park
Inmate workers help the city of Salem Parks and Recreation Department install bollards and place boulders at Cascades Gateway Park on Wednesday morning. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Following a spate of clear-outs of homeless camps in Salem, the city has followed through to ensure at least…
Salem residents likely to see new charge on utility bill for services like police, firefighters
Salem city hall (Salem Reporter) If you’re one of about 40,000 homeowners in Salem, you may soon see an $8 fee on your monthly utility bill. It will be the city’s newest way to help pay for firefighters, police and other services. Salem City Council…
Oregon’s transportation agency gets new boss who knows commuters’ woes
Kris Strickler is being promoted to run the Oregon Transportation Department. He has billions to spend and thousands of employees to manage while addressing outside critics. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) SALEM — Oregonians fuming over stalled freeway traffic have a sympathetic person in a powerful…
Police tactics toward homeless under fire as Salem considers new ordinance
Tammy Hudson holds her dog Shadow at Cascades Gateway Park, where police have recently cleared out campers, on Sept. 12. Hudson said she often has to fight people away from the motor home she lives in. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Ken Houghton doesn’t have to look…
Marion County gives trash burner another year to win state tax credits
Covanta Marion, a trash incinerator in Brooks, burns roughly 170,000 tons of garbage every year. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Local garbage will be shipped to Brooks another year under a deal approved by Marion County commissioners that will avoid a shutdown and gives the plant operator…
State legislator takes break from service to donate – a kidney
Oregon State Capitol rotunda (Salem Reporter/file) SALEM – When state Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell of Astoria won election to the Oregon House to represent the north coast, there was a lot flying through her head. On election night last Nov. 6, she thought of the people…
Brown drops special session on Oregon death penalty law
Gov. Kate Brown at a Willamette Women Democrats meeting Sept. 12 in Lake Oswego. (Sam Stites/Pamplin Media Group) SALEM – Gov. Kate Brown will not call a special session to change a controversial bill limiting the state’s death penalty before the law takes effect on…
Boquist content to break political china to make his points
Sen. Brian Boquist reflects on his political and military careers at his Dallas farm. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) On a rainy Monday morning in September, Sen. Brian Boquist is sitting in a darkened manufactured home that serves as his district office, his face aglow from the…