In the News

Nearly two dozen government officials met Wednesday to discuss different retrofitting options for one of the state's most important and imperiled water sources.

Scoggins Dam was built in the early 1970s to hold back water from the Tualatin River to form Hagg Lake. In recent years, it has been classified as a seismically at-risk dam that needs to be modified in order to reduce downstream hazards in the event of a large earthquake.

Student voices don't fall upon deaf ears.

Future Connect students at Portland Community College, PCC leaders and high school students interning at the City of Hillsboro greeted U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Beaverton Democrat, at the Hillsboro Civic Center on Monday, Aug. 5.

Bonamici heard from students about their experiences with PCC and city programs, who spoke about how those initiatives work to increase opportunity and economic mobility for local students — low-income students and students of color in particular.

After almost two years of stonewalling by Chemawa Indian School officials and the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Reps. Kurt Schrader and Suzanne Bonamici say reform appears to be coming after visiting the Salem school this past week.

Anti-gun violence activists in Oregon have announced a signature-gathering training session for their planned ballot measure in response to the two mass shootings in the country over the weekend.

The training will take place Sunday afternoon in North Portland. The measure, which includes firearm storage and other requirements, is aimed for the November 2020 general election ballot.

The horrific mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio have reignited the gun debate in America. The topic was front and center Sunday at Democratic Senator Ron Wyden's planned town hall in Beaverton.

"When it comes to gun violence, which, of course, has hit Oregon too often, Oregonians are tired of meaningless words. What they want is meaningful action," Wyden said. "And it all has to start on the floor of the United States Senate. And that's what I'm going to be pushing for."

Lawmakers here in Oregon have been responding to this weekend's shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley posted on Twitter about El Paso's shooting, saying, "Another day, another mass shooting in America. This time, El Paso is reeling from the terror of a heinous crime. This is tragic and it will happen again and again until we come to our senses and do something real about gun violence in our country."

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici also issued a statement calling gun violence "a preventable and deeply disturbing American tragedy."

It just got easier to vote in Oregon, with new laws being signed Friday making it free to mail in ballots, requiring campaign ads to say who paid for them and making political organizations identify their largest donors.

Oregon already has mail-in ballots that make waiting for hours to vote at polling stations a thing of the past. Senate Bill 861 requires the state to pay for the stamps on those ballots. And the state's U.S. senators want to make that a national trend.

Oregon still doesn't have campaign finance regulations, but the 2020 elections will include some important differences from past races, under bills signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown on Friday.

Flanked by members of Oregon's congressional delegation and a bevy of state lawmakers at a signing ceremony in Portland, Brown ensured that Oregonians will be able to mail their ballots for free in elections beginning next year, and that voters could have more information about who's funding political ads.