Profile avatar
opb.org
Connecting people across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest through the power of a shared story. Share your tips: đź”— https://www.opb.org/submit-idea/
483 posts 13,185 followers 12 following
Prolific Poster

A federal judge in Oregon on Monday ordered the U.S. government to restore the visa status of two international students and temporarily blocked their deportation from the country.

The Port of Portland’s board of commissioners voted Monday to eliminate a social equity policy over concern the Trump administration could remove a sizable chunk of the agency’s funding.

Western Oregon University is the state’s first four-year, public university to receive the Hispanic-serving institution status from the federal government.

DarkSky International is active in more than 70 countries with thousands of volunteers and supporters, according to its website. Their message is simple — to preserve the wonders of the night sky by reducing light pollution.

Federal criminal investigators have closed their case against former Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned in 2023 after revelations she had taken on private consulting for a cannabis company as her office prepared an audit of state regulations seen as favorable to cannabis companies.

Pope Francis, 88, died Monday following a stroke. Many Oregonians say they will miss him and remember him as a champion for the poor, for action on climate change and for a more inclusive world.

Four House Democrats — including Oregon’s Maxine Dexter — are in El Salvador this week, pressing for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a longtime U.S. resident deported during the Trump era. Despite a Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. government has yet to bring him back.

In a stunning final-round surge, the No. 5 Oregon women’s golf team captured the 2025 Big Ten Championship on Sunday at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Maryland, clinching the title by a 14-stroke margin in its first year in the conference.

Over the past decade, Native students helped carve totem poles for Eugene’s 4J NATIVES program—meant to celebrate and empower Indigenous youth. But some Native educators raised concerns about cultural appropriation and accuracy. Now, the district plans to remove the poles in response.

This month marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. It's also the anniversary of many Vietnamese families arriving in the Pacific Northwest to start new lives. This week's "Evergreen" shares stories of Vietnamese Oregonians.

The John Day Fossil Beds are better known for body fossils — things like teeth and bones. The recent discovery of trace fossils like footprints is giving new information about prehistoric Oregon.

Oregon Sen. Aaron Woods has died. Woods was a leading voice in the Legislature on responding to emerging challenges posed by AI. Politically, he was a business-friendly Democrat, who also prioritized civil rights, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Oregon has ambitious goals to build more affordable housing. Tariffs may put those goals further out of reach.

If signed into law, cities with 30,000 or more residents would be prohibited from requiring more than 0.5 parking spaces per new multifamily unit, or more than one parking space per single family home.

Major pieces of a $12 billion tax package passed the Washington state Senate on Saturday without a clear sign that Gov. Bob Ferguson supports them.

Head softball coach Jami Strinz, 46, was declared dead at a hospital, and Kiley Jones, 19, was declared dead at the scene.

The bill would be one of the first rent stabilization laws in the nation if passed, and add Washington to states like Oregon and California that have turned to such policies in an attempt to curb rampant homelessness.

Connelly, 18, grew up in Willamina, Oregon, and is now studying digital cinema at Southern Oregon University. She hopes her films and roles will inspire Indigenous youth and break stereotypes.

Washington began to offer Medicaid-like health care coverage last year for thousands of low-income immigrants living in the state without legal status.

Former reporters Jonathan Choe and Brandi Kruse challenged Washington’s press credentialing, prompting the Legislature to take control of access rules and sparking a broader debate over press freedom and media standards.

Protesters took to streets and sidewalks in Oregon Saturday, in the latest round of nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration.

A creative plan in the Washington Legislature to raise billions of dollars to pay for the court-ordered removal of fish passage barriers appears to be a pipe dream, for this year at least.

At least 34 international students in Washington state have lost their SEVIS records, leaving them without legal status and at risk of deportation, with little explanation from federal officials.

Washington state is closer to providing new state grants for cities and counties to hire more police officers following a bipartisan vote in the state Senate on Wednesday.

Uncertain federal funding threatens Eugene’s Talk Time program, which helps English learners practice conversation at the library; organizers seek alternative support to sustain its expanded services.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, announced Friday that she plans to travel to El Salvador to demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration wrongfully deported in March.

“When you have budget cuts this large, you’re not just trimming away the extra: you are laying people off, you are cutting into programs that are really important. You are cutting into things that people love,” Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney speaks on the city's budget deficit.

Eric Anderson was the acting project leader for the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex, managing the Steigerwald Lake, Franz Lake, Pierce and Ridgefield national wildlife refuges. He took a buyout this week.

Medford and other local offices were already facing staffing shortages, but the Trump Administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce have made the issue more serious.

A man Portland Police sought for repeatedly posting videos of himself driving wildly has been arrested — after calling police himself to report he’d been the victim of a hit-and-run.

For years in criminal trials, Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp misrepresented where he went to college and which degrees he holds, according to investigators with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.

Lane County has reported 18 Shigella infections so far this year, as of Thursday. That’s already higher than the case count for all of last year, which was 12.

In the past several months, several allegations of misconduct levied against staff at the Oregon Youth Authority have painted a picture of pervasive sexual abuse of youth placed in the state’s juvenile justice system.

The recent sunshine on our shoulders might make us happy, but public safety officials issued a reminder this week to exercise caution if we want to go for a swim in Oregon's waterways.

For the first time, Oregon schools will get over a year to plan summer school—with guaranteed state funding. But there's a catch. Funds must be used for programs that help students reach grade-level reading and writing skills.

Tariffs have been one of the dominant themes of the first few months of the Trump administration. And Oregon businesses are feeling the pinch, and the uncertainty.

Democrats in the Washington Legislature recently unveiled a new version of their proposed tax changes, dropping their previously proposed wealth tax plans. But Ferguson called their latest round of proposals “unsustainable” in light of actions being taken — or threatened — by the feds.

The Eugene Police Department recently received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration to expand the reach of its drone program.

The Grants Pass City Council OK'd two more homeless campsites on Wednesday night in an effort to get a court order lifted. The court ordered Grants Pass to increase its designated campsites. The order is part of a lawsuit claiming the city’s treatment of homeless people violates Oregon state law.

The two high schools represented Oregon in the “We the People” civics competition, which tests teams’ understanding of the U.S. Constitution. The competition has been held annually for the past four decades, with the most recent final taking place from April 9-11.

Senate Bill 926 would impose some consequences on PacifiCorp, and the state’s two other investor-owned utilities, for delaying settlements and prolonging litigation if they are found to have recklessly or negligently caused a wildfire.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown defended state law on how local police must approach federal immigration enforcement in a sharply worded letter to members of Congress this week.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff counted 204 wolves in December, a 15% increase from the year before, according to the agency’s annual wolf report published last week.

A Washington County jury has convicted Robert Atrops for the murder of his wife more than three decades ago. Jurors deliberated for less than a day, following more than two weeks of testimony where witnesses were forced to recollect events from more than 35 years ago.

A Clark County judge dismissed a criminal case against former Daybreak Youth Services staffer Alicia Kaye Stowe on Wednesday. The case involved allegations of sexual misconduct by Stowe involving a 17-year-old patient at a Brush Prairie facility.

Oregon companies are reeling from the rapid implementation of tariffs — a move they say will hurt business for years.

Deschutes County officials anticipate a large turnout at the upcoming public hearing regarding the Thornburgh resort project, which has faced ongoing controversy over the lack of Indigenous perspectives and concerns over water.

Gov. Tina Kotek fired Jessica Kampfe, the head of Oregon’s Public Defense Commission, on Thursday morning. “It is unacceptable that more than 4,000 defendants in Oregon do not have attorneys assigned,” Kotek said in a statement.

The Washington House passed a bill to remove the state's special education funding cap, which Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, called "a historic achievement." The bill passed 97-0.

The Washington Legislature has passed a bill making clergy mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse or neglect — with no exemption for allegations made during confession.