Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess shows the different ballot styles in Marion County. (Claire Withycombe/East Oregonian) Voters are turning ballots in more slowly than the last time Oregon elected a governor, according to the state Elections Division, as big money continues to flow to the campaigns of Democrat Kate Brown[Read More…]

Josefina, 22, is one of seven graduates in Oregon Youth Authority’s peer mentoring pilot program. The program gives her state certification and gives her the opportunity to mentor other youth while incarcerated. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) Editor’s note: Youth in this story are identified by their first names only at the[Read More…]

Gov. Kate Brown, embroiled in a sudden political firestorm, on Wednesday directed her state education administrators to immediately release school performance data they intended to withhold until after the election. The state Department of Education had provided what are generally known as “school report cards” to local districts Oct. 4,[Read More…]

SALEM —Oregonians could see significant increases in alcohol and tobacco prices if a state agency succeeds in raising millions from consumers in the next two years. The Oregon Health Authority is considering seeking $784 million in new tax money for the 2019-2021 state budget cycle. That includes increasing taxes on[Read More…]

Rep. Knute Buehler and Gov. Kate Brown face off in the first of three gubernatorial debates in Portland on Oct. 2 (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune) Two weeks from election day, a spending frenzy continues in the race to be Oregon’s governor. Gov. Kate Brown and state Rep. Knute Buehler have combined to spend millions of dollars[Read More…]

The two prime candidates for Oregon governor are releasing multiple television and social media ads in the final days of the campaign. Some make misleading and sometimes inaccurate claims. Gov. Kate Brown, the Democratic incumbent, and state Rep. Knute Buehler, her Republican challenger, are funneling millions into advertising in the[Read More…]

SALEM — Outgoing Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian is again taking the Legislature to task over sexual harassment, this time in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Avakian wants a state judge to find legislators and staff in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas in the administrative case he’s brought against[Read More…]

SALEM — If you drive, hunt, or run a business in Oregon, you pay a fee to the state for that privilege. A measure on the statewide ballot next month could make it harder for the Legislature to increase those fees. Oregon imposes thousands of fees on everything from wastewater[Read More…]

The Oregon State Capitol (Salem Reporter file) SALEM — The state’s public pension agency isn’t prepared for a major disaster like an earthquake or flood, and Oregonians’ personal information could be at risk if the agency doesn’t do more to protect its systems from attacks, state auditors say.  More than[Read More…]

Oregon’s close gubernatorial race between Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and GOP candidate Oregon Rep. Knute Buehler has captured the attention of national political pundits. On Tuesday, the race made the front page of the Cook Political Report’s website, with analyst Jennifer E. Duffy upgraded the race to a “tossup” –[Read More…]