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Oregon News
TRANSPORTATION
Salem Mayor Julie Hoy's state transportation funding letter draws ethics criticism
Statesman Journal | By Whitney Woodworth
Salem Mayor Julie Hoy sent a personal letter opposing two state transportation funding bills, contradicting a city council letter of support she had previously signed.
Fellow council members criticized the mayor for using city letterhead for her personal position, arguing it created a perception of speaking for the city.
The controversial bills aim to fund Oregon's transportation system by raising the gas tax and other vehicle-related fees.
I-5 bridge replacement slogs through permitting as costs rise
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado, Jerry Cornfield
The torturously slow pace and increasingly expensive price to replace the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River have some Oregon and Washington lawmakers growing uneasy and frustrated.
After years of planning and lining up billions of dollars in state and federal funding, it continues to be an educated guess when construction will start, how much the project will cost and what the new bridge will look like when traffic finally drives over it.
Project planners had estimated the price tag for replacing the bridge would range from $5 billion to $7.5 billion, with a likely figure of around $6 billion. But legislators said last week that they now expect the total could reach $10 billion as costs have escalated 30% on transportation projects in the Seattle and Portland regions in recent years.
TriMet service cuts are coming. How will it impact your bus, MAX line?
KOIN 6 | By Aimee Plante
TriMet is facing a budget shortfall, and the agency says the loss in revenue will soon have an impact on its service lines.
Bus and MAX service cuts will begin in November 2025 and are expected again in March 2026, but TriMet warns that more cuts are to be expected in the future.
POLITICS
Oregon hands over Medicaid personal data to federal government to avoid losing federal funding
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
Oregon health officials have turned over personally sensitive data about some Medicaid patients to the federal government as part of a spending probe — a move that follows months of heated debate over privacy and potential federal misuse of health data.
Marion County releases records at core of ICE lawsuit to Salem Reporter
Salem Reporter | By Madeleine Moore
Marion County on Wednesday released records that officials had withheld from federal immigration authorities over concerns they would be violating state law.
Portland leaders weigh bolstering city’s sanctuary status, banning masks amid immigration concerns
The Oregonian | By Yesenia Amaro
Portland city councilors won wide support for a proposal to codify the city’s sanctuary status in light of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown but said they aren’t ready yet to move forward with a separate proposal to ban law enforcement officers from wearing masks.
Federal appeals court backs dismissal of religious challenge to Oregon COVID testing rule
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Plaintiff’s lawyer vows to continue fighting the case as more cases addressing COVID safety mandates await potential Supreme Court consideration.
Oregon lawmaker calls for investigation into potential Medicaid fraud he says is linked to attempted murder
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
An Oregon lawmaker called Tuesday for state and federal investigations into possible Medicaid fraud and state oversight failures at a Lake Oswego addiction treatment center.
Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, cited reporting by Oregon Roundup, a Substack site run by Oregon-based writer Jeff Eager, that said an Oregon addiction recovery provider received more than $2.3 million in Medicaid reimbursements in less than a year to operate what Eager asserted was a halfway house that saw frequent police activity.
Lawsuit accuses Oregon senator, wife of failing to curb sexual harassment of an employee
The Oregonian | By Sami Edge
A lawsuit filed this month alleges that children of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden sexually harassed a former assistant of Wyden’s wife, Nancy Bass Wyden, who then retaliated against the assistant, terrorizing the employee to the point that he took his own life.
HOMELESSNESS
Portland mayor plans to start citing homeless campers
The Oregonian | By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson plans to soon resume enforcing the city’s homeless camping ban after a monthslong hiatus, one of his senior advisers said Wednesday.
ECONOMY
Portland city councilors ease home, business renovation rules through 2029
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach
The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to temporarily suspend some permitting rules in a bid to simplify home and business renovations — part of a yearslong effort to mop up messy permitting codes.
Big Pink owner expands Portland investment with $70M deal
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach
Big Pink buyer Jeff Swickard has doubled down on his Portland bet.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Multnomah County Sheriff releases murder suspect by mistake
OPB | By Conrad Wilson
Police are searching for Ty Anthony Sage, a 26-year-old murder suspect who deputies mistakenly released Monday from the Multnomah County Detention Center.
During a news conference Wednesday, Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said the agency was investigating how Sage was able to post bail.
“That should not have happened,” Morrisey O’Donnell said. “I am deeply committed to public safety and it is unacceptable that this occurred. Again, this is a mistake and we take full responsibility for that.”
HEALTH CARE
OHSU president says careful growth, not layoffs, will turn around organization’s financials
OPB | By Amelia Templeton
OHSU President Shereef Elnahal laid out key parts of his vision Wednesday for improving the institution’s financial performance.
OHSU, one of the state’s largest employers and its only academic medical center, has been operating in the red for several years running.
Elnahal has a record of stabilizing financially troubled institutions and has convinced at least two influential Oregonians that he can do the same for OHSU.
CHILD CARE
Oregon’s Early Child Care Crisis Impacts All but Two of the State’s 36 Counties
Willamette Week | By Khushboo Rathore
Oregon parents of infants and toddlers still struggle to find child care, let alone affordable child care.
National News
Search history, notes hint at suspect's motive in deadly Dallas ICE facility attack
KATU National Desk
On Thursday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel shared the latest on what the agency has discovered after seizing devices and exploiting data from the 29-year-old suspect, Joshua Jahn. Patel said process writings were found at the shooting scene and on Jahn, as well as at a residence connected to him.
Patel said Jahn downloaded a document titled "Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management" containing a list of DHS facilities as well as conducted multiple searches of ballistics and the "Charlie Kirk Shot Video" between September 23 and 24. Between August 19 and 24, Jahn had searched apps that tracked the location of ICE agents. One of the handwritten notes recovered reads, "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, 'is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'"
Patel said more evidence to the point "indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning" and that the FBI will provide more information as they learn it.
On Wednesday, Patel said "an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind the attack" and shared a photo on X of one of the unspent shell casings with the phrase "anti-ICE" engraved.
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