Category Government
Audit: Oregon still struggles with cyber security needs
SALEM — Auditors say Oregon’s central administrative agency lacks basic controls to protect its information and systems from a cyber attack. That means the Department of Administrative Services’ information and systems are at risk for “unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification,” according to a report released…
Timber Unity movement gets presidential invite
Timber Unity supporters and other opponents rally against House Bill 2020 on June 27. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) SALEM — Two members of a quickly rising political activist community of Oregon loggers have been invited to the White House to attend a speech on “America’s environmental…
Leaked investigation leads to two actions against Marion County
Marion County continues to deal with the fallout from a public sexual discrimination dispute last October, with its top officials now accused of violating civil rights and worker protections. A fired supervisor contends he shouldn’t have been fired, while another staffer is on paid leave…
Logging community Timber Unity gets White House invite
Timber Unity and other groups protest House Bill 2020. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Two members of a quickly rising political activist community of loggers have been invited to the White House for an afternoon talk on environmental policy by President Donald Trump. Timber Unity, a group…
Dallas child welfare worker accused of having sex in front of child quits
A Dallas-based worker in the state Department of Human Services accused of having sex in front of a minor has quit, Salem Reporter has learned. Mark Walsh resigned June 28, according to an agency spokesman, seven months after he was placed on paid administrative leave.…
Oregon’s ‘Christmas tree bill’ pumps out more than a billion to local projects
SALEM — Christmas has come to Oregon’s legislators. In one of the final steps of the 2019 Legislature, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a massive bill to deliver about $1.32 billion to projects across the state, from Clackamas to Harney counties. One of the least controversial bills…
Brown, Democrats tout successful legislative session despite cap and trade’s death
Gov. Brown does a ceremonial signing of the Student Success Act. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) SALEM — The highly public downfall of a legislative plan to cap the state’s greenhouse gas emissions cast a long shadow over the last two weeks of the legislative session. Despite…
Governor threatens to do by rule what she couldn’t by legislation
Gov. Brown riles up advocates for cap and trade after Senate President Peter Courtney declared House Bill 2020 dead. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) Less than 24 hours after the 2019 Legislature closed, Gov. Kate Brown renewed the fight for a cap and trade program, saying…
Opponents of cap and trade effectively pit urban and rural against each other
Truckers and loggers organized the largest protest of cap and trade last week. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) SALEM — The debate on climate change appears to have deepened the gap between the liberal politics of Portland and Eugene and the conservative politics of rural areas with…