Members of the Supreme Court gather for their official portrait in 2021. (Fred Schilling/Supremecourt.gov) The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn nearly 50 years of abortion rights protections sparked an outpouring of condemnation in Oregon where reproductive rights are protected by law and Democrats hold the majority of state[Read More…]

Colette Peters (center), director of the Oregon Department of Corrections director, talks with workers in the Norway prison system during a 2017 research trip to transform Oregon prisons. (Oregon Department of Corrections) SALEM – Colette Peters, director of Oregon’s prison system, is poised to become the next director of the[Read More…]

(The Enterprise/FILE) A lawsuit over which election records are public is headed to trial later this month as some Oregonians continue searching for ways to discredit the 2020 election. Washington County’s lawsuit against Tim Sippel is, at heart, a dispute over public records. Sippel wants a file tied to the[Read More…]

The National Interagency Fire Center forecasts higher than normal risk for wildfires in central Oregon beginning in June and in southern Oregon by July, according to a report published Tuesday. Southeast Washington will also be at elevated risk and northern California is considered at severe risk. The fire center based in Boise,[Read More…]

A reconsidered proposal to move Oregon’s boundary with Idaho wouldn’t result in the Gem State reaching the Pacific Ocean, but Klamath Lake could become part of Idaho if Congress and both state Legislatures approved. (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation/Wikimedia Commons) After voters in Douglas and Josephine counties rejected the idea of[Read More…]

An election worker sorts ballots at the Malheur County Clerk’s Office in May 2021. An initiative effort underway in Oregon would open primary elections to nonaffiliated voters. (Malheur Enterprise file photo) Oregon voters who aren’t registered with any political party reached a significant milestone in March: They now outnumber Democrats. [Read More…]

(Enterprise file/Oregon Department of Transportation) Oregon will use more than $400 million in new federal transportation money to finish some large highway projects and make roads more accessible to pedestrians, the Oregon Transportation Commission decided this week.  The state Transportation Department is set to receive about $1.2 billion over the[Read More…]

(The Enterprise/file) Hundreds of thousands of low-income Oregonians will continue to receive extra food aid for the next two months, the state Department of Human Services announced Tuesday. The extra aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, increases the monthly allotment per household by 60% to more than[Read More…]

Backyard enthusiasts need to be aware of the potential bird flu threat to flocks. (Les Zaitz/Oregon Capital Chronicle) A highly infectious and deadly strain of bird flu has been detected in a bald eagle in British Columbia, posing a potential threat to hundreds and perhaps thousands of backyard flocks across[Read More…]

The OHRA Center in Ashland is open while going through renovations. A proposal to convert an Ontario hotel into a shelter was rejected by city officials last year. (Rep. Pam Marsh) An Oregon project to turn hotels into temporary housing is getting a second infusion of cash after the first[Read More…]