An Oregon Senate committee heard testimony from farmers, environmental advocates and industry, revealing deep concerns about the future of farming in Oregon.
Author: By Alex Baumhardt – Oregon Capital Chronicle
Some legislators, environmentalists want to scrub fossil fuels from state pension fund
A proposal from several Democrats and environmentalists would mandate the state pension fund to divest billions in fossil fuel holdings. Some unions and the state treasurer say that would be too risky.
SPECIAL REPORT: DEQ steps up oversight after discovery of ‘reckless’ reporting by company
DEQ officials say the agency is more closely monitoring companies in its carbon credit Clean Fuels Program after TTS Charging sold $1.8 million in credits linked to false data.
SPECIAL REPORT: How startup took advantage of DEQ program with lax oversight to net $1.8 million
A Lincoln City entrepreneur reported false data to the DEQ’s Clean Fuels Program, sold invalid carbon credits and went on a spending spree. An Oregon Capital Chronicle Special Report details what happened.
Greg Addington returns Oregon Farm Bureau as exec
Greg Addington, the new executive director of Oregon’s largest agricultural advocacy and lobbying group, wants to grow membership and shrink regulations.
Kotek names new leaders for education efforts
Gov. Tina Kotek has named seasoned education policy makers Melissa Goff and Pooja Bhatt to lead improvement efforts for schools and early childhood initiatives.
Audit: Community colleges need more oversight after performance, enrollment declines
The Secretary of State’s Office said the commission in charge of Oregon’s 17 community colleges needs to improve student achievement and access, as graduation rates and enrollment decline.
Oregon schools lean heavily on emergency teachers, including untrained ones
Struggling with staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic, Oregon schools leaned heavily last year on teachers who received emergency licenses from the state. During the 2021-22 school year, districts employed 438 emergency licensed teachers, up from 181 the year prior and a low of 134 five years ago, according to[Read More…]
State forester rescinds wildfire risk map in response to outcry
On Thursday afternoon, just five weeks after publishing a wildfire risk map, the state Forestry Department axed it. That move follows a chorus of complaints from Republican state lawmakers and residents in southern and eastern Oregon who said the roll out of the map was clumsily handled and led to[Read More…]
Uncategorized Wyden raises concerns over shortage of firefighters, federal spending on fire prevention
(Enterprise/FILE) Oregon faces a shortage of wildland firefighters that could be “a recipe for trouble,” according to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. Wyden wrote to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently with concerns that their agencies weren’t prepared to handle another catastrophic fire season[Read More…]