A studded tire. File photo: Chas Hundley Today marks the first day you can legally use studded tires on Oregon roads. The Oregon Department of Transportation would rather you didn’t. “Our latest study concluded studded tires cause about $8.5 million in damage each year on state highways,” ODOT said in[Read More…]
Government
Redistricting draws most rural far western Washington County communities into House District 31
A zoomed-out view of the entire newly drawn House District 31, which will be used for the 2022 election. Map courtesy Oregon Legislature Thanks to the 2020 Census, new legislative maps have been drawn, approved, and signed into law to be used for the 2022 election. And while there is[Read More…]
Brown calls special legislative session to tackle redistricting
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley Oregon’s legislators will head back to Salem following Governor Kate Brown’s call to convene a special legislative session to tackle congressional and legislative redistricting. Following the decennial census, held last in 2020, the Oregon Constitution requires the legislature to draw new[Read More…]
Health care workers must get vaccine, or be tested for COVID-19 weekly, Gov. Brown says
File photo: Chas Hundley Oregon Governor Kate Brown will require workers in health care settings to be tested weekly for COVID-19, a rule that health care workers can avoid by becoming vaccinated. According to a press release from the governor’s office, Brown today directed the Oregon Health Authority to create[Read More…]
State reopens, lifting most COVID-19 restrictions
File photo: Chas Hundley Oregon’s risk level framework and the majority of masking, capacity, and social distancing measures were lifted Wednesday, June 30, doing away with the majority of the state’s mandatory precautions to fight the coronavirus. “Today, we celebrate Oregon’s strength, resilience, and collaboration,” said Governor Brown during a[Read More…]
Gov. Brown declares state of emergency over wildfire risk
A six-acre wildfire burned in the Tillamook Forest on April 14, 2020. Photo: ODF Local and state officials are increasingly warning of significant fire danger ahead of the Independence Day weekend, and now Governor Kate Brown has taken the step of declaring a state of emergency for all of Oregon[Read More…]
Sen. Jeff Merkley to host online town hall for Washington Co. constituents
Senator Jeff Merkley (center, in yellow) at a town hall in Banks on January 13, 2018. Photo: Chas Hundley Oregon’s junior senator will hold a virtual town hall for Washington County residents on June 29, a tradition for Sen. Jeff Merkley, though in non-pandemic years, the events are generally held[Read More…]
‘Sine Die’: The highlights of Oregon’s historic 2021 legislative session
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Legislature wrapped up Saturday, marking the end of an eventful session that included high profile legislation, a resignation and the first expulsion of a legislator in state history. The session, which began Jan. 21 after a two-day delay from[Read More…]
Oregon House expels State Rep. Mike Nearman over Dec. 21 Capitol incursion
The Oregon Capitol building in Salem. Photo: Chas Hundley Rep. Mike Nearman (R-Independence) became the first House member expelled in state history for his role in the Dec. 21, 2020 breach of the Oregon Capitol on Thursday. A bipartisan House Special Committee on Dec. 12, 2020, established Monday by Oregon[Read More…]
Rep. Brad Witt removed from chair position following harassment complaint
A campaign sign for Rep. Brad Witt in Manning on October 28, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), officially removed Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie) from his role as chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Monday, in the latest development after Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson[Read More…]
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