Tag Archives: Oregon

The Oregonian reports: Organizers of the Oregon Republican Party’s drive to recall Gov. Kate Brown conceded Monday that they did not manage to gather the necessary 280,050 valid voter signatures to put the recall on the ballot. Party Chairman Bill Currier did not return phone calls to The Oregonian/OregonLive, but he said on Monday’s Lars Larson Show that “we did …

Oregon Live reports: Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney said on Tuesday morning that the climate change bill at the center of Republicans’ walkout lacks the votes necessary to pass, because not enough Democrats support it. Senate Republicans fled the state last week to block a vote on the carbon capping plan. Courtney appeared to be laying groundwork for Republicans to …

Portland’s ABC News affiliate reports: “I don’t think you’re going to see us anytime soon.” That’s what Herman Baertschiger Jr., the Oregon Senate Minority Leader, told KATU News reporter Dan McCarthy in a phone interview late Saturday regarding the 11 Republican senators who walked out in defiance of House Bill 2020, the cap-and-trade bill. He also addressed the GoFundMe account …

The Associated Press reports: The Oregon Capitol was closed Saturday due to a “possible militia threat” from right-wing protesters as a walkout by Republican lawmakers over landmark climate change legislation drags on. Republican state senators fled the Legislature — and some, the state — earlier this week to deny the majority Democrats enough votes to take up the climate bill, …

Portland’s NBC News affiliate reports: Republican state senators who fled the Oregon Capitol to prevent a vote on major climate legislation will be fined $500 a day each if there aren’t enough senators present to vote on the bill. A GoFundMe page to raise money to pay the fines for the 12 Oregon senators had collected more than $6,000 as …

Oregon Live reports: Oregon’s Democratic governor, Kate Brown, has dispatched state troopers to find missing Republican senators and bring them back to Salem to legislate. All 11 Republican senators are in hiding, at least some of them out of state, in order to prevent the Senate from having the quorum it needs to operate. They can’t abide the Democrat-backed carbon …

Portland’s CBS News affiliate reports: The man who chased a black teenager with his car and intentionally ran him over outside a 7-Eleven was sentenced to life in prison. The August 2016 incident killed 19-year-old Larnell Bruce. Russell Courtier received his sentence on Tuesday morning. The State of Oregon previously presented evidence showing that Courtier is a white supremacist. In …

Williamette Week reports: In a contentious hearing today, Oregon senators voted 17-12 to pass a National Popular Vote bill. Should Senate Bill 870 gain approval from the state’s House of Representatives, Oregon will enter an interstate compact to award its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationwide. So far, 15 states have passed national …

The Daily Beast reports: An unvaccinated Oregon boy became the first person in over 30 years to contract the deadly tetanus infection in the state. The 6-year-old boy was playing on a farm when he cut his head, according to a case report by the CDC. His parents cleaned and stitched the wound at home, but a week later, he …

Williamette Week reports: Hundreds of texts between Portland police and right-wing organizer Joey Gibson [screen grab above] reveal the extent to which law enforcement officers talked to and even coordinated with right-wing activists in order to police protests in 2017 and 2018. The texts, obtained by WW through a public records request, show that Portland Police Lt. Jeff Niiya had …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A day ago, ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were prisoners at the minimum-security federal prison on Terminal Island in San Pedro, serving five-year sentences for arson. But on Wednesday, following a Tuesday pardon by President Trump, the father-and-son pair got to fly home in style to Burns, Ore., on an oil company’s private jet, riding …

Oregon Live reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday commuted the sentences of two eastern Oregon ranchers serving time in federal prison for setting fire to public land in a case that inflamed their supporters and gave rise to the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The decision will free Dwight Hammond Jr., 76, and son Steven Hammond, 49, …

The Oregonian reports: Portland Police declared a riot Saturday after tensions between the right-wing Patriot Prayer group and local anti-fascist activists came to a head and broke out in violence. The afternoon began with a permitted rally at Terry Schrunk Federal Plaza organized by Joey Gibson, U.S. Senate candidate for Washington and leader of the right-wing, Vancouver-based group. A counter-demonstration …

From the website of “death to gays” Pastor Kevin Swanson: The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the lower court rulings requiring that Aaron and Melissa Klein pay $135,000 for not baking a cake for a homosexual ceremony. Now they are appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here, we interview Aaron Klein on how they lost their little family bakery …

On Top Magazine reports: The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday denied review in a case involving a bakery that refused to serve a lesbian couple. “The court has considered the petition for review and orders that it be denied,” Oregon’s highest court said in its order. Late last year, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Oregon …

Oregon’s The World reports: The North Bend School District is facing serious discrimination allegations. The allegations include an LGBTQ student being forced to read Bible passages as a form of punishment and whether or not LGBTQ students were discriminated against after reporting sexual harassment. These allegations are detailed in a March 6 letter from the Oregon Department of Education to …

Suspended without pay! The Oregonian reports: The Oregon Supreme Court Thursday took the unusual step of suspending a sitting state court judge — Vance Day of Salem — for three years. The high court found that Day — a Marion County Circuit Court judge — had committed “willful misconduct” and made “willful misstatements” to investigators to cover-up the truth. Among …

Portland’s ABC affiliate reports: An appeal has been filed with the Oregon Supreme Court in hopes of overturning a $135,000 penalty given to the owners of a Gresham bakery who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple. The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to penalize owners of Sweet …

Portland’s NBC affiliate reports: The Oregon Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a ruling — and a $135,000 fine — that two Gresham bakery owners discriminated against a gay couple by refusing to make them a wedding cake, violating Oregon law. The courts did reverse a portion of the Bureau of Labor and Industries decision that said Melissa and Aaron Klein …

Portland’s Fox affiliate reports: The self-proclaimed unit leader of Oregon’s National Socialist Movement, a known white supremacist group, is speaking openly about the state of their movement in the Pacific Northwest. Kynan Dutton agreed to sit down with FOX 12 to discuss public perception of the NSM. He believes people should not be afraid of members in their group. “We …