Category State
Sorrow, frustration for Oregon’s Latinx community in wake of El Paso shooting
SALEM — Latinx advocates, politicians and community members in Oregon expressed sorrow, frustration and worry this week after a shooter who told police he was targeting “Mexicans” killed 22 at a Walmart in south Texas. “The feeling is definitely really heavy in my house,” said…
Rep. Mike Nearman to head Oregon Freedom Foundation
Rep. Mike Nearman. (Courtesy of the Freedom Foundation) State Rep. Mike Nearman — one of the Legislature’s most conservative members — is the new state director of the anti-union group Freedom Foundation. The Republican from Independence started last week and was a natural fit, said…
New report links Oregon’s female prisoners to high levels of trauma throughout their lives
A screenshot of the report shows some results from the second survey, interviewing 66 female prisoners at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. (Oregon Justice Resource Center) Women incarcerated at Oregon’s Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville by an overwhelming number have been abused throughout their lives…
Weekend shootings spur gun control debate in Oregon
SALEM — Stalled gun reforms in Oregon aren’t likely to move ahead until next year despite a resurgent national debate following the shooting deaths over the weekend of 31 people in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. One of the Oregon Legislature’s leading advocates of…
Rep. Barker will call it quits after 18 years in Oregon House
Rep. Jeff Barker in 2017. (Jaime Valdez/Pamplin Media Group) Rep. Jeff Barker will call it quits after almost two decades in the Oregon House from a district centered on Aloha. Barker, now 76, was elected as a Democrat in 2002 after a 31-year career in…
Gov. Brown moves to veto several rural proposals Friday
Gov. Kate Brown. (Salem Reporter file photo) Gov. Kate Brown announced Sunday that she is considering using her veto power to kill proposals championed by rural lawmakers of both parties. Her staff said the veto threat was no political revenge but over sincere concerns about…
Oregon auditors question state agency rush to spend money as budgets expire
Secretary of State Bev Clarno. SALEM — At anywhere from $30 to $40 a pop, Hydro Flasks are an outdoorsy status marker, the Patagonia vest of thermoses. The Oregon Department of Corrections bought 33 of them just days before its budget expired in June 2017.…
The rural/urban divide widens as climate and economic policy remain at Oregon’s forefront
Rural Oregonians came to the Capitol in June to protest environmental legislation they felt would hurt rural economies. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) SALEM — On a rainy Thursday in late June, Matt Gourley drove the 25 miles from Scio to Salem to stand in front of…
With one hire, Oregon starts down road of spending $1 billion on schools
SALEM — Oregon’s ambitious and costly plan to transform its public schools begins with one person. On Thursday, Aug. 1, the first employee — one of dozens — charged with putting the Student Success Act into action joins the state’s education department. Lawmakers voted in…