Nigel Jaquiss, Oregon Journalism Project

Christine Drazan finished her quest to become the Republican nominee for governor amid towering stacks of wine barrels in rural Clackamas County on election night. Turns out she barely had to break a sweat after launching her campaign last October at a barge manufacturing operation in Northwest Portland. In front of a crowd full of […]

The Oregon Health Care Association obtained a temporary restraining order May 1 that blocked the Oregon Department of Human Services from revealing the names of about 70,000 people who had applied to the agency for background checks in order to become caregivers. As OJP reported earlier, those applicants submitted their names and other information to […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley is sending out conflicting messages on a litmus-test issue for many primary election voters: abortion. In October, as he mulled entering the governor’s race, the former Portland Trail Blazer told the Oregon Journalism Project in a videotaped interview that he was pro-choice—i.e., that he supported a woman’s right to abortion. […]

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned her position April 20, amid an investigation into various allegations of professional misconduct. Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican who got her start in politics on the Happy Valley City Council, represented Oregon’s 5th Congressional District from 2023 to 2025. With strong support from the Teamsters union, Chavez-DeRemer won Senate […]

The four leading candidates for the Republican nomination for governor gathered April 16 at a forum sponsored by the Oregon Republican Party at the Hillsboro Events Center. The livestreamed event marked the first opportunity for voters to see Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell, state Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Stayton), state Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), and former […]

Tom Fessler and his son, Kyle, are trying to do the right thing, but the right thing is about to get a lot more expensive. Inside Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas’ sprawling greenhouses—they enclose space the size of 94 football fields—the Fesslers recently installed 48 high-efficiency natural gas heaters that cost $6,200 each. It is the […]

Two of the most powerful groups in Salem are at loggerheads over a public records request. At issue: a request that Service Employees International Union filed last November with the Oregon Department of Human Services. SEIU, Oregon’s largest public employee union, with 72,000 members, asked the agency for a list of names of people who […]

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries has reversed an earlier finding that the Port of Newport should pay prevailing wages for the removal and disposal of derelict boats from port waters. “On December 11, 2025, BOLI issued a determination that the prevailing wage rate (PWR) laws would apply to the project. The purpose of […]

In addition to a host of other legal challenges, Dr. Robert Pamplin Jr. now faces a demand from the Oregon Department of State Lands to pay $13.9 million for his neglect of one of Oregon’s iconic rivers. The state notified Pamplin of that hefty tab in an 18-page letter on Feb. 19. It described a […]

One of the most contentious issues in the current legislative session revolves around an issue called “bonus depreciation.” It’s a tax break that business groups hope could spur purchases of everything from tractors and commercial fishing boats to high-tech machinery and new housing. To progressive groups, it’s a giveaway to businesses that were going to […]