Latest Oregon state government News
Oregon cop used badge to get sex; now he wants to be lawyer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon State Bar has rejected the application of an ex-Springfield police officer to become a lawyer after its investigators found that he had used his position to exploit vulnerable women for sex and lied about it. The Board of Bar Examiners determined that Neil Halttunen had not...
Oregon House GOP members refuse to appear for session
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Most Republican lawmakers refused to attend a Tuesday night session of the Oregon House of Representatives amid a slowdown over anger at a sweeping bill on climate change. Earlier, Republican lawmakers, who are a minority in the House, insisted that bills coming to the floor be read in...
ODOT managers retire following internal investigation
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Two Oregon Department of Transportation managers at the center of a 2017 whistleblower-retaliation scandal have retired following a six-month internal investigation into possible new policy violations. David McKane, 60, and David Fifer, 63, worked for ODOT’s Motor Carrier...
Highway 22 closed after tanker crash, diesel spill
IDANHA, Ore. (AP) — A stretch of Highway 22 will be closed for much of this week as crews clean up gasoline and diesel fuel that leaked out of a crashed tanker truck near Idanha along the North Santiam River, state transportation authorities said Monday. The highway between Idanha and Santiam Junction is...
Oregon wrestles with building facilities in tsunami zones
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Experts say the big one is coming to the Pacific Northwest: a massive earthquake that will cause buildings and bridges to collapse and unleash a tsunami that will devastate the coast. But, doubling down on its decision last year to allow the construction of critical facilities in tsunami...
Oregon governor calls for breaching 4 Snake River dams
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The governor of Oregon has come out in favor of removing four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River in Washington state, saying that is the best way to increase endangered salmon runs. Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, sent a letter to Washington’s Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee this week,...
Trump appointees weigh plan to build pipeline in Oregon
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Thursday was the day that a federal agency had been expected to make a decision on a proposed natural gas pipeline and marine export terminal in Oregon, and both opponents of the project and the Canadian energy company behind it awaited word from Washington. But Thursday came and went,...
Oregon Editorial Round-Up
From The Bulletin, Feb. 12, on how to donate to victims of the Umatilla County floods: The Umatilla River did not discriminate when it overflowed its banks last week in a near perfect storm of wind, rain and snow in Pendleton, surrounding towns and on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation....
High salaries for Travel Oregon execs called out in audit
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Pay for the director and other managers of Oregon’s travel bureau is among the highest of any state agency, even though Travel Oregon has a much smaller staff and budget, according to a state audit released Thursday. Since 2012, managers’ salaries ballooned by 76%, The...
Oregon Forestry agency says it will soon run out of money
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Officials at the Oregon Department of Forestry say just seven months into the state’s two-year budget cycle they’ve spent most of the money lawmakers approved for the entire biennium and now need an emergency cash infusion. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that agency...
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