Tag STATE GOVERNMENT

Grants Pass Rep. Carl Wilson chosen as House minority leader
Rep. Carl Wilson sits on the House floor. (Courtesy/Carl Wilson) SALEM — State Rep. Carl Wilson, a Republican of Grants Pass, was elected Monday to serve as House minority leader. Wilson has represented since 2015 a district that runs from the California border up to Grants…

Freedom Foundation takes its latest shot at Oregon unions
A conservative think tank is suing two Oregon labor unions, saying they are collecting union dues in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June. The class-action lawsuit, Anderson et al. v. SEIU et al, was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.…

Paul Evans and Selma Pierce battled it out in one of Oregon’s most contentious races, in a district both parties will continue to fight for
Rep. Paul Evans plays a campaign commercial on his phone in his Capitol office. Evans made the commercial in response to attack ads from his opponent, Selma Pierce. The commercial is from the perspective of his dog, Beau, to set the record straight. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem…

Potent forces lining up in Oregon to support river ferries to relieve I-5 congestion
Congestion on Interstate 5 over the Columbia River is motivating a company to fashion a passenger ferry service. (Oregon Department of Transportation photo) A months-long effort to fashion a new ferry service across the Columbia River in Portland comes into public view Friday before the…

State participation in Census leads to the discovery of new addresses, new funding and perhaps a new congressional representative
Oregon officials say their participation in a new Census program could win the state $400 million a year and perhaps even a sixth U.S. House seat. For the first time, the U.S. Census Bureau has asked states to help wrangle addresses from local governments in…

After a statewide school tour, student success committee begins work on large education package
The Joint Committee on Student Success met Thursday morning to discuss its statewide tour of schools and propose education policy. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) After traveling thousands of miles and visiting dozens of schools, one thing was clear to all members of the Joint Interim Committee…

State-funded program boosts training for professional and volunteer caregivers
More of those who care for elderly Oregonians are completing free training from the state that helps them perform better. The state reported that from August 2014 to August 2018, 69,647 classes have been taken and 19,218 caregivers have been trained. In-person classes account for…

Nonaffiliated voters key to victory in governor’s race
With polls showing the two main gubernatorial candidates only a few percentage points away from victory, their campaigns are focused on winning votes from nonaffiliated and independent voters in the final days before Tuesday’s election. The last-minute choices of those voters could determine the outcome of the race, political analysts said Thursday.…

Early voting hits new high for mid-term elections
Perhaps there is something to all the fundraising, television ads and “get out the vote” efforts. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, 2018 is seeing more voter activity so far than any other mid-term election in Oregon history. By the end of the day…