Jeff Swickard is betting that better days are ahead for Portland—and, by extension, Oregon. Swickard, 53, the founder and CEO of Swickard Auto Group, a large chain of car dealerships, closed on the purchase of the U.S. Bancorp Tower (also known as “Big Pink”) earlier this week in an all-cash offer, he said today. Swickard […]
A new lawsuit seeks to break the stranglehold Oregon’s two major political primaries have on legislative and statewide elections. The nonprofit Our Primary Voices and one of its members, Mark Porter, a resident of Clackamas County, filed the lawsuit on June 25 in Marion County Circuit Court against the state and the state’s top elections official, […]
To better understand the high stakes of the final days of the 2025 legislative session, it’s useful to consider one fact that was largely absent from the debate over House Bill 2025, the multibillion-dollar transportation funding measure that failed in numerous incarnations: The biggest immediate loser will be the members of Service Employees International Union […]
The first big check in the 2026 Republican primary for governor arrived this week—and it didn’t go to House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, the 2022 GOP nominee and next year’s likely frontrunner, if she chooses to run. Instead, filings with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office show that Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell recorded a […]
Gov. Tina Kotek issued three vetoes on June 24, all for bills related to child welfare and the Oregon Department of Human Services. Kotek has not often used her veto pen because she’s generally in sync with the Democratic supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. But one of the governor’s priority bills—House Bill 3835—put […]
A bill that would expand the scope of Oregon’s prevailing wage law is moving toward a floor vote with key questions unanswered. That matters because the expansion could impact just about every public works project in Oregon, from roads and sewers to schools—both renovations and new construction. House Bill 2688 “applies the prevailing rate of wage […]
As the 2025 legislative session lurches toward its conclusion, a bipartisan bill aimed at speeding wildfire damage payouts remains stalled in committee. The looming expiration of a federal tax break for fire victims adds urgency to Senate Bill 926. That tax break—available to people who get financial compensation for losses in fires that are declared […]
As the Oregon Legislature prepares for looming floor votes on House Bill 2025, a transportation funding bill at the center of the legislative session, polling obtained by the Oregon Journalism Project shows voters are unconvinced of the need for legislation that would raise nearly $2 billion in new funding annually. And perhaps more importantly, the […]
The estate of Celia Lenore Hess, who died after being left out in the sun at a Bend memory care facility on a blazing hot day last August, has filed a wrongful death suit against the facility’s owner, Dallas-based Frontier Senior Living. The Kafoury & McDougal firm filed the lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court […]
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek told reporters Monday afternoon she would be very reluctant to follow the lead of her fellow Democrat, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last week proposed reducing his state’s spending on health care for undocumented immigrants. In a May 14 budget message, The New York Times reported, Newsom proposed halting new sign-ups […]
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