The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Legislature’s 2022 short session came and went (did you blink?) and in this era of rapid inflation and soaring costs for food and gasoline lawmakers passed $2.7 billion in new spending with the lion’s share allocated to child care,[Read More…]
Daniel Pearson - Gales Creek Journal
Bee school offered by county group
File photo of a bee Bees are becoming more active as temperatures begin warming to 50 degrees and above, and the Tualatin Valley Beekeepers Association is inviting the public to attend its annual Bee School short course. Late February is the beginning of active bee season in western Washington County[Read More…]
Will change come to deadly Highway 6?
The Tillamook and Washington County lines at the Coast Range summit on Highway 6 on January 27, 2022. Photo: Chas Hundley Is change on the way for Oregon’s deadly Highway 6? One community leader trying to raise awareness of the traffic fatalities on the rural highway stretching from Banks through[Read More…]
Week one: Western Washington County’s legislators busy in first week of short session
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley Rep. Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis), Oregon’s first new Speaker of the House since 2013, told OPB the 2022 legislative short session that began on February. 1 is “the most important short session” of the state’s history, and with inflation, Covid-19, and homelessness[Read More…]
Local legislators introduce bills for short session beginning Feb. 1
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Legislature began the 2022 short session today, February 1, and these are some of the bills that the region’s five legislative representatives signed onto as chief sponsors. To read more about each bill, visit olis.oregonlegislature.gov and click on the[Read More…]
Gov. Brown appoints Miranda S. Summer to Washington County Circuit Court
Miranda S. Summer, photo courtesy Gov. Brown office Gov. Kate Brown announced she appointed Municipal Court Judge Miranda S. Summer to the Washington County Circuit Court, filling the vacancy left by the elevation of Judge Ramon Pagan’s appointment to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Summer’s experience includes previously serving on[Read More…]
New law will allow ballots postmarked by day of election to be counted
Two ballots from a previous election. File photo: Chas Hundley A new Oregon law that went into effect January 1 allows mail-in ballots to be counted on Election Day as long as they are in the mail and postmarked by 8:00 p.m. House Bill 3291 changed Oregon mail-in voting laws,[Read More…]
County to fill vacant state senate seats Friday
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley Washington County Commissioners are meeting virtually Friday, January 14 at 9 a.m. to interview candidates to replace District 16 Sen. Betsy Johnson who resigned Dec. 15 to focus on her run for Oregon’s governorship, and at 1:30 p.m. to interview candidates[Read More…]
Legislature passes rent relief extension, targets cartel cannabis grows during special session
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley Oregon lawmakers during a special session on December 13 voted to pass a series of bills approving more than $400 million in spending to protect farmers, tenants and landlords, and to increase law enforcement in rural areas. Senate President Peter Courtney[Read More…]
With revenues up $725 million, Oregon taxpayers should expect kicker in 2024, forecast says
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) issued this week a quarterly economic forecast predicting higher wages increasing projected tax revenue will allow the state to recover more quickly from the recession, triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic than it did[Read More…]