|
Oregon News
TRANSPORTATION
Oregon Republican leaders fed up with Governor Kotek not signing transportation bill
KATU | By Steve Dunn
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has until November 12 to sign or veto the state's new transportation package that Senate Democrats passed in late September.
Republican lawmakers are not happy with the $4 billion transportation package that will raise gas taxes, vehicle registration fees and the payroll tax.
Representative Lucetta Elmer and Senator Bruce Starr, Republican leaders of the Oregon House and Senate, join Steve Dunn on this week’s edition of Your Voice, Your Vote.
Oregon Republicans urge Gov. Kotek to end transportation bill delay; cite bipartisan concern
KPTV
Oregon Republican leaders sent a letter to Governor Tina Kotek on Monday, urging her to end a month-long delay over a transportation funding package passed but awaiting her signature.
Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr and House Republican Leader Lucetta Elmer penned the letter, and cited bipartisan concern over the delay.
Two Oregon Senate Democrats urge Kotek to sign transportation bill 'without further delay'
KATU | By Vasili Varlamos
Oregon Senators Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, and Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, wrote separate letters to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek last week, urging her to sign the transportation bill into law "without further delay."
Starr said he is grateful for the bipartisan call for Kotek to sign the bill into law.
"They recognize, like we recognize, that the governor holding this bill and not signing it thwarts the ability of Oregonians to weigh in on this. It's anti-democratic not to allow the democratic process to work," said Starr on Monday.
Earlier this month, Starr called the delay in signing the bill "a calculated move to silence voters."
"Governor Kotek and the Democrat supermajority know Oregonians would reject this massive tax and fee hike if given the chance. She needs to stop hiding behind procedural delays and sign the bill now," said Starr on October 16.
2026 ELECTION
EXCLUSIVE | Oregon Republican Christine Drazan talks 2026 governor run, transportation & tax hikes
KATU | By Steve Dunn
Oregon Republican Christine Drazan is making another run for governor.
She sat down with KATU's Steve Dunn just hours after publicly announcing her campaign for governor for an exclusive interview.
Drazan Launches Campaign for GOP Gubernatorial Nomination
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
Christine Drazan signaled Monday morning that she hopes to run a different kind of campaign for governor in 2026 than she ran in 2022.
Christine Drazan announces second run for Oregon governor
Statesman Journal | By Anastasia Mason, Dianne Lugo
Newly-named state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, will once again vie for Oregon governor, she announced Oct. 27.
Republican Christine Drazan mounts 2026 bid for Oregon governor
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Republican Christine Drazan will run for governor again in 2026, raising the possibility of a rematch with her Democratic rival Gov. Tina Kotek.
Republican Christine Drazan will run for governor in 2026
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Christine Drazan, the Republican state lawmaker from Canby who lost in the most recent governor’s race to Democrat Tina Kotek, will again run for the state’s top office in 2026.
Christine Drazan is running for Oregon governor again
OPB | By Bryce Dole
Christine Drazan is running for governor again. The former House Republican leader announced her electoral bid at a manufacturing facility in Portland on Monday. She stood before dozens of industry workers, many wearing hard hats and reflective vests, and said, “This race will be about you.”
Christine Drazan announces run for Oregon governor in 2026
KGW | By Anthony Macuk
Republican State Sen. Christine Drazan is making her second bid for Oregon governor in 2026.
Oregon Rep. Christine Drazan announces run for governor in 2026
KPTV
Christine Drazan will run again for Oregon governor in 2026.
POLITICS
Capital Chatter: How Oregon can dig out of its budget hole
Oregon Capital Insider | By Dick Hughes
Oregon is in a fiscal pickle, which means state agencies must tighten their belts. But Gov. Tina Kotek and lawmakers — of both political parties — also must expand their thinking.
Governor’s aide gripes of ‘tough news cycles’; agency withholds press release about fallout from patient death
Lookout Eugene-Springfield | By Ben Botkin
On April 1, Oregon State Hospital administrators were bracing for another tough news cycle.
So tough, in fact, that a communications staffer in Gov. Tina Kotek’s office recommended that the Oregon Health Authority hold off on releasing news about a federal investigation into the death of a patient at the Oregon State Hospital, the state-run psychiatric hospital in Salem.
The health authority, which runs the state hospital, pushed back, stressing the need for transparency. But the press release never went out to media outlets, unless reporters asked specifically about the results of the federal investigation.
Implications of Oregon ‘climate resilience’ order raise concerns
Capital Press | By Mateusz Perkowski
Natural resource groups are concerned about the implications of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s recent executive order that aims to “accelerate climate protections for lands and waters.”
Investigators say fire at city councilor’s home was not ‘targeting’ her
The Oregonian | By Gosia Wozniacka
Investigators on Monday afternoon said the fire that damaged Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos’ cars and home early on Sunday did not appear to target Avalos.
Why Salem property owners will see big property tax bills this fall
Statesman Journal | By Bill Poehler
Salem property owners will see an 8% increase on their tax bills due to a new levy for library and park services.
Due to a legal limit known as compression, Salem will not receive the full estimated $14 million from the new levy.
Property taxes for school bonds are also increasing in districts like Salem-Keizer and Chemeketa Community College.
Salem City Council accepts $180k donation from businesses to fund police team
Statesman Journal | By Whitney Woodworth
Salem City Council accepted a $180,000 donation from local business leaders to fund two police officers.
The donation will expand the city's Homeless Services Team for a six-month period.
The proposal faced public criticism over potential conflicts of interest for Mayor Julie Hoy and the influence of private donors.
Despite some councilors' reservations about the optics, the motion passed in a 6-3 vote.
TRUMP ADMIN VS. OREGON
Oregon leads multistate lawsuit against Trump administration over SNAP suspension
KPTV
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced Tuesday that Oregon has joined a coalition of 21 other states and three governors in filing a lawsuit against the USDA and its secretary, Brooke Rollins, for suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Judge in Oregon bars feds from halting grant funding for sex ed that involves gender identity
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
A federal judge in Eugene Monday night granted a preliminary injunction barring the federal government from halting grant funding for sex education programs that include references to gender identities.
‘Best interest’: Encampment outside Portland ICE facility removed by the city overnight
KOIN 6 | By Andrew Foran
The protest camp outside Portland’s ICE facility was removed overnight, in a decision that Portland police said was “in the best interest of everyone involved.”
Police said that there was an increase in fights and antagonistic behavior happening near the encampment, leading to PPB recommending to the mayor’s office that the camp be removed.
Trial over troops ordered to Portland will showcase tension between local police, federal officers
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
Federal officers “gassed” Portland police officers and fired pepper balls at one local officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement building in the city in the past month.
When Portland police later confronted federal law enforcement for aiming at and striking their officer with pepper balls, federal officials responded, “help or get out of the way,” according to police.
Portland police supervisors are expected to testify about the encounter in a trial that gets underway Wednesday as the state of Oregon, city of Portland and state of California continue to challenge President Donald Trump’s Sept. 27 mobilization and attempted deployment of National Guard troops to Portland.
EDUCATION
The Quality Education Model is a political football. Will Oregon lawmakers punt it?
The Oregonian | By Julia Silverman
Every two years since the turn of the century, a report from Oregon’s seven -member Quality Education Commission lands with a thud or a bang, depending on your perspective.
The conclusion is always the same: However much money the state’s lawmakers have allocated for public schools, it’s not enough, almost always by a huge gulf.
Now, a bipartisan group of lawmakers charged with shaping public education funding say the current model may well have outlived its usefulness.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Qorvo, wireless chipmaker with large Oregon factory, sells to rival Skyworks
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Wireless semiconductor manufacturer Qorvo said Tuesday it will sell its business to rival Skyworks, creating a combined business with annual sales of about $7.7 billion and a market value of about $22 billion.
Qorvo employs about 800 at its chip factory in Hillsboro.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
3 charged with attempted murder for brutal attack on man on SE Portland bus
KPTV
Three men have been charged with attempted murder for an alleged attack that took place on a TriMet bus earlier this month, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
HOMELESSNESS
In Southeast Portland, some neighbors are critical of the city's barriers meant to deter homeless camps
KGW | By Blair Best
As the city of Portland pushes to open hundreds more overnight shelter beds by winter, it's still struggling to deter homeless camps in parts of the city where they've long accumulated, even with the addition of more and more hostile architecture.
HOUSING
Oregon has been among the most rapidly urbanizing states — but not lately
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
The share of Oregon’s population living in cities has soared over the past half century as the state has transitioned from a place with a large rural population to one that is overwhelmingly urban.
Oregon’s shift toward city living has been among the fastest in the nation. Urbanization has had a profound effect on the state’s character, with a big political, economic and cultural divide separating the Portland area from Oregon’s small towns and rural communities.
The state, once far more rural than the nation, now largely mirrors the national profile.
‘It is a crisis’: Mayors share how grappling with housing has shaped their jobs
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Robbie Sequeira
In U.S. cities big and small, mayors are finding their tenures shaped by housing shortages, and efforts to build more homes, so that people of any income can afford a place to live.
| 
