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Oregon News
POLITICS
Oregon pays $295,000 to settle transgender woman’s lawsuit stemming from alleged prison abuse
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
The state has agreed to pay $295,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a transgender woman who was housed in an Oregon men’s prison and assigned to share a cell with a predatory sex offender.
Under the settlement, the state will pay $95,000 to Zera Zombie and $200,000 to cover her attorney costs.
Zombie described herself as a transgender woman who transitioned in July 2020, has been taking female hormones since early 2020 and in October 2022 met with a medical specialist to begin a process toward obtaining gender-affirming surgery, according to a sworn declaration.
Zombie was sentenced under her previous name in 2014 to 20 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter in the fatal beating of a girlfriend, Samantha Lee Brown. Brown, 24, died of blunt force trauma to the head and was found in a camp trailer in Echo in Umatilla County, according to court records.
She also received an additional 15 years at the time for first-degree assault for a violent attack on a fellow inmate in the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton, according to court records.
Federal judge in Oregon voids RFK Jr.’s ‘unlawful’ directive banning gender-affirming care
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Steve Crane
A federal district judge in Oregon overturned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s directive that said health care facilities providing gender-affirming care to minors are barred from Medicare and Medicaid.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, in a scathing opinion filed Saturday, called Kennedy’s Dec. 18 directive “one of a long list of examples of how a leader’s wanton disregard for the rule of law causes very real harm to very real people.”
“Secretary Kennedy’s unlawful declaration harmed children. This case illustrates that when a leader acts without authority and in the absence of the rule of law, he acts with cruelty,” Kasubhai wrote.
Oregon climate rules challenged again in court
Axios | By Kale Williams
Oregon's signature climate program faces a new lawsuit challenging the state's authority to impose financial penalties on carbon emitters.
The lawsuit — brought last week by dozens of plaintiffs, including gas utilities, trade associations and labor unions — alleges the program will drastically increase energy costs for businesses and consumers.
"Those costs are already being felt through increased utility bills, higher fuel prices, and reduced business operations in the fragile economies of communities across the State, and the fallout will only get worse as the caps ratchet down," they wrote in the lawsuit.
Trail Blazers new owner Tom Dundon's cost-cutting approach draws national scrutiny
KGW | By Jared Cowley
Tom Dundon is facing scrutiny over a series of cost-cutting decisions that could shape both the franchise's competitive outlook and its reputation around the NBA.
Despite mayor’s assurances, more people than ever are homeless in Portland
The Oregonian | By Lillian Mongeau Hughes
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson told an audience of hundreds Friday that the apparent decline in unsheltered homelessness he has observed in the city was real.
“I’ll try not to get mired in numbers,” Wilson told New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof Friday during a conversation after the mayor’s State of the City address. “I think your hope, what you see, is real and what I see is real. So we have to go by that.”
And yet, the best available data show that whatever changes the mayor and others may have observed do not tell the whole story.
Multnomah County’s data shows that more than 18,000 people were homeless in February. That includes nearly 9,000 who were unsheltered, about 2,700 more than when Wilson took office in January 2025 vowing to end unsheltered homelessness.
145 jobs, millions in cuts: Portland mayor unveils proposal to close massive budget shortfall
The Oregonian | By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson unveiled a proposed $8.5 billion budget Monday that would close a massive budget shortfall by slashing millions of dollars across city agencies and programs — including parks, police and homeless services — while attempting to preserve core municipal functions.
Portland’s controversial Pearl District shelter will close due to budget cuts
OPB | By Alex Zielinski
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson plans to close one of his largest — and most contentious — overnight-only shelters in the face of a massive budget shortfall.
It’s the second of Mayor Keith Wilson’s new overnight shelters set to close this year.
Auditors say Oregon Zoo lacked preparation to carry out $380M bond measure
KOIN 6 | By Jashayla Pettigrew
Nearly two years after Portland-area residents voted in favor of allocating $380 million to the Oregon Zoo, officials have determined leaders of the attraction have not adequately executed the bond measure.
State: Evidence of disability discrimination in Home Forward, Multnomah County programs
KPTV | By Adrian Thomas
A year-long investigation by Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries found evidence that Home Forward and Multnomah County may not be providing equitable access to housing and rental assistance for people with disabilities, according to official investigation documents obtained by FOX 12.
Oregonians claw back nearly $1.6M with state consumer protection effort for scams, fraud
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Oregonians filed more than 10,000 consumer complaints with the Oregon Department of Justice last year recovering nearly $1.6 million as a result of state attorneys’ efforts.
Albertsons opioid settlement will pay Oregon up to $38.3 million
The Oregonian | By Mary Mooney
A settlement with grocery chain Albertsons, which operates Albertsons and Safeway stores, will give Oregon up to $38.3 million for addiction and recovery programs, officials said Monday.
Longtime auto shop for sale across from Oregon State Capitol
Statesman Journal | By Whitney Woodworth
A longtime automotive service station with a front-seat view of the Oregon State Capitol is up for sale.
The building that once housed Cliff's Automotive Repair, Bellinger Bros. service station, and Ole's Automotive Services is vacant and carries a $1.6 million price tag through Capacity Commercial.
Man spent wildfire victim money on strip clubs, Disneyland, lawsuit says
Statesman Journal | By Zach Urness
The leader of an Oregon-based disaster relief nonprofit that raised money following the 2020 Labor Day Fires is accused of spending the money on strip clubs, casino visits and several trips to Disneyland.
2026 ELECTION
Christine Drazan holds sizable lead in GOP race for Oregon governor, new poll suggests
OPB | By Dirk VanderHart
State Sen. Christine Drazan holds a commanding lead in the Republican race for Oregon governor, according to the only public poll to emerge in the race to date.
The new survey of 515 likely Republican primary voters shows Drazan with 31.1% support, compared to 15.6% support for state Rep. Ed Diehl, and 14.8% support for former Trail Blazer Chris Dudley.
Oregon’s GOP beat out critics to launch an anti-tax ballot referral. Can they do it again?
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Oregon Republicans have developed something of a familiar strategy when they seek to block revenue-raising measures they failed to derail in Salem: Taking legislative Democrats’ decision to the voters.
Their most recent success? More than 250,000 Oregonians signed onto their petition for a referendum blocking last year’s signature gas and transportation tax hikes, well above the nearly 80,000 verified signatures necessary for the Oregon secretary of state to certify their ballot initiative. The potential revenue streams from those tax increases went on hold, and lawmakers in February turned to a solution Republicans had been proposing for months: Pass an emergency fix using existing funding for the agency’s looming budget hole.
“They humbled me to a significant degree,” said John Horvick, senior vice president with the Portland-based polling firm DHM Research. “The ability to organize that many people and to collect signatures that quickly was a real sign of, well, political success.”
But now a new tax referendum proposal that deals with Oregon’s automatic replication of federal tax policy in state statute will test the political might of grassroots Republican activists and their allies in Salem. Republican Reps. Ed Diehl of Scio and Dwayne Yunker of Grants Pass are teaming up with the Oregon Freedom Coalition with the goal of collecting enough signatures in the next three weeks, according to Nick Stark, executive director of the coalition.
If Elected Governor, Ed Diehl Says He’ll Keep Democrats in Line With Ballot Measures
Willamette Week | By Aaron Mesh
No one can accuse state Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Stayton) of inconsistency. If elected Oregon governor, he plans to govern how he campaigned: with ballot measures.
Diehl gained prominence in the Oregon Republican Party over the winter by leading—along with Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) and Jason Williams of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon—a populist revolt against a gas tax increase passed by the Oregon Legislature in the September special session.
In a matter of weeks, the barely funded referral campaign gathered more than 250,000 signatures, derailing a painstaking compromise Gov. Tina Kotek and other top Democrats crafted to bail out the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Current head of Oregon labor bureau faces primary challenge from agency insider
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson is challenged by Chris Lynch, a 15-year veteran of the agency and a former civil rights investigator.
Stephenson has faced criticism from Republicans and business groups for enforcing prevailing wage laws — that is a minimum hourly rate and benefits to be paid to workers — on publicly funded construction projects. Critics have said it adds costs to affordable housing developments that in turn slow development and exacerbate housing supply issues in parts of the state.
She has repeatedly pushed back on the critique, saying it’s up to lawmakers to change the law if they believe it’s a problem. Sen. Dick Anderson, a Lincoln City Republican who considered running against her but ultimately chose not to, introduced a bill to limit the use of prevailing wage on affordable housing projects, but it didn’t pass.
“Like anyone else, I recognize the tension between housing costs and and the cost of everything right now for working families, and my job is to enforce the law as it is written,” she said. “I know that the Legislature took a look at this in the short session to consider some exceptions, and they chose not to. So, I’m just going to enforce the law as it was written.”
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Falling Oregon fuel sales: What’s driving the decline?
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
Gas sales have reliably tracked Oregon’s economy over the past quarter century.
When times are good, more drivers are fueling up their cars and businesses have more trucks on the road. Gas sales fall during tough times, like the Great Recession, because people and companies have less to spend.
Oregon drivers and businesses bought 1.75 billion gallons of gas in 2025 for passenger cars and trucks and for light-duty commercial vehicles, according to state data. (The figure doesn’t include fuel for heavy trucks like semis.) That’s 80 million fewer gallons than in 2019, the year before COVID-19 hit the state.
That decline could reflect Oregon’s economic slowdown. But look under the hood and there’s more going on.
Siemens will close most of its 53-acre Oregon campus, shut its childcare center
The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway
German industrial giant Siemens plans to sell off most of the 53-acre Wilsonville campus that came with its 2017 purchase of Mentor Graphics Corp. and consolidate remaining operations into a single building.
Siemens will also close its on-site childcare center in June, leaving employees and other families scrambling to find alternatives for their kids in Oregon’s tight childcare market.
‘New Strategic Direction’: Layoffs Hit Portland’s Knight Cancer Institute
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
Dozens of jobs are cut amid a broader pivot in the medical research center’s mission.
Oregon teachers, Nike factory workers demand higher taxes and wages
The Oregonian | By Matthew Kish
Oregon teachers and Asian garment workers have launched a campaign demanding Nike pay higher state taxes and better factory wages.
“We’re done with you making billions off our backs,” says a Sri Lankan garment worker in a roughly 90-second video posted on social media that demands a contract with Nike for “fair wages and fully funded schools.”
The campaign’s organizers include the Portland Association of Teachers, Global Labor Justice, Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.
This major Oregon ski area is offering dirt cheap season passes, as steamed skiers debate whether to buy again
The Oregonian | By Aimee Green
On the heels of a ski season that only lasted an astonishing 22 days, Mt. Hood Skibowl is taking an unusual step to help smooth it over with its season pass holders.
The ski area is offering last winter’s pass holders a steep discount — 72.5% — off next year’s pass.
Despite massive losses to business at ski resorts across the West due to meager amounts of snow, Skibowl told pass holders in an email that offering the discount was “the right thing to do.”
Pacific Power expands Cool Keeper AC incentive program to more Oregon communities
KATU
Pacific Power is expanding a customer incentive program to include more parts of Oregon.
Cool Keeper program is now available in Portland, Hood River and some parts of Northeastern Oregon.
A Hail Mary plea saved this 119-year-old Portland restaurant, but owners say they’re ‘not out of the woods’
The Oregonian | By Veronica Nocera
A lingering post-pandemic drop-off in customers — plus a particularly grueling fall season — had put the restaurant in a difficult position. By early November, they had about enough money in the bank to “make payroll and hire a bankruptcy lawyer,” Wachsmuth said. She didn’t think the restaurant would make it to Christmas.
A Hail Mary plea for Portlanders to return to Dan & Louis Oyster Bar turned out to be a lifesaver, with patrons new and old turning up in droves.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Portland’s homicide rate is down, but it remains higher than SF and NYC
KOIN 6 | By Amanda Rhoades
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson painted an optimistic picture of the Rose City on Friday, pointing to the city’s declining homicide rate as one example of the improvements during his first year in office.
“We’ve had one of the steepest declines in homicide in the nation,” Wilson said during the address.
Nicholar Kristof, an Oregon-native and New York Times opinion columnist who moderated the event, said that he calculated Portland’s homicide rate for 2025 was still more than 8 per 100,000. While a decline from previous years in Portland, he said the figure is still higher than in places like New York City and San Francisco.
EDUCATION
After almost two-year lapse, Oregon counties get nearly $100 million from Secure Rural Schools
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Most Oregon counties are set to receive nearly $100 million from the federal Secure Rural Schools Act after Congress let funding for the 25-year-old program lapse for almost two years.
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