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Oregon News
POLITICS
Clean-energy laws shunning natural gas will be costly, report claims
Capital Press | By Don Jenkins
Washington and Oregon’s clean-energy laws that discriminate against natural gas are barriers to preventing power shortages and keeping down electric rates, according to a study commissioned by utilities and power producers.
Natural-gas fired plants are the only viable option in the near term to meet future peak demands, according to Energy and Environmental Economics, a San Francisco-based consultant.
Oregon, however, bars new large natural gas plants. Washington requires utilities to phase out natural gas by 2045. The laws discourage investments in natural gas plants, the E3 report states.
Portland Lawmaker Wants to Turn Up the Dial on Forced Mental Health and Addiction Treatment
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
On Jan. 1, a new law went into effect in Oregon that was supposed to make it easier for authorities to force someone with acute mental illness into treatment against their will.
It remains to be seen whether this is actually having any effect; lawmakers are set in a few months to hear an analysis of the impacts.
But either way, state Sen. Lisa Reynolds (D-West Portland) thinks the state ought to lower the bar on civil commitments even more.
State policy contributes to mentally ill Oregonians falling into homelessness, Multnomah County says
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Jake Thomas
Multnomah County commissioners urged state officials late last year to change what they characterized as a discriminatory policy that’s contributing to people with “severe persistent mental illness” falling into homelessness.
In a December letter to Gov. Tina Kotek and the directors of Oregon’s health and social services agencies, all five members of the county’s board of commissioners said bureaucratic barriers were keeping people with serious mental illness from enrolling in Medicaid long-term care programs that could keep them housed. County officials called it a “moral failure and fiscally wasteful.”
The letter, obtained via a public records request, points to a situation facing a group of vulnerable people caught at the intersection of the Portland area’s worsening homelessness problem and the state’s fractured mental health system. Instead of long-term care, these individuals are often stuck in a costly cycle of homelessness that involves interactions with police and short-term treatment before returning to the streets, commissioners wrote.
State education officials propose new accountability targets for districts, students’ success
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Oregon Department of Education leaders shared a proposal for a 12-year vision and new measurements for success for the state’s schools.
Multiple Oregon representatives among those who called for Swalwell to resign
KGW | By Anthony Macuk
Eric Swalwell dropped his bid for California governor on Sunday and resigned from Congress Monday afternoon following calls to step down from many House members.
Lawsuit claims ex-Oregon congressman ran red light injuring Portland motorist
The Oregonian | By Zane Sparling
Former U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer has been accused of running a red light and entering the path of another motorist, causing a crash last year.
Ricky Krecklow claims he was driving an SUV west on Northeast Weidler Street when Blumenauer entered his path of travel, from 102nd Avenue, around 9 a.m. on May 23, 2025.
Blumenauer, a Portland Democrat who left Congress in January 2025, had a red light when his Toyota entered the intersection, the litigation claims.
Krecklow had no time to stop and crashed into Blumenauer, according to the lawsuit that says Krecklow racked up $6,249.32 in hospital bills.
The former congressman, who served 14 terms, was not cited in the crash, court records show.
Preschool for All should be set for funding over the next few years, report tells Multnomah County leaders
KGW | By Jamie Parfitt
An advisory group delivered its 200-page report on the Preschool for All program's financial future, as it aims to provide universal coverage by 2030.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Lane County class-action suit challenges Oregon's sex offender registry
Statesman Journal | By Haleigh Kochanski
A class action lawsuit filed in Lane County on April 2 against the Oregon State Police and the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision alleges individuals on Oregon's sex offender registry have been systematically misclassified as a higher risk than they are.
An Amazon warehouse worker died on the job at Oregon facility
TechCrunch
An Amazon employee at the Troutdale, Oregon, warehouse died at work last week, a company spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.
Fentanyl dealer convicted in SW Portland overdose death
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
A federal jury on Monday found that Hugo Gomez-Soto sold fentanyl to a Southwest Portland man in late December 2023 that caused his sudden death.
EDUCATION
PPS families question plan to close 5-10 schools
The Oregonian | By Julia Silverman
For the seven members of the Portland school board, the plan to close between five and 10 schools districtwide in the next 18 months is virtually a foregone conclusion.
The hundreds of parents who showed up Saturday afternoon to the district’s kickoff engagement session on downsizing its system were not so certain closures are inevitable.
HEALTH CARE
OHSU gets $6 million to advance human-engineered tissue research
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
Oregon Health & Science University is getting a major boost in its effort to better understand and eventually treat some of the most aggressive cancers with $6 million to research “organs-on-chips” – tiny, lab-built systems that mimic how human tissues function and how the disease spreads.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Google cloud? Steam from data centers may be disrupting aviation along Columbia River
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Enormous data centers are changing the landscape in small communities across Oregon. In The Dalles, residents of the riverfront community are wondering if Google is also changing their weather.
2026 ELECTION
Oregon labor commissioner faces former civil rights investigator in May primary election
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach
Oregon’s sitting labor commissioner, Christina Stephenson, will square off against Chris Lynch, a former Bureau of Labor and Industries civil rights investigator and manager, in the nonpartisan May primary for the position.
Julia Brim-Edwards Secures All Six Mayoral Endorsements in Race for County Chair
Willamette Week | By Joanna Hou
Brim-Edwards’ opponent, County Commissioner Shannon Singleton, says she has earned endorsements across the community.
1 candidate worked 3 jobs to afford a house. The other fought for medical care for kids. Who will join the Oregon Legislature?
The Oregonian | By Aimee Green
Two Oregon City residents are running in the May 19 Democratic primary to fill the District 40 House of Representatives seat soon to be vacated by Rep. Annessa Hartman, D-Gladstone.
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