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Oregon News
POLITICS
Judge rules controversial Oregon gas tax vote will stay on May ballot
Statesman Journal | By Anastasia Mason
Leith said in his opinion that it is "undoubtedly true" the deadline to submit arguments would make it harder for people to do so. However, it does not violate free speech, he said, because that expedited timeline applies to people both in favor of and against the ballot measure.
“This is a legislative choice but that doesn’t make it a constitutional one," attorney Julie Parrish argued for the referendum supporters. Parrish was a Republican state representative for four terms.
Not allowing the gas tax vote to be in November puts trust in Oregon's elections at risk, the plaintiffs claimed.
The Oregon Department of Justice argued that being able to add to the voters' pamphlet is not a constitutional right and people can advocate for or against the referendum in other ways.
“Nothing in this bill deprives anyone of their right to speak out on what they want to happen here,” attorney Thomas H. Castelli said on behalf of the state.
Leith described the case as novel and difficult, ultimately opting to issue a decision by March 11.
His order came hours after a federal judge weighed in on another suit over the referendum following March 11 oral arguments. In that case, the judge ordered Read to allow a low income, disabled woman to submit an argument for the voters' pamphlet without the fee or signature requirement, but did not extend that to others in a similar situation, which the plaintiff had requested.
"I understand that I am not the last word here," Leith said March 10, referring to the likelihood his ruling is appealed to a higher court.
One of the plaintiffs and chief petitioners of the referendum, Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Scio, said they were still deciding how to respond.
Trail Blazers to Portland: Public cash ‘only solution’ for renovating Moda Center
OPB | By Alex Zielinski
Public records show how the Blazers were working behind the scenes — and on a trip to North Carolina — to push Portland leaders.
‘A win for dignity’: Portland’s polyamorous families gain legal protections under new code
KOIN 6 | By Jashayla Pettigrew
The metro holds the nation's second-highest population of LGBTQ+ residents, Senior LGBTQIA2S+ Policy Analyst Lex Jakusovszky said.
Oregon takes aim at corporate homebuying to help families compete
KATU | By Vasili Varlamos
Buying a home in Oregon could soon get a little easier for your average homebuyer.
New federal data reveals extent of immigration arrests in Oregon, Washington
The Oregonian | By Yesenia Amaro
The Pacific Northwest last year saw a near historic increase in immigration arrests, with a significant spike in Oregon toward the end of 2025, according to new data made public this week.
Trump’s immigration crackdown takes quiet toll on Preschool for All providers
The Oregonian | By Austin De Dios
After nearly two decades in early childhood education, Dee Hayward spent the last year bringing her own preschool to life in Northeast Portland with the help of Multnomah County’s universal preschool initiative.
Trump homelessness policy leader will visit Portland, meet with local officials
The Oregonian | By Lillian Mongeau Hughes
President Donald Trump’s senior policy advisor on homelessness, Robert Marbut, will be in Portland next week to meet with local officials.
Seeing masked agents on Oregon streets? Legislature would let residents respond
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Although other states are passing and weighing legislation to try and prevent immigration agents from wearing masks, Oregon lawmakers took a unique approach.
These Oregon state parks will have parking fees by the end of the month
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
Visitors will have to pay parking fees at 22 more Oregon state parks by the end of the month.
Temporarily banning data centers draws more interest from state, local officials
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Madyson Fitzgerald
As communities’ concerns grow over rising electricity prices and the environmental effects of data centers, some local and state officials want to halt development of the facilities.
2026 ELECTION
Phil Knight contributes $1M to this Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Nike co-founder Phil Knight has given $1 million to former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley, a Republican from Sisters running for Oregon governor.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
North Portland BottleDrop, a magnet for drug use, is closing this July
The Oregonian | By Aimee Green
The private company that operates redemption sites under the Oregon Bottle Bill, allowing Oregonians to turn in cans and bottles for 10 cents apiece, announced Wednesday that it will shutter the troubled Delta Park BottleDrop site in North Portland on July 31 after the landlord declined to renew its lease.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Documenting Oregon Hospitals’ Better Years, New Study Complicates Story of Financial Strain
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
The woes of Oregon’s small rural hospitals have drawn the attention of policymakers, but they’ve actually tended on recent years to report rosier finances overall than the state’s largest hospital systems. It has often been the urban operations, like Legacy Emanuel and Providence Milwaukie medical centers, that have struggled most to meet costs.
This is one key finding from a report published this week on Oregon hospitals and their finances that purports to complicate claims of broad financial fragility within the key sector of the state’s health care system.
Portland’s high rents hamper savings, delaying dreams of homeownership
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach, Mark Friesen
Robert Husseman rents a two-bedroom apartment in the Amara building a block from Powell’s Books.
He hopes to buy a home one day and said he’s spoken with mortgage brokers who’ve counseled him to save six figures for a down payment. Programs such as federally backed mortgages require much less money down, but that comes at the cost of a higher monthly house payment.
The advice, to somehow set aside more than he earned in a year, had Husseman worried. Husseman said in January he feared the inability of tenants like him to bridge the financial gap risks creating “a permanent underclass of renters.”
The statistics don’t weigh in his favor. Nearly half of Portland renters are cost burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent. A quarter of tenants are severely cost burdened and spend more than half their income on rent, according to census data. That leaves many renters with little hope of advancing into equity-building homeownership because they find it difficult to save for a down payment.
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