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New Grant Supports Oregon Foster Care Students

The State Board of Education approved a Foster Care Student Success Pilot Grant last week, aiming to improve educational outcomes for students in the state foster care system.

The grant was in accordance with House Bill 4084, which passed in March and required the Oregon Department of Education to use money in the Statewide Education Initiatives Account to provide funding to help meet the educational needs of foster care students, according to a press release.

The pilot funding will be allocated to three schools, one from Portland, the Mid-Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon. According to a press release, the graduation rate for foster youth in Oregon over the last seven years ranged from 35% and 46%. The funding will address academic challenges that foster care students face.

—Julianna LaFollette
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Sen. Kathleen Taylor Elected as Incoming Senate Majority Leader

On June 17, Senate Democrats elected Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D – SE Portland, Milwaukie and Oak Grove) to serve as the new Senate Majority Leader. She succeeds Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D – Beaverton and SW Portland).

Sen. Taylor served for a term in the Oregon House of Representatives starting in 2015 and was elected to the Senate in 2017. She currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Labor and Business Committee and a member of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire and Joint Audits Committees.

“I’m grateful to Senator Lieber for her service and for leading the Senate Democratic caucus to deliver major wins for the people of Oregon. I’m ready to get to work so we can continue moving our state in the right direction,” said Leader-elect Taylor.

—Julianna LaFollette

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Redmond’s St. Charles Cancer Center Breaks Ground

Community members are invited to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new St. Charles Cancer Center in Redmond on June 26 at 10am. Attendees are invited to see the new 53,000-square-foot building and learn about the services St. Charles is providing at the location, according to a press release.

The new center will be two stories and approximately nine times the size of the current Cancer Center in Redmond, expanding access to cancer services in Central Oregon. The facility is slated to serve 300 or more patients a day.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone for our new Cancer Center, which shows our commitment to providing world class care to cancer patients throughout the region,” said Dr. Steve Gordon, president and CEO for St. Charles. “This new facility will have a tremendous positive impact on our community, as it will expand access and services to Redmond and surrounding communities, serving 300 or more cancer patients every day.”

—Julianna LaFollette

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…”After going out and being sober and trying to get back into going out, hanging out, I noticed a lot of, even the new bars, their ‘mocktail’ menu is kind of a cop out. Typically, it’s like this little, tiny corner, and it’s like CBD sodas and lemonade or something that just doesn’t have any effort to it.”

– Mike Aldridge of the new, mocktail-forward Hosmer bar. From this week’s Little Bites, “In Midtown, a Mocktail-Forward Bar”

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41,927

– The number of individuals served in The Giving Plate’s grocery program in 2023.

31,721

– The number of individuals served in The Giving Plate’s grocery program in 2022.

— From this week’s News story, “Local Food Aid Organizations Report Record Numbers of Food Insecurity”

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Adult, child in Clackamas County have measles but there could be other cases

By Lynne Terry, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Health Authority said Monday that an adult and child in the same household in Clackamas County – both unvaccinated – have measles, which is highly infectious.

Officials gave no more identifying information. They said the infection likely stemmed from an exposure in Marion County between May 19 and June 4, but they don’t know exactly where they became infected or who infected them. There could be other people who also have contracted the disease, which spreads through the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes. Virus particles also can linger airborne for two hours.

The health authority said the adult developed a rash last Tuesday and was confirmed to have measles on Friday. The child also developed symptoms last week. Both are recovering.

—Excerpted from a June 17 story in the Oregon Capital Chronicle, oregoncapitalchronicle.com.

This article appears in Source Weekly June 20, 2024.