Guadalupe Martinez, of Boardman, says a reverse-osmosis filter installed under the sink doesn’t work properly, and the whole-house filter behind her has been broken for years. Her family drinks bottled water to protect themselves from nitrate-tainted groundwater. (Kathy Aney/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Guadalupe Martinez points to a 24-pack of bottled water[Read More…]

While the mask mandate is lifting, testing for Covid will still be available in Malheur County (The Enterprise/FILE) Oregon is shifting its strategy to deal with the coronavirus, with the lifting of most mask mandates.  At midnight on Friday, masks will no longer be required in schools and public places[Read More…]

The five-week session of the Oregon Legislature kicked off with lawmakers filing more than 200 bills. Those have been whittled down by House and Senate committees. Bills that didn’t pass out of committee by the end of the day on Feb. 14 died. Those that require the use of state[Read More…]

Congressman Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, speaks to a group of residents during a meet-and-greet Jan. 6, 2022, in La Grande. (Alex Wittwer/EO Media) LA GRANDE – Oregon U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, does not believe former President Donald Trump’s claim that President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election because of[Read More…]

U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, says the federal infrastructure package will have profound impacts in Oregon. (Wikimedia Commons) Much of Oregon’s Congressional delegation sees nothing but good news for the state in the passage of the federal infrastructure legislation. The U.S. House on Friday passed the $1.2 trillion package to[Read More…]

Gov. Kate Brown is shown in March as she rolled out new state restrictions related to Covid. (File photo/Jonathan House/Pamplin Media) Gov. Kate Brown is facing yet another lawsuit seeking to end her Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Lawyers for five corrections officers filed the case in Baker County Circuit Court on Wednesday,[Read More…]

Cattle graze on rangeland in Malheur County. The Vale District of the Bureau of Land Management manages 5.1 million acres of public land in eastern Oregon. (Enterprise file photo) Before she inspired partisan theatrics in the U.S. Senate as the Bureau of Land Management nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning built a reputation[Read More…]

Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) SALEM – The Oregon Health Authority has advised the state and employers of health care staff, educators and others facing the Oct. 18 vaccine mandate not to fire employees over the deadline. “Everybody doesn’t need to turn into a[Read More…]

Since the pandemic began, Ethan Kemper, a high school junior, has been homeschooling with an online program called Build Your Library. His mother says he will not return to his public school in Banks, OR. (Jacoba Kemper photo) By May 2020, Ethan Kemper had all but given up on school.[Read More…]

Wildfire in September 2020 swept through the Santiam Canyon, destroying homes, businesses and vehicles. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) SALEM – Two years after passing sweeping legislation requiring many cities to allow duplexes anywhere single-family homes could be built, the Oregon Legislature returned in 2021 with more housing-related edicts to local governments.[Read More…]