A ballot is dropped off in Forest Grove on Sunday, October 18. Photo: Chas Hundley While President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden dominate the news during this October of 2020, here in Oregon there is a measure on the November 3 ballot that could change the state[Read More…]
Daniel Pearson - Gales Creek Journal
A brief history of Oregon’s vote-by-mail system
Two ballots from a previous election. File photo: Chas Hundley Voting by mail exclusively became the standard mechanism for casting ballots in Oregon in 1998 by a citizen’s initiative, Measure 60, which voters overwhelmingly approved by a 70 percent margin. A little more than 1 million eligible voters voted on[Read More…]
State plans to spend $400 million in Education Stability Funds for school funding gaps
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley An updated brief from the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office originally released in May and re-released in September shows the state will spend $400 million of Education Stability Fund (ESF) money to pay for losses resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown. State records[Read More…]
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District election features three-way race
Gales Creek, as seen from Roderick Road. Photo: Chas Hundley The 2020 election season is like no other in recent memory, or arguably in living memory, at all levels of contest — federal, state, and local. This election season is ripe with intriguing contests for contested seats in the Oregon[Read More…]
Weber, Witt receive nomination from Independent Party of Oregon in legislative races
Suzanne Weber. Photo courtesy of Weber campaign The Independent Party of Oregon (IPO) announced it awarded the group’s nomination for Oregon House District 32 to Tillamook Mayor Suzanne Weber. A press release from Weber’s campaign said the nomination comes “in another nod to (Weber’s) record of nonpartisan accomplishment.” Weber, who[Read More…]
New guidance for school reopening issued; fall sports remain uncertain
The Forest Grove High School. Photo: Brenda Schaffer OREGON – The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) today updated its Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance for the 2020-21 academic year. Ready Schools, Safe Learners is a program developed by the ODE in conjunction with Gov. Kate Brown that provides a framework[Read More…]
Washington County eyes body camera program expansion for deputies
A Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy. Photo: WCSO The Washington County Board of Commissioners is taking a step toward requiring county Sheriff’s deputies to wear body cameras. The board unanimously approved a motion, as an amendment to the county’s current 2020-21 budget proposal, to allocate funding to the Sheriff’s office[Read More…]
On the ballot: Washington County library levy
A voter drops a ballot off in front of the Forest Grove City Library in 2019. Photo: Chas Hundley Washington County Cooperative Library Services placed a new levy on the May 19 ballot that would renew the five-year property tax levy currently providing 40 percent of library system funding the[Read More…]
On the ballot: Washington County public safety levy
The May 19 voters’ pamphlet. Photo: Chas Hundley Washington County placed a public safety services local option levy on the May 19 ballot that calls for taxing property owners 47 cents per $1,000 of assessed value Measure 34-296 would replace the existing five-year levy, which expires in June 2021, and[Read More…]
Adventist Health offers telemedicine to access in-home healthcare
The Adventist clinic in Banks. Photo: Chas Hundley Coronavirus resources: CDC on the coronavirus, Oregon Health Authority resources, Washington County resources, Oregonian reporting on the coronavirus, OPB glossary of coronavirus terms, NYTimes free reporting on the coronavirus. Tillamook-based Adventist Health wants its customers to know it now offers on-demand, virtual office visits, known as telemedicine, to[Read More…]