SPECIAL REPORT: Greg Smith recently released a new statement justifying his actions in seeking a major pay raise for his work at the Columbia Development Authority. He stayed silent, though, on claiming hours worked for the small agency while in Salem working as a legislator.
Oregon transportation and police agencies are trying new tactics to urge truck drivers to chain up, as wrecks and slide-offs continue to force closures on Interstate 84, a key transit route.
SPECIAL REPORT: For hours, an experienced marksman terrified Owyhee Junction for hours, firing hundreds of rounds. The shooting prompted one of the largest police responses in eastern Oregon in recent history.
MURDER MYSTERY: More than 40 years ago, a young woman was found dead in a gravel pit near Vale. A retiring detective at the Malheur County Sheriff's Office dug into the cold case, hoping to finally bring the killer to justice.
SPECIAL REPORT: Columbia Sportswear, said to support a major Vale project, has never heard of it, an investigation by the Malheur Enterprise established. The man promoting revitalization in Vale has a troubled financial history, records show.
The public agency in charge of transforming a former military base into an industrial complex operates wiithout a legally-required approved budget, auditors have found. The Columbia Development Authority in Boardman is managed by Greg Smith – a Republican legislator who sits on the Legislature's budget committee.
Newly-released public records show that the Small Business Development Center operated out of Eastern Oregon University was producing few of the new jobs expected. The university was ordered by a district attorney to release documents related to a center managed by Greg Smith, a state legislator.
For 16 years, Greg Smith's company held a contract to counsel business owners in northeast Oregon, sponsored by Eastern Oregon University. The university terminated the contract recently but officials won't explain their actions. Smith is a Republican state representative from Heppner.
AROUND OREGON: A public board Friday ordered that pay raises for Greg Smith and his staff at the Columbia Development Authority be revoked. The move may cost Smith more than $30,000 in pay to return. The action followed an investigation by the Malheur Enterprise.