Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer and epidemiologist.(YouTube video) The Oregon Health Authority said Monday that the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, is likely to reach the United States and that Oregonians should be vaccinated to protect themselves. In a news release, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, said the state[Read More…]

Christy Perry, superintendent of the Salem-Keizer School District, is seen in the reflection of a mirror in her office. Despite overseeing a teacher workforce that is overwhelmingly made up of women, just 25% of Oregon superintendents are women. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In Oregon, school districts filled 29 openings for school[Read More…]

The Kam Wah Chung museum in John Day is among the state park sites scheduled for major improvements next year. (Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department) The electrical system at Beverly Beach State Park on the Oregon coast hasn’t kept pace with the ever-growing size of RVs pulling into the[Read More…]

U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Oregon Capitol Chronicle/Getty Images) Oregon is closer to moving ahead with its new Congressional district and new boundaries for five others after a panel of judges ruled Wednesday that work to draw the new boundaries didn’t illegally favor Democrats. Most independent analyses have Democrats winning at[Read More…]

State Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, speaks during a legislative special session on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle) SALEM – House Minority Leader Christine Drazan plans to run for governor, becoming the highest-profile Republican official to enter an increasingly crowded race. Drazan, a two-term state representative from Canby,[Read More…]

Gabe Sheoships, executive director of Friends of Tryon Creek and a Cayuse and Walla Walla tribal member, stands at the confluence of Tryon Creek and the Willamette River in Lake Oswego, Oregon. (Alex Milan Tracy/Underscore.news) This story originally appeared on Underscore.news A city isn’t the most likely place for an Indigenous[Read More…]

The state Department of Human Services (Courtesy/State of Oregon) A majority of older lesbian, gay, bisexual Oregonians have experienced discrimination and many have been subjected to elder abuse, according to a survey commissioned by the Oregon Human Services Department. The survey indicated that this population suffers from relatively high rates of[Read More…]

The U.S. Post Office location in Gates was destroyed in the wildfires. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Oregon will receive more than $422 million from the federal government for rebuilding from the 2020 wildfires that were among the worst in state history. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and[Read More…]

New Clean Trucks Rules are expected to cut in half greenhouse gas emissions and tailpipe pollution during the next decade. (Salem Reporter) A powerful state regulatory commission Wednesday put Oregon in the forefront of climate change efforts by mandating changes to trucking that are expected to cut in half greenhouse[Read More…]

Bill Wortman, Adrian High School principal, said he has “reflected” and “learned” since the mask mandate controversy in the school district. (The Enterprise/FILE) ADRIAN – On the first day of school in August, the Adrian school superintendent stopped himself from going in and headed back home. “I forgot a mask,”[Read More…]