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Homan refuses Dem mask ban, says it would put ICE agents in the crosshairs\
KATU National Desk
White House border czar Tom Homan on Wednesday rejected demands to ban ICE agents' masks.
Homan said during an interview with a New York City radio station that prohibiting officers from wearing face coverings would expose them to people looking to inflict harm. Congressional Democrats have demanded the Trump administration ban masks before they fund immigration operations.
Oregon News
POLITICS
Oregon business leaders urge Gov. Kotek to think bigger with prosperity council effort
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
A leading Oregon business group is urging Gov. Tina Kotek’s economic advisers to act with greater ambition if they want to attract businesses into the state and reignite the state’s economy.
In a letter last week to the governor’s economic prosperity council, the Oregon Business Council called upon the group to pursue a “corresponding shift in policy ambition” in light of the state’s economic and demographic headwinds. The business council hosts the annual Oregon Business Plan summit, where business leaders across the state gather to discuss the top issues facing private industries throughout Oregon with lawmakers and political leadership.
Oregon has for years struggled with its reputation for overburdening businesses with regulations and taxes, and several high-profile recent rounds of layoffs spurred concerns that businesses are fleeing the state. The letter notes that Oregon is facing high housing costs, poor public school performance, outdated land use rules and climate-related risks such as wildfires.
“If Oregon responds incrementally, the state risks drifting into a prolonged period of modest growth, fiscal constraint, and diminished national relevance. If it responds decisively, it can renew its economic model for a slower growing, more competitive nation,” the letter reads. “The work of the prosperity council should aim unmistakably at the latter outcome.”
Oregon communities envision 9,100 acres for new data centers, quadrupling the industry’s footprint
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Oregon communities are making way for 9,100 acres of new data centers, including the state’s first “exascale” project — a gargantuan multibillion-dollar installation the size of 1,000 football fields that Amazon hopes to build near the small city of Boardman.
Oregon’s U.S. senators slam ‘wasteful’ federal investigation into states’ abortion coverage requirement
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Julia Shumway
Oregon’s U.S. senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to drop a “needless and wasteful” investigation into Oregon and other states that require health insurers to cover abortion.
A Labor Deadlock Jeopardizes F-1 Visas for International Students at PCC
Willamette Week | By Joanna Hou
“We are stuck in a state of limbo whereby you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know what to do.”
ICE confirms it has no plans for new detention facilities in Oregon, but Jeff Merkley remains skeptical
The Oregonian | By Isabel Funk
Oregon’s Democratic congressional delegation said Friday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no plans to open any new detention facilities in the state or expand current ones.
Oregon Dems request feds get more public input on massive new logging plans for western forests
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Oregon’s congressional Democrats are asking federal officials to give the public more time to learn about and comment on new plans that would open up millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon to logging activity not seen since the 1960s.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Portland keeps losing legacy businesses. Could a new program be the solution?
KOIN 6 | By Jashayla Pettigrew
Portland officials have sounded the alarm on the amount of longstanding local businesses that have called it quits since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability uncovered a study on the preservation of Portland’s independently-owned, public-facing “legacy businesses” — defined as those that have operated for at least 20 years and have significantly contributed to the city’s history and identity.
HOMELESSNESS
More than 100 Portland shelter beds set to close by July
OPB | By Alex Zielinski
The announcement is tied to the closure of a local homeless provider.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Federal agents arrest 2 at Marion County Courthouse in Salem
Statesman Journal | By Dianne Lugo
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents arrested two people at the Marion County Courthouse in Salem on the morning of March 26.
In a press release, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said Marion County Judicial Security Unit deputies were in the immediate vicinity of one arrest and walked the other person out of the courthouse, where he was turned over to DHS.
“Our Judicial Security team acted professionally, remaining focused on their mission, providing safety and security to everyone in the courthouse consistent with state and federal law," Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter said in a statement.
‘There’s just no words’: 2 Oregon men facing life in prison walk free after murder convictions collapse
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
Nicholas Sias walked free this month after 17 years behind bars for a murder he says he didn’t commit.
Oregon Supreme Court reverses child sex abuse conviction on privacy grounds
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a Lane County man’s conviction for encouraging child sex abuse, ruling that local authorities subjected him to a warrantless search when monitoring his use of a restaurant’s free wireless internet network.
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