Several studies have shown that microplastics, which are tiny pieces of plastic that make up other larger plastic items, can make their way into fish, crustaceans, clams, oysters and ultimately into us, the people that eat them. Continue Read More
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden announced Monday morning that he won’t run for reelection in 2020, possibly putting a close to more than two decades in the U.S. Capitol Building. Continue Reading Greg Walden, Oregon’s Sole Republican In Read More
Amazon’s ever-expanding footprint in Seattle — and the polarizing growing pains that accompany it — contrasts what’s currently happening in northeastern Oregon. Continue Reading Amazon To Expand Data Centers In Northeastern Oregon, Read More
The old Amtrak route started in Seattle, went south to Portland, then east through the Columbia River Gorge to Boise, and then to Salt Lake City, with an onward connection to Chicago. A volunteer-led nonprofit called the Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates (AORTA) proposes to revive at least the Portland to Boise segment. Read More
The state of Oregon is pushing the community hospitals along the Oregon Coast to improve their earthquake resilience. This comes after a state report predicted none of them would be able to sustain operations after the feared Big One -- a magnitude 9 offshore Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. Read More
As the climate warms, many U.S. lakes are seeing more algal blooms, low oxygen levels and stressed out fish species. One team in Oregon hopes that pumping oxygen into the water can help. Continue Reading Pumping Oxygen In A Lake To Try To Read More
Airbus, along with its rival Boeing and many others, is striving to make flying cars an option for your urban commute. The enthusiasm around the test flight hangar in Pendleton, Oregon, has to be leavened, though. Industry insiders said the technology is running years ahead of regulators and public acceptance. Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new term Monday with a case that has potentially sweeping implications for Oregon, and could end the state’s non-unanimous jury system. Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case That Could End Read More
Seventeen states sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block rules weakening the Endangered Species Act, saying the changes would make it tougher to protect wildlife even in the midst of a global extinction crisis. Read More
The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a landmark bill aimed at helping the fast-growing legal cannabis industry. Backers of fully legalizing marijuana said the 321-103 vote in favor of the so-called “SAFE Banking Act” is a key victory in their drive to bring the drug out of the legal shadows. Read More
A new study on the nation’s Safe Drinking Water Act has found that low-income residents and communities of color are especially vulnerable to health-related problems because of unresolved drinking water violations. In the Northwest, 16 counties in Oregon and Washington were identified with the highest rate of drinking water violations Read More
Recently, there’s been a significant shift in our understanding of salmon genetics. Researchers have found a distinct area in salmon DNA where the spring and fall chinook differ. Continue Reading A Push To Protect Spring Chinook Salmon Read More
Right now in remote eastern Oregon, a serial crime spree is unfolding. Young purebred bulls are mysteriously showing up dead. Cowboys recently found several animals with body parts precisely removed -- and it’s happened just like this before in the West. Read More
Grouse numbers also continued to drop in 2019 in Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. Weather can affect populations from year to year, and wildlife officials say those short-term cycles are most directly responsible for the recent declines. Continue Read More
New research says climate change is decreasing the amount of snow in the Pacific Northwest. And that has implications for water resources in the region. Continue Reading Research Suggests Climate Change Is Reducing Snowfall In The Read More
The movement to “ditch the switch” — the twice-yearly ritual of changing our clocks between daylight and standard time — just got a push from British Columbia, where residents signaled they are keen to join Washington state and Oregon on permanent daylight saving time. Read More
Moving imperiled sage grouse from one spot to another can be hard on the birds. But research from Washington State University suggests that after a restless adjustment period, the birds eventually get used to their new homes. Continue Reading Could Read More
Three Northwest states’ request to lethally remove sea lions from the Columbia River is now open for public comment. Continue Reading Public Can Comment On Killing Of Sea Lions In Columbia River Until October 29Read More
Oregon Senate Democrats announced Friday that they were abandoning a plan to fine Republicans $500 a day for the walkout, amid concerns over a protracted lawsuit and questions about how such unprecedented fines would work. Read More
If you were among the 1.7 million people who got a mysterious, unbidden $91.94 check in the mail recently, you may wonder if it is legitimate. It is! And the best news may be that recipients will get a similar check next summer. Read More
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who included the $12 million in funding for the projects in her proposed budget last year, has told reporters the decision not to expand the early detection systems was one of the "biggest disappointments" of this year's legislative session. Read More
The head of the Oregon Republican Party on Monday took a first step toward forcing a recall election of Gov. Kate Brown, whose term expires at the end of 2022. Continue Reading Oregon Republicans Are Trying To Recall Democratic Governor Read More
Hyena-pig. Murder-cow. With no modern analog, scientists have resorted to combinations of common animals to describe it. Dug up decades ago in the Hancock Mammal Quarry near John Day, Oregon, the bone from this prehistoric creature languished, misidentified in museum storage, until Selina Robson pulled it from its drawer. Read More
The federal Bureau of Land Management will not pursue lethal measures such as euthanasia or selling horses for slaughter to deal with what officials say is an ecological and fiscal crisis caused by too many wild horses on rangelands in the U.S. West, an official said Thursday. Read More
Long-distance hiking can be the experience of a lifetime. It also can present dicey to mundane hurdles, like having to hike stretches along busy highways or logging roads. Trail crews are working this summer to improve some enticing regional routes -- that you may or may not have tried -- including the Oregon Coast Trail and the east-west Pacific Northwest Trail from Read More
Oregon lawmakers concluded their work for the year Sunday, marking the close of the most remarkable and contentious legislative sessions in modern memory. In a day filled with flaring tempers and frequent confusion, lawmakers in the House and Senate passed a completed state budget and a raft of policy bills just after 5:20 p.m., well before the midnight deadline set forth Read More
Senate Republicans will return to work Saturday following a nine-day walkout, setting the stage for a weekend where lawmakers sprint toward adjournment. That comes after Democratic leaders offered assurances a sweeping climate change bill, House Bill 2020, will not pass this session. Read More
The so-called “Stay Strong Stay Gone” rally marked the latest backlash over bills seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon. Loggers, truckers, farmers and their supporters had all come, they said, to urge 11 Senate Republicans who’ve been absent from the statehouse since last week to remain in hiding. Read More
It’s hard not to notice that cougars are making it into the news these days. It’s also hard to miss how they’re getting there: by entering neighborhoods and putting residents on edge. Continue Reading Are There More Cougars In Our Space Or More Of Read More
Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, says Oregon’s sweeping plan for addressing climate change this legislative session does not have the votes to pass. But it’s not clear whether that will be enough to bring Senate Republicans back to work. Read More
In 2013, eight Oregon sheriffs sent letters to the Obama administration saying they wouldn’t enforce new federal gun laws. Two years later, the state legislature passed a bill requiring background checks for private gun sales. And again, Oregon sheriffs dug in. So it was already a well-worn path when sheriffs in Washington and Colorado started making similar assertions Read More
For the second time this legislative session, Oregon Senate Republicans prepared Thursday to stage a walkout, denying Democrats the ability to pass legislation. It’s the latest step in a standoff over sweeping climate change legislation. Read More
The Environmental Protection Agency has begun removing potentially contaminated barrels from Wallowa Lake. Despite initial fears, the barrels seem to have been full of lake water, though the EPA is waiting for test results to confirm that the water and barrels are indeed clean. Read More
The Supreme Court is throwing out an Oregon court ruling against bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Refers Oregon Same-Sex Wedding Cake Case Back To State Read More
Cormorants by the thousands have taken up residence under the landmark Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Their poop can corrode the bridge and that is unacceptable to the Oregon and Washington transportation departments. But what actions to take against the protected birds and whose responsibility that is are up in the air. Read More
A renewable energy project planned off the coast of Newport is taking a step forward. Oregon State University has submitted a final license application for a wave energy testing facility with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If built, it would be the largest of its kind in the U.S. Read More
When states legalize pot for all adults, long-standing medical marijuana programs take a big hit, in some cases losing more than half their registered patients in just a few years, according to a data analysis by The Associated Press. Continue Read More
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Portland this week from mental health advocates who say the state is failing dozens of criminal defendants in need of treatment. Continue Reading Federal Judge To Hear Arguments Read More
Oregon fish and wildlife commissioners approved a new management plan Friday for gray wolves, a long-awaited document that sets protocols for potential hunts and new thresholds for when the agency may kill wolves after attacks on cattle and sheep. Continue Read More
Oregon lawmakers approved a measure on Thursday that could allow the state to adopt daylight saving time year-round. Washington legislators approved the change this year. In California, voters have approved year-round daylight saving time, but legislators have not signed off yet. Read More
U.S. Judge Michael H. Simon issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the grazing permits issued to Dwight and Steven Hammond by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke before he left the Trump administration at the beginning of this year. Read More
Oregon is awash in pot, glutted with so much legal weed that if growing were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all. Now, the state is looking to curb production. Continue Reading Oregon Read More
New technology could help a wind farm in Eastern Oregon work more efficiently. Officials are voting Friday on the updates to the wind farm. Wind turbines are expected to last about 20 years. Oregon’s Stateline Wind Farm is getting up there – construction started way back in 2001. That’s why the farm’s owners are asking to update part of the facility. Read More
The Bureau of Land Management re-published plans this week for an experimental study in permanent birth control for the horses, nearly identical to those stalled by a judge last year. The court’s injunction came after the BLM gathered about 900 wild horses and burros near Burns, Oregon, in October. Read More
Democratic leaders in the Oregon Senate have agreed to give up high-profile bills on gun control and vaccines in exchange for the end of a Republican walkout. Continue Reading Oregon Democrats Give Up Gun Control, Vaccine Read More
In Oregon, GOP senators, solidly in the minority, left the Capitol this week before lawmakers could approve House Bill 3427, which would inject schools with billions in new funding to lower class sizes and boost graduation rates. The move denied Democrats a 20-member quorum, halting business in the Senate. Read More
With the stroke of the governor's pen Wednesday, Washington officially became the first West Coast state to ditch the twice-yearly time switch. But the end of "spring forward-fall back" won't happen until Congress gives the green light to all of the states moving toward year-round daylight saving time. Read More
A national advocacy group filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the Oregon Department of Human Services, alleging the agency revictimizes children in its foster care system and has failed to address documented problems for at least a decade. Read More
Four years ago this month, Keaton Farris died naked, dehydrated and malnourished on the floor of an isolation cell in the Island County Jail on Whidbey Island. Farris, who was bipolar and in the throes of a mental health crisis, had been arrested 18 days earlier for failing to appear in court for allegedly stealing and cashing a $355 check. An investigation later found Read More
The Washington County sheriff in Oregon says there was nothing unusual about the call. Sure, it was broad daylight — 1:48 p.m. local time exactly — but "crime can happen anytime." Continue Reading Oregon Man Called Police About A Read More
