Category OREGON NEWS
Feds give Oregon cities, environmentalists $1.8 million to tackle toxic waste in Columbia River
The money is part of $79 million going to seven states that comprise much of the Columbia River basin, which is contaminated, during the next five years.
Betsy Johnson hired petition circulators from Craigslist to qualify for Oregon governor race
Betsy Johnson has counted on her “Betsy Brigades,” groups of volunteers circulating petitions, to gather the nearly 24,000 signatures she needs as a nonaffiliated gubernatorial candidate to make it on the November ballot. But she also paid a Washington-based signature gathering firm more than $200,000…
Health care professionals call for federal help addressing Oregon’s youth mental health crisis
At a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and the head of the federal office overseeing Medicaid, many expressed frustration with outdated rules and regulations.
Oregon state House candidate who reported groping by masseuse sues Woodburn Spa
Anthony Medina wants a court order closing the massage parlor and preventing its owner from operating any other massage businesses
Oregon schools lean heavily on emergency teachers, including untrained ones
Struggling with staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic, Oregon schools leaned heavily last year on teachers who received emergency licenses from the state. During the 2021-22 school year, districts employed 438 emergency licensed teachers, up from 181 the year prior and a low of 134…
Oregon schools need billions to close funding gap, education commission says
Years of underfunding has lead to a widening gap between what schools need and what they’re getting, a new report says.
Wyden: Senate bill “seismic shift” in prescription drug pricing
Prescription help for thousands of Oregonians may be coming soon after an all-night session of the U.S. Senate and consideration of a novel-length piece of legislation. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, bleary-eyed after the marathon session in Washington, D.C., briefed Oregon reporters Monday on the…
Many Oregonians will have to vote again on psilocybin
On a recent Monday evening, as a heatwave broiled Philomath, elected officials debated what’s been a hot topic this summer throughout Oregon cities and counties: Should they opt out of Measure 109, the initiative legalizing limited use of the hallucinogen psilocybin, before it goes into effect…
State forester rescinds wildfire risk map in response to public, political outcry
Several Republican lawmakers in southern and eastern Oregon said the map was flawed, causing people to lose insurance or face doubled premiums.