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Oregon News
Lightning Sparks 72 Fires in One Night in Southwest Oregon
Willamette Week | By Senya Scott
Lightning strikes sparked at least 72 wildfires in Jackson and Josephine counties overnight, and the Oregon Department of Forestry raced today to put an incident team in place at the southwest corner of the state. The new blazes are the latest chapter in an Oregon wildfire season on pace to rival its destructive predecessors.
POLITICS
State audit: Oregon could be wasting millions in poorly managed contracts
KPTV
The state of Oregon could be doing significantly more to improve how it manages contracts and oversees public purchasing, according to a new audit released Wednesday by the Secretary of State’s office.
The audit highlights key weaknesses in the state’s procurement system that could be costing taxpayers millions. It found Oregon lacks a centralized compliance program to catch risky spending decisions, is falling short on customer service that would help agencies follow regulations, and is not fully utilizing its purchasing platform, OregonBuys.
The audit underscores the need for more strategic oversight as Oregon continues to invest billions in contracts ranging from basic supplies to complex IT projects.
“Poorly managed contracts can waste tax payer dollars and tie up state resources for years,” the audit warns. “This is about making sure every dollar works harder for Oregonians.”
Powerful Oregon union may have skirted lobbying laws, Republican lawmakers allege
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Eight Republican lawmakers have alleged that one of Oregon’s most powerful unions may have skirted state lobbying laws during this year’s legislative session.
In a complaint filed with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission last month, the lawmakers contended that the Oregon chapter of Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 70,000 workers in the state, provided false information on letters they delivered to lawmakers in late April supporting a bill that they heavily lobbiead for this year.
Pati Urias, a spokesperson for the union, called the ethics complaint a “political distraction” that includes inaccurate accusations, though she did not specify what those inaccuracies are.
“Falsely attributing statements to Oregonians in order to manufacture political momentum isn’t just unethical — it undermines public trust,” Rep. Ed Diehl of Stayton, one of the eight Republicans who filed the complaint, said in a statement. “The public deserves better, and so does this institution.”
Many Republican lawmakers have long criticized Democrats for supporting policies they view as too union-friendly, such as the workforce standards bill. For years, public employee unions have been among the most powerful allies and largest campaign supporters to top Democrats, including those who supported the proposal.
Trump border czar name-checks Portland, says sanctuary cities will see ICE ‘double down’ on enforcement
The Oregonian | By Yesenia Amaro
President Donald Trump’s border czar reiterated an explosive warning in a televised interview Tuesday that name-checked Portland, repeatedly pledging that immigration agents would be “doubling down, tripling down” on enforcement in sanctuary cities.
Czar Tom Homan’s comments came toward the end of a six-minute interview on Fox Business in which he defended agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from what he described as “hurtful rhetoric” that he said compared ICE officers to Nazis, terrorists and racists, which he believes could end in “bloodshed.” He said enforcement will continue to make the “country safe.”
Residents weigh in on Portland's sanctuary status during Council committee meeting
KATU | By Joe English
City Councilors took public testimony Tuesday over Portland’s status as a sanctuary city and what should be done about Immigration and Customs Enforcement being in the city.
Some people testified that Portland does not need to have sanctuary city status and ICE is not the problem, but people protesting it.
But most people who testified before City Council’s Community and Public Safety Committee liked Portland’s sanctuary city status and said that the Portland Police Bureau is helping ICE even though the police bureau has made it clear that it is simply at the protests at the ICE facility on South Macadam Avenue to keep people safe and uphold city laws.
Cherry harvest is well underway in Oregon. But some workers aren’t showing up
OPB | By Alejandro Figueroa
Farmers say some workers are afraid of making the journey up from California out of fear they could get pulled over or detained by ICE.
The Man Who Wants to Kill Vote-By-Mail in Oregon Contests a May Election Result
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
A disputed result from the May election in Douglas County is sending ripples across the state as the CEO of a little-known government agency refuses to accept—or pay his agency’s share for—an election whose outcome could cost him his job.
That agency head, Ben Edtl, is a Tualatin-based political consultant who is also the chief petitioner for a 2026 ballot initiative that would end Oregon’s pioneering vote-by-mail system. Edtl, 47, is a rising player in the MAGA wing of the Oregon Republican Party.
He also runs the public transit agency in Douglas County. In April, he became the full-time CEO of the Umpqua Public Transportation District, which serves about 110,000 people in the state’s ninth-most-populous county.
In the May 20 election, races for five seats on the transit district’s board of directors were on the ballot, although only four were contested.
In all four of those races, a challenger defeated the incumbent, sweeping an election that Edtl says was a referendum on his leadership. His side lost.
Understandably, Edtl was displeased. More remarkably, he issued a June 30 letter to Douglas County Clerk Dan Loomis declaring that he and the incumbent board “find the circumstances surrounding this race deeply concerning and unacceptable.”
Typically, election officials say, the largest issue they might have to deal with after a closely contested election is a possible recount. But the result in the Umpqua transit district race that Edtl and his board are contesting—decided by 238 votes out of 10,102 cast—is far outside the margin of one-fifth of 1% that automatically triggers a recount.
To be clear, Edtl isn’t asking for a recount. He says he and his board simply won’t accept the result—nor, according to documents the Oregon Journalism Project obtained under a public records request, are they willing to pay for their agency’s share of the cost of the May election: $32,112.76.
In his letter, Edtl said he and the board were “expressly refusing certification” for one of the four election results “until and unless transparency is provided in alignment with federal law.”
2026 ELECTION
Republican barred from running in 2026 endorses Clatsop County commissioner for Oregon Senate
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Barred from running for the Oregon Senate again in 2026, state Sen. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, is endorsing Clatsop County Commissioner Courtney Bangs to take her seat.
Bangs, vice chair of the county commission and a teacher and director at a private performing arts school in Warrenton, launched her campaign and announced Weber’s endorsement for the May 2026 Republican primary alongside the senator Friday at a Fourth of July parade in Warrenton.
“In the Senate, I will build on the steadfast and bold leadership of Senator Weber, who has been a champion for our rural way of life in Northwest Oregon,” Bangs wrote in a Monday news release.
Weber told the Capital Chronicle that despite being barred from running for a seat in the state Legislature for the next few years, she might not be done with serving in a public office entirely.
“I’m not willing to give up yet,” she said.
Her campaign manager David Kilada said in an email that Weber “hasn’t decided on her plans after 2026.”
One Top Official Prepares to Launch Reelection Bid, While Another Stalls
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
On June 30, three days after the legislative session fizzled to a close, Gov. Tina Kotek reported a $50,000 in-kind contribution from the Democratic Governors Association.
The money went to a Washington, D.C., polling firm that often works for leading Democrats, more indication that Kotek will soon announce her 2026 reelection bid.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is now more than a week past the self-imposed deadline he set in April for announcing whether he will seek a fourth term in 2026.
Merkley’s continued silence is fanning speculation he will not run, a prospect that has two Portland-area Democratic congresswomen, U.S. Reps. Maxine Dexter (3rd District) and Andrea Salinas (6th District), jockeying for pole position to replace him.
ECONOMY
Portland’s skyline-defining ‘Big Pink’ office tower sold at markdown price
The Oregonian | By Tristin Hoffman, Jonathan Bach
The downtown Portland U.S. Bancorp Tower, known familiarly as “Big Pink,” has sold after just two months on the market.
The tower — Oregon’s largest office building — was being marketed for sale by real estate brokerage JLL. Last year, U.S. Bank declined to renew its lease at its namesake tower, leaving the building largely empty.
The buyer, as the Portland Business Journal first reported, is Jeff Swickard, a telecommunications and auto industry executive who paid all cash.
The sale price was about $45 million, according to a spokesperson — just 12% of the $372.5 million seller UBS paid in 2015.
Swickard, who runs Swickard Auto Group and owns properties in California, Nevada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Texas, said the purchase is a “full-circle” moment.
‘Things aren’t good’: Prominent Portland businessman says Intel layoffs will impact all of Oregon
KOIN 6 | By Ken Boddie
A prominent Portland businessman says mass layoffs at Intel will have ripple effects throughout the entire state.
Jordan Schnitzer says it could have a big impact on his company Schnitzer Properties, one of the West Coast’s Top 10 private real companies, according to their website.
Intel is Oregon’s largest private employer, with more than 22,000 workers. Intel says 529 of those workers will lose their jobs at facilities in Hillsboro and Aloha starting July 15.
The cuts are part of a 20% company-wide reduction in staff for Intel, once the world’s leading maker of semiconductors.
With the advancement of AI, Intel has lost much of its technological advantage and market share.
“We have one new tenant moving into an industrial project in Sherwood called Olympus Controls. They make automated equipment for Intel. I don’t know whether this layoff affects them directly. But these things aren’t good. We need to realize that those 529 people being let go… They have kids in school. They go to movies. They buy groceries. They go to recreation places. We can’t afford to lose one single job in this state,” Schnitzer said.
Schnitzer says the layoffs at Intel are not necessarily related to Oregon’s business and tax climate. But he says the state needs to be more business-friendly to avoid losing businesses and population in the future, especially in Portland and Multnomah County.
Portland General Electric layoffs impact dozens of workers Tuesday
KOIN 6 | By Aimee Plante
Portland General Electric laid off dozens of its employees Tuesday.
A spokesperson confirmed the staff reductions, which impacted 53 of the company’s employees, to KOIN 6 News on Wednesday.
A PGE spokesperson shared the following statement:
“Society’s need for electricity is growing rapidly at the same time we are transitioning to cleaner energy and strengthening the grid to address the growing risk of wildfire and extreme weather. All these needed investments put pressure on costs and customer bills. Yesterday, as part of Portland General Electric’s ongoing work to keep bills as low as possible, we made strategic staffing reductions that will impact 53 full-time employees.”
HOMELESSNESS
Here’s how much was spent on homeless services in the Portland area last year
The Oregonian | By Lillian Mongeau Hughes
Local, state, regional and federal governments, plus private philanthropies, spent $724 million on direct homeless services in the tri-county Portland area in fiscal year 2024, according to a report released Tuesday by economic consulting firm ECOnorthwest.
Eviction prevention, long-term rent assistance, street outreach and shelter construction and operation are among the many types of services counted as direct homeless services and included in the report. Health care, affordable housing vouchers and police time are all services that can help homeless people, but spending on these services was not included in the count.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Columbia County jail forces transgender woman into solitary, lawyer says
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
A federal judge Tuesday ordered a transgender woman’s pretrial release to a halfway house after her defense lawyer informed the court that Columbia County jail was holding her in solitary confinement because it refused to house her with either male or women prisoners.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman granted Julie Mikela Winters’ release to the Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center, calling it a “much better place to be temporarily than solitary in Columbia County, for sure.”
HEALTH CARE
What Trump’s big bill means for Oregon Health Plan enrollees and other Oregonians’ health coverage
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
More than 1.4 million Oregon residents — roughly one in three — receive coverage through the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program. It provides health coverage for more than half of the state’s children.
State health officials warn the new federal mandates could strip coverage from as many as 200,000 Oregonians and force tough decisions for lawmakers, health care providers and insurers.
One of the most immediate impacts of the law is the tightening of Medicaid eligibility requirements — particularly in states like Oregon that expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Under the new rules, able-bodied adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who became eligible under the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion will have to prove that they are working, volunteering, or attending school for at least 80 hours per month to remain eligible.
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