SPECIAL REPORT: The Columbia Development Authority, tasked with helping turn a former Army base in eastern Oregon into industrial land, was struggling with its finances earlier this year. That didn’t stop Greg Smith, executive director and a state legislator, from seeking to double his salary and then getting a 55% increase.
Special Reports
COMMENTARY: Help the Enterprise investigate EOU’s money ties to Greg Smith
COMMENTARY: Big cost bills land at the Enterprise for its continuing investigation of Greg Smith. This time, Eastern Oregon University charges $75 an hour to “review” public documents about an apparently secret fund.
BROKEN RECORDS: Citizens face growing obstacles to obtaining government records
InvestigateWest asked for government records from 15 Northwest cities, and was met by significant time lags and costs.
A veteran police chief’s fall – how Ray Rau ended up in jail
SPECIAL REPORT: Ray Rau left the job as Nyssa police chief with a reputation for innovation and strong policing. His new job in Tillamook left him convicted of criminal conduct, spending days in jail and giving up his badge.
ODOT stalls explaining intentions over reload center as confusing accounts emerge
Internal records of the Oregon Department of Transportation show the state was going to stand firm against giving any more money immediately to the Treasure Valley Reload Center project. But a top official said privately to project leaders, “Don’t worry about the money.”
Ukraine war triggered short term, local wheat acreage boost
A recent agriculture census showed over a five-year period the amount of wheat grown locally climbed, due in part to the inability of Ukraine to ship its crop because of a Russian invasion.
Census details local farm consolidation, drop in onion, sugar beet acreage
A recent census from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows the number of farms in Malheur County declined between 2017 and 2022.
Ontario officials balk, stall on school superintendent’s evaluation records
SPECIAL REPORT: Records for the near-perfect evaluation of Ontario School District Superintendent Nikki Albisu are either missing or destroyed. Meanwhile, a top district official who reports to Albisu provided conflicting explanations over the past month for what records were destroyed and why.
Cartel tentacles reach into Malheur County, fueling meth trafficking, authorities say
Court records detail how cartel-fueled drug trafficking has embroiled several generations of an Ontario family and funneled dangerous drugs into the region.
Inequity, mismanagement beleaguer Oregon’s early learning agency, employees say
Records allege “racist environment” and deep divisions over child care governance at the state’s early learning agency.