This past weekend, families gathered en masse to celebrate Father’s Day. It should come as no small irony to contrast those happy Father’s Day scenes with the hundreds of fathers and mothers, detained on criminal charges, separated from their children, for the crime of crossing the U.S. border illegally. Whatever your personal position on the […]
Jeff Merkley
Posted inNews
Transportation, Housing, Urban Development Appropriations
Bill would address infrastructure in Oregon
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced June 8 that key provisions of the pending Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill will help Oregon communities. “We have urgent infrastructure needs, and got $1 billion in funding for TIGER grants to improve roads and bridges,” Merkley said in a statement. The bill made it through the […]
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Oregon’s Congressional delegation reacts to the president’s proposed budget
Sen. Wyden says the budget ‘belongs in the trash can.’
When it comes to the proposed fiscal year 2018 budget issued today by the president, some of Oregon’s leaders didn’t waste time weighing in. From Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (D): “News flash to Donald Trump: Most Americans don’t have their own skyscrapers and jets and golf courses. They’re working long hours; stressed out about how […]
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Side Notes 6/29-7/6
Everyone Gets a Raise! Thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 1532, minimum wage workers in Deschutes County will get a raise on July 1, when Oregon’s minimum wage increases from the current $9.25 hourly rate to $9.50. Minimum wage workers in Portland will see an increase of 50-cents an hour. The new “wage law” […]
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Wyden, Merkley Introduce Mineral Withdrawal Bill
Legislation helps farmers and ranchers, protects high desert
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley on June 9 introduced legislation that would protect more than 2 million acres of the world-renowned high desert in southeastern Oregon from outside mineral exploitation, including oil and gas drilling, and build on long-time local economic strengths by helping farmers and ranchers. Wyden and Merkley […]
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Heroes
Troy Field Memorial Day Service On Memorial Day, May 30, citizens of Bend will gather at 8 a.m. to honor the fallen soldiers of Iraq and Afghanistan in a solemn special event at Troy Field. This is the ninth year that the memorial has been held and the third year at Troy Field. The service […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
U.S. SENATE: JEFF MERKLEY
We are endorsing incumbent Jeff Merkley, but not with a great deal of enthusiasm. In his endorsement interview, the senator displayed a woeful lack of understanding about issues in Bend. The senator repeatedly talked about central and eastern Oregon, as if interchangeable, and when asked about what he has done specifically to represent issues here, […]
Posted inOpinion
Freedom: Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose
Five summers ago, leading up to its passage, so-called Obamacare was the focus of town hall meetings across the country. Many of those community meetings turned as ugly and unruly as an English soccer game, with shoving and shouting matches. Even after the wide-reaching Affordable Care Act passed a year later, that venom did not […]
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Election Time. Vote Often!
Our picks for the May ballot
U.S. Senate (Democratic Party): JEFF MERKLEY This is a slamdunk. Merkley has proven to be an impressive advocate for reasonable forest service policies and has been outspoken against NSA’s surveillance programs. U.S. Senate (Republican Party): JASON CONGER There are a number of candidates running in the Republican primary for Senate who haven’t made a statewide […]