Protesters flooded the capitol Thursday in opposition of House Bill 2020. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Trucks parked at the Oregon State Fairgrounds early Thursday before heading to the state Capitol. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Many protesters carried American flags, waving them on the overcast, drizzling morning. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) A man[Read More…]
POLITICS
1,000 timber workers and supporters gather to protest cap and trade, diesel standards
Logging trucks line up in front of the Oregon Capitol. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Loggers and logging trucks made their way from the fairgrounds in Salem to the Capitol this morning to protest two bills – House Bills 2020 and 2007. A long convoy of logging trucks drove along Court Street[Read More…]
Foundation drives to limit worker dues, challenging Oregon public unions
One of the state’s largest public employee unions rallies outside the Capitol on Monday, May 20. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) SALEM — Up to 30,000 Oregon workers may no longer automatically support their union as concerted national efforts to trim the political power of unions gain steam. A change in[Read More…]
Seeking Latino representation, Oregon farmworker union throws muscle into Salem-Keizer school board races
Miguel Barrientos, a paid field organizer for Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, walks door-to-door in southeast Salem, canvassing for school board candidates Raul Marquez and David Salinas. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Miguel Barrientos wore a button-down shirt and sneakers as he walked along Townsend Way in southeast Salem on a[Read More…]
GOP firebrand crashes Oregon’s polite politics
Jonathan Lockwood, spokesman for three Oregon legislators in this undated photo that he provided. Grayson Dempsey was at a Girl Scouts camp in the Columbia River Gorge with her 8-year-old daughter in August when her phone started buzzing. Social media accounts were sending notification after notification. Dempsey, the director of[Read More…]
State proposes near-record fine for union-backed group’s foul-up with voter ballots
Defend Oregon, a union-backed political action committee supporting progressive ballot measures is facing the second largest election penalty in state history for failing to deliver 97 ballots it collected from Multnomah County voters on Election Day last fall. The state Elections Division, part of Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson’s[Read More…]
While back to carpentry, Starnes wants to craft campaign spending limits
Patrick Starnes, former Independent Party of Oregon candidate for governor, isn’t giving up on his push to reform the flow of political money in the state. (Portland Tribune/Jaime Valdez) Carpenter Patrick Starnes, former candidate for governor, earns a living now renovating an 1878 house in Brownsville. In his spare time,[Read More…]
Brown calls on Oregon to be ambitious, speed help for homeless
Gov. Kate Brown takes the oath of office on Monday, Jan. 14, as she starts her final term as governor. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune) SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown wants the state to get ambitious about solving major challenges such as a homelessness, challenging legislators Monday in her state of the[Read More…]
Walden breaks with Republicans, votes to reopen government
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, Thursday joined six other GOP lawmakers to vote for a spending package designed to reopen most government agencies. (The Enterprise/File). WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S Rep Greg Walden, R-Hood River, broke from his party Thursday on a vote to reopen the federal government. Walden joined six other[Read More…]
Senator’s anonymous delivery under doors triggers Capitol worries
SALEM — A state senator caught on tape slipping anonymous packets under the doors of at least seven other senators last month has been warned his conduct could be considered workplace harassment. The letter’s public disclosure is the latest in a series of actions by Boquist that have raised eyebrows[Read More…]