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US Senate confirms Mullin as next Homeland Security boss
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Ariana Figueroa
The U.S. Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Oregon News
Supreme Court could bar late-arriving mailed ballots. Here’s what that would mean for Oregon voters
The Oregonian | By Jamie Goldberg
The U.S. Supreme Court and its conservative majority appeared skeptical during arguments Monday of state laws that allow mailed-in ballots to count when they arrive after Election Day.
Oregon residents have among the highest levels of stress in the US, study finds
KOIN 6 | By Aimee Plante
Are you feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders? It could be because you live in Oregon, according to a new study.
The study from WalletHub ranks Oregon as the 8th most stressed state in the nation based on 40 key metrics.
POLITICS
Editorial: Stop the backsliding on K-12 class time
The Oregonian Editorial Board
Year after year, Oregon sets up students for failure, with short school years that don’t allow students to master the skills they are being taught, the editorial board writes. Families, elected officials and educational leaders must take a stand on protecting classroom time, even in the face of budget cuts.
Man faked Oregon lab ownership in $46M Medicare fraud scheme, feds say
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
A man used a purported medical testing laboratory in Oregon to bill Medicare for about $46 million in sham claims over six months, federal prosecutors allege.
Jahangeer Ali, 34, of Pakistan is charged with health care fraud in Oregon. He was in federal court Monday in Portland seeking release before trial.
Kotek slams ‘misleading’ claims House committee made over Oregon Health Plan fraud
KOIN 6 | By Michaela Bourgeois
'We need a federal government that partners with us to safeguard programs people depend on, not chastise public servants and misinform the public,' Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said.
In its letter, the committee pointed to cases of fraud in OHP, writing, “The Committee is concerned that your state’s Medicaid programs may be similarly vulnerable to (fraud, waste and abuse) that harms Medicaid enrollees, legitimate providers, and taxpayers,” the letter states, referring to similar fraud inquiries in Minnesota.
In her letter, the governor pushed back against claims of widespread fraud in OHP and pointed to the state’s “aggressive” fraud prevention and recovery efforts.
Oregon accuses USDA of holding funds ‘hostage’ with immigration, DEI conditions
KOIN 6 | By Michaela Bourgeois
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined a lawsuit accusing the United States Department of Agriculture of unlawfully holding funds “hostage” unless states comply with conditions related to immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion along with gender identity.
PCC: Strike could delay spring term if no deal by Tuesday
KATU | By Barry Mangold
Portland Community College is working on contingency plans for its spring term, which is scheduled to start next week, as faculty and staff at all its campuses continue to strike amid midterm contract negotiations.
HEALTH CARE
Salem Health spent $162 million in 2024 on subsidized care, other community programs
Salem Reporter | By Haley Cook
Salem Health spent $162 million in 2024 to provide free health screenings, forgive patient bills and cover the cost of care for hospital patients on Medicaid, according to recently-released state data.
Lawsuit accuses Asante of underpaying thousands of workers in Oregon
OPB / Jefferson Public Radio | By Justin Higginbottom
The complaint seeks $2.5 million in unpaid wages and damages from the hospital group.
Lane County physicians sue to block PeaceHealth deal with staffing company
OPB | By Amelia Templeton
A group of physicians in Lane County has filed a lawsuit trying to block the nonprofit PeaceHealth from switching to an out-of-state management company to staff its emergency departments.
Labor Unrest Settles as Kaiser and Unions Reach Tentative Agreement in Portland and Beyond
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
The deal would mean minimum 21.5% raises over nearly four years. Some workers would get far more.
Battle Erupts Between SEIU and Long-Term Care Providers
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
Two of the most powerful groups in Salem are at loggerheads over a public records request.
At issue: a request that Service Employees International Union filed last November with the Oregon Department of Human Services.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Oregon ranks fifth least affordable state as essentials cost households $18,300 more
KATU | By Sana Aljobory
Oregon families may be seeing inflation cool, but a new analysis suggests the state remains one of the hardest places in the country to afford the basics.
A report from the Common Sense Institute, based on federal data and state-level modeling, found Oregon ranks as the fifth least affordable state in the nation when comparing incomes to the cost of essentials such as housing, groceries, insurance and child care. The report said that ranking is unchanged from 2019.
The analysis found that since 2019, Oregon households must spend about $18,300 more each year to cover essential expenses, compared with $15,400 nationally.
Rising fuel costs strain Oregon seafood industry, raising concern over prices and supply
KGW | By Libby Dowsett
High gas prices are taking a bite out of Oregon’s seafood industry, increasing costs for businesses and raising concerns about potential supply shortages.
Lloyd Center owners hope redevelopment projects are part of Portland's 'revitalization'
KATU | By Wright Gazaway
The owners of Lloyd Center have a vision for redeveloping the decades-old mall they hope will be part of Portland’s “revitalization.”
The redevelopment is technically already underway with the construction of a new 4,000-seat music venue on the site of the old Nordstrom’s.
How a small Oregon company’s dealings with Amazon created a scandal
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Four public officials, three other civic leaders, one company and one nonprofit are facing civil charges related to Amazon’s huge cluster of data centers in tiny Morrow County (population: 12,000).
Amazon paid Oregon officials’ company more than $100 million while seeking data center deals
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Amazon spent more than $100 million buying internet services from a small fiber-optic business in rural Oregon even as the tech giant was negotiating with some of the firm’s owners — local public officials — for tax breaks and property acquisitions to expand a growing cluster of data centers in Morrow County.
CRIME
Policy to Crack Down on Sex Trafficking Meets Pushback From Portland City Council
Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel
A policy intended to target sexual exploitation along 82nd Avenue hits intracouncil opposition.
Man known as the 'I-5 flasher' in Seattle 15 years ago arrested in Oregon
KATU | By Jeff Kirsch
An Oregon man with prior acts of public indecency in Washington state has been arrested again, police said.
Pregnant mom, toddler hit by driver; her husband stabbed in Rockaway Beach confrontation
KOIN 6
A driver hit a pregnant woman who was carrying her two-year-old child in Rockaway Beach on Sunday, and when the woman’s husband went to confront the driver he was stabbed in the back by a passenger, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office said.
The couple and their toddler son are all expected to recover.
Juvenile arrested in shooting near Clackamas Town Center MAX station, deputies say
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach
Deputies say they have arrested a juvenile in a weekend shooting near the Clackamas Town Center MAX station.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday night closed the MAX Green Line platform for several hours to investigate the non-injury shooting but revealed few details until Monday.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Ideas to speed up Oregon’s climate reduction efforts prompt pushback from the state’s agriculture sector
OPB | By Monica Samayoa
The Oregon Department of Energy’s 48 “gap measures” to help the state meet its carbon reduction goals met questions and criticism from the state’s agriculture board.
Oregon dam where 550,000 lamprey died faces legal battles, calls for removal
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Legal fights over the future of a small southern Oregon dam are intensifying in the wake of botched repairs that led to the killing of half a million juvenile Pacific lamprey and record fines from state agencies.
EDUCATION
Portland Public Schools shortens school year in budget-cutting agreement with teachers union
OPB | By Rob Manning
The deal announced Sunday means three fewer school days and an unpaid holiday but no layoffs for educators.
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