By: Jonathan ShormanWhen Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin declared in September that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could serve warrants on individuals at polling places this fall, officials in Denver, a liberal city where roughly 14% of residents are foreign-born, quickly sued. “Every day we find new things to be astonished about but I think that
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By: Jennifer Shutt WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump tried to maintain power following his loss in the 2020 election by exerting pressure on state election officials to, in some cases, “find” the votes. Loyalist Republicans in Congress then attempted to deny Joe Biden the Oval Office when lawmakers gathered to certify the Electoral College, bringing to light loopholes and
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By: Amanda Watford Families who believe local officials prematurely ruled their loved ones’ deaths suicides or accidents — rather than investigating whether domestic violence played a role — are pushing lawmakers in a growing number of states to require additional scrutiny. Advocates call the deaths “hidden homicides” — killings they say may be staged to
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Editor’s Note: Rainn Wilson is also a Central Oregon resident and was evacuated during the 2025 Flat Fire. By:Ashley Murray-June 9, 2026 WASHINGTON — As various officials and groups aim to use the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, with the help of a famed sitcom actor, turned the
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By: Jennifer Shutt WASHINGTON — Congress must act to shore up Social Security during the next six years to avoid an automatic drop-off in benefits in 2032, according to a report released Tuesday. The annual update on the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund shows that it will “become depleted” in the fourth quarter
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By: Mia MaldonadoOregon Gov. Tina Kotek has appointed her chief of staff to temporarily lead the state’s transportation agency. Chris Warner, who has worked with Kotek since 2023, will serve as the Oregon Department of Transportation’s interim director until the agency finds its next director. He is taking over Lisa Sumption’s interim position so she can return
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By: Mia MaldonadoTen Oregon airports will receive $3.1 million in federal funding for upgrades, members of Oregon’s congressional delegation announced last week. “Small airports throughout our state need and deserve federal investments so Oregonians can count on them for small business support, emergency response, secure travel and more,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon
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By Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Oregonians will soon be able to sue private companies that sell or otherwise improperly use data captured by license plate-reading cameras under a new state law. Senate Bill 1516, signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek on March 31, went into effect immediately due to an
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By the time they graduate from high school, some Oregon students have spent the equivalent of three years more at schools than their peers in other districts, a new study found.
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Six new Oregon housing laws aim to make it easier for cities and developers to build housing and prioritize affordable housing for families and older Oregonians.
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By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Republican voters in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District will choose between a longtime Republican communications professional and a local elected official in the May 19 primary. Former legislative spokesperson Jonathan Lockwood and Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair are Republicans from opposite generations vying for the Republican vote.
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By Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon Republicans have developed something of a familiar strategy when they seek to block revenue-raising measures they failed to derail in Salem: Taking legislative Democrats’ decision to the voters. Their most recent success? More than 250,000 Oregonians signed onto their petition for a referendum blocking last year’s signature gas
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Few Oregonians interact with the state’s employment rights agency until they need it, they’re being investigated or they’re voting on its next leader.
Continue ReadingBy Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Candidates running to represent Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives raised nearly $2.1 million in the first three months of 2026, with the incumbents for Oregon’s three most competitive congressional districts bringing in the most funds, federal campaign finance records show. Congressional candidates on Wednesday filed their
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By Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle HILLSBORO, Ore. — Four leading Republican candidates for Oregon governor race squared off for their first debate together on Thursday evening, making few swipes at one another and homing in on one political adversary: incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek. KTVZ News livestreamed the debate; you can watch the recording
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By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s governor has vetoed a bill passed last month by the state Legislature that would have made changes to the state’s public meetings law. Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday announced she vetoed House Bill 4177 following an outcry from professional journalist groups and Oregon news publishers, and concerns
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By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — The head of Salem-Keizer Public Schools spent nearly a year painstakingly holding meetings and restructuring staffing plans to close a $23 million budget deficit for the next school year. By early February, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda shared the plans publicly with staff and media, describing it at
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By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Voters soon will have a say in what’s been one of Oregon’s most contentious issues over the past year: funding state transportation needs. Measure 120 will let voters approve or reject a law Democratic lawmakers passed and Gov. Tina Kotek signed in 2025 that raises the gas
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By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Oregon school districts will no longer be able to shorten the school year to cut costs, avoid layoffs and plug budget holes under a new executive order from the state’s governor. Gov. Tina Kotek presented the order to the State Board of Education at its monthly
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A federal judge in Oregon declared that a state law could not require the Keizer-based Oregon Right to Life organization to provide abortion insurance coverage for its employees, handing a seemingly narrow victory to the state’s leading anti-abortion advocacy group.
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