Oregon

Subterms

    Latest story

    150 Shares28 Views

    Oregon School Leaders on Leave After 2 Teachers Charged With Sex Abuse

    by

    The police said the St. Helens School District was informed of the abuse allegations as early as 2019 but officials failed to alert the authorities.Two Oregon high school teachers charged on Tuesday with sexually abusing students had been reported as early as 2019 to district officials, who failed to notify the authorities, according to the police.The revelations have prompted online petitions seeking the resignations of school leaders as well as demonstrations at St. Helens School District by parents, students and community members.On Thursday, the principal at St. Helens High School, Katy Wagner, was placed on administrative leave and the school board chairman, Ryan Scholl, resigned, according to the district’s Facebook page. A day later, the district superintendent, Scot Stockwell, was placed on leave, the district said.The teachers, Eric Stearns, 46, a teacher at the high school, and Mark Collins, 64, who recently retired from the school, were each charged with several counts of sexual abuse, the St. Helens Police Department said.Joseph Hogue, the acting police chief, said that investigators had identified nine female victims between Mr. Stearns and Mr. Collins from 2019-23. The investigation is continuing and detectives are still fielding calls, he said.A lawyer for Mr. Stearns, Jennifer L. Myrick, on Sunday night disputed the charges.She said the grand jurors investigating the charges conflated the investigations of Mr. Collins and Mr. Stearns.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 113 Shares101 Views

      in US Politics

      Portland’s first ranked-choice vote elects progressive outsider as mayor

      by

      In 2022 it appeared the political winds in Portland, Oregon, one of the US’s most progressive cities, were beginning to shift. Residents who had grown frustrated over the city’s approach to homelessness rejected the incumbent, Jo Ann Hardesty – the first Black woman to serve on the city council – in favor of the “law-and-order” Democrat Rene Gonzalez, who pledged to back an expanded police force and “clean up” Portland.But this month, as swaths of the US electorate moved to the right, the Pacific north-west city took a markedly different approach. Residents elected the most diverse city council in Portland history, opting for more progressives, and rejected Gonzalez as mayoral candidate. Instead, they chose Keith Wilson, a businessperson who has never before held office and has promised to end unsheltered homelessness in a year.Wilson had large leads over his competitors in the election, the first in which the city used ranked-choice voting and in the latest results was leading the second place candidate 60% to 40%.The most conservative candidates for mayor and the county board, who took hardline stances, lost, Richard Clucas, a political science professor at Portland State University, pointed out.“Both were defeated significantly because Portland remains a very progressive city despite what people may have heard elsewhere,” Clucas said.The results came as the city was in the midst of what officials have described as a “once-in-a-generation” change to its government system and major voting reforms. This month, for the first time ever, Portland used ranked-choice voting to elect a mayor and a larger, more representative city council. The new officials will have different roles as Portland moves from a commission form of government to one overseen by a city administrator.Voters approved the overhaul two years ago – the same year Gonzalez won – as the city of 630,000 people grappled with a declining downtown, rising homelessness, a fentanyl crisis, growing public drug use and a sluggish recovery from the pandemic. Voters appeared to take out their dissatisfaction with crime, homelessness and drug use on Hardesty, the most progressive member of city council, said Ben Gaskins, a political science professor Lewis & Clark College in Portland.Some have speculated the city was beginning to recoil from its progressive values, particularly after voters in the county ousted the progressive district attorney for a challenger endorsed by police groups. That came shortly after Oregon moved to reintroduce criminal penalties for the possession of hard drugs, in effect scrapping the state’s groundbreaking drug decriminalization law.Claims the city is turning away from progressivism are significantly overstated, Gaskins said – instead, the shifts indicate an electorate that is more focused on tactical concerns rather than ideological ones.Gonzalez was widely considered a frontrunner in this year’s mayoral race. Calling it a “make-or-break election”, the commissioner said that as mayor he would add hundreds of officers to city streets and stop “enabling the humanitarian crisis on our streets by ending the distribution of tents and drug kits”.Wilson, who serves as the chief executive of a trucking company and founded a non-profit to expand shelter capacity and ultimately end homelessness, made the issue the center of his campaign, pledging to reform the city’s approach to alleviating the crisis. He insisted the issue could be addressed with “care and compassion”, the Oregonian reported, and said he would increase the number of night-time walk-in emergency shelters available in churches and community centers.That approach appealed to city voters, Clucas said, over harsher remedies. “They don’t simply want a crackdown, arrests and other things; they want to find some way to compassionately address it.”At a debate in October, Wilson said he would give city leaders an F for their efforts to address homelessness, according to the Oregonian. “Letting people suffer and die on our streets is unacceptable … I believe that every person in Portland deserves a bed every night,” he said.The progressive Carmen Rubio, a city council member, was also a frontrunner in the race. But she lost endorsements after reporting from the Oregonian revealed that she had received about 150 parking and traffic violations since 2004, many of which she failed to pay for months and years, and that she had her license suspended multiple times.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionGonzalez’s campaign was hurt by reporting from the Willamette Week that showed the “public safety champion” had also received seven speeding tickets between 1998 and 2013, and had his license suspended twice.Wilson was once considered a long-shot candidate, but he was probably bolstered by the city’s new ranked-choice voting system, experts said.His position as a businessperson coming from outside the political system allowed him to be a “compromise candidate”, Gaskins said. Wilson fit the gap of someone who is progressive but still represents a change to the status quo, he said.“I think the fact Keith Wilson was able to win shows Portland wants someone who is clearly on the left but who is focused on policy solutions and getting things done versus just being the most ideologically pure candidate in the race,” he said.“He is a candidate of this particular moment.”In an acceptance speech last week, Wilson pledged to build trust and take advantage of a “transformative opportunity”.“It’s time to end unsheltered homelessness and open drug use, and it’s time to restore public safety in Portland,” he said. “Voters aren’t interested in pointing fingers. They just want us to get things done.”Along with Wilson, residents also elected 12 city councillors, nearly half of whom are people of color, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported – a remarkable shift given that just seven years ago, only two people of color had ever been elected to city government. At least four of the new councillors identify as LGBTQ+, the outlet reported, and five received endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America chapter in Portland. More

    • 125 Shares171 Views

      in US Politics

      Early ballots burned in suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon

      by

      Hundreds of early ballots cast for the US presidential election have been burned in two suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon, exacerbating tensions ahead of next Tuesday’s knife-edge contest.Police said Monday that the fires in the two states were believed to be connected and that a vehicle involved had been identified, according to the Associated Press.Firefighters went to the scene after smoke was reported coming from a ballot drop box in the city of Vancouver in Washington state at 6.30am on Monday, according to local media.KATU, a local television channel, reported capturing footage of responders releasing a pile of burning ballots to the grounds. The ballots continued to smolder after the flames had been doused.Hundreds of ballots were believed to have been inside when smoke was reported billowing from the box, which had last been emptied at 8am on Sunday. KATU reported that only a few of the ballots deposited there after that had been saved.The elections auditor for Clark county, the local authority administering the boxes, said voters who had cast their ballots into it after 11am could seek new voting documents at a link on the county’s election web page.“There is absolutely zero place in our democracy for political violence or interference against our fellow citizens, election workers, or voting infrastructure … Our right to vote needs to be protected under all circumstances. We can’t yield to intimidation, and we must continue to stand up against unpatriotic acts such as this one,” said local congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.She requested law enforcement officers be in place overnight at all ballot drop boxes in the county until election day, saying: “South-west Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence.”The fire was reported after a similar incident in nearby Portland in Oregon, where police say an incendiary device was set off inside a ballot drop box close to a building hosting the Multnomah county elections division.Security staff extinguished the fire before police arrived. The device was deactivated and removed by the local bomb squad.The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned of ballot drop box destruction in a September memo obtained by Property of the People, a public records watchdog group. The agency said in an intelligence brief that election infrastructure will be seen as an “attractive target for some domestic violent extremists”, with drop boxes as a “soft target” because they are more accessible.Social media posters in forums frequented by extremists have shared ideas for attacked drop boxes, the agency said, including “road flares, fireworks, petroleum fuel, linseed oil and white phosphorus, cement or expanding foam, bleach or other chemicals, and farm machinery”. Other methods could include putting up fake signs to claim a drop box is out of order, putting up decoy drop boxes or putting “timed explosives” into drop boxes. They have also discussed ways to avoid law enforcement detection.“Damaged ballot drop boxes could temporarily decrease voting opportunities and accessibility and intimidate voters from casting votes if safety concerns arise in the vicinity of a targeted or damaged ballot drop box,” the DHS wrote in the intelligence brief. “Successful ballot drop box destruction could inspire others with related grievances to conduct similar actions.”The incidents came days after a US Postal Service mail box containing a small number of ballots was set on fire in Phoenix, Arizona, last Thursday.Police arrested a 35-year-old man who they said admitted to the crime while he was in custody. They also said he had told them his actions had not been politically motivated and he had committed the offense with the purpose of getting himself arrested.The Guardian has reported that far-right election denial groups supporting Donald Trump have been monitoring election drop boxes as part of their activity in the run-up to next week’s poll, when officials are bracing themselves for disruption and challenges to the vote tallies. More

    • 150 Shares104 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘A once-in-a-generation change’: Oregon’s biggest city prepares for monumental overhaul of government

      by

      When voters in Portland, Oregon, head to the polls next month, they will be tasked not only with selecting new leaders, but also the implementation of a monumental overhaul of the city’s government.Two years ago, residents moved to fundamentally alter their local government structure and adopted what experts have described as some of the most “expansive voting reforms” undertaken by a major US city in recent decades. Come November, the city will use ranked-choice voting to elect a mayor and a larger, more representative city council as Portland moves from a commission form of government to one overseen by a city administrator.The shake-up comes after challenging years for Portland in which the city of 630,000 grappled with a declining downtown, rising homelessness, a fentanyl crisis, growing public drug use and the continued economic impacts of the pandemic years.While some news coverage has portrayed the shift as Portlanders rejecting the city’s historically progressive values, those involved with the project counter that residents are embracing democratic reforms that will lead to a more equitable government better equipped to solve the city’s problems.“It was really clear that this system was, as operated, very inequitable,” said Jenny Lee, managing director of Building Power for Communities of Color, a non-profit that was a key proponent of the effort.“And the challenges in governing are going to be felt the most by those who already have been marginalized in our political system.”Now the city waits to see what the “once-in-a-generation” change will mean for its future.Since 1913, Portland has used a commission form of government. The commission consisted of five people elected citywide and who were responsible for passing policies and also acting as administrators in charge of city departments.The system was briefly popular in other major US cities, but then largely abandoned, said Richard Clucas, a political science professor at Portland State University.“Most cities who adopted that form of government realized there were problems with it,” he said. “Someone may be good as a legislator but it doesn’t make them good as an administrator.”View image in fullscreenAnd Portland’s system had long failed to adequately represent different demographics in the city, Lee said. The city’s elected officials historically have been white men from more affluent areas where residents are more likely to have a higher income and own their homes, according to the Sightline Institute. In 2017, only two people of color had ever been elected to the city council.Under the charter system, simple decisions – such as where to put a bike lane – were politicized, said Shoshanah Oppenheim, the charter transition project manager.“It was based on the political tide,” said Oppenheim, who is also a senior adviser in the city administrator’s office.For more than a century, Portlanders rejected attempts to reform the commission system, but that changed when the 10-year review of the city charter coincided with upheaval and challenges of the pandemic years.The pandemic exacerbated the existing limitations of the city’s form of government, according to a report from Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation chronicling Portland’s reforms.Meanwhile, Portland was the site of widespread racial justice protests and an ensuing federal crackdown, the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic was slow, and residents grew increasingly disillusioned with their leaders’ ability to make meaningful progress tackling homelessness and drug abuse.Those challenges created an opportunity to have meaningful conversations about elections and government, Lee said.Clucas echoed that sentiment: “I think the public was looking and happy to take on some sort of change.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionCommunity leaders had spent years educating themselves about electoral reform, and saw an opportunity to create change in the city, the report stated.With support from community organizations and local activists, the commission brought a measure before voters that would make key changes to the city’s system, allowing voters to rank local candidates in order of preference, expand the city council from five to 12 representatives elected from four newly created districts, and move to a system of government overseen by a professional city administrator.Despite criticism about the complexity of the measure and opposition from political leaders and the business community, 58% of voters approved the package of reforms proposed by the commission.Although the timing coincided with major changes and social issues, Lee said the reforms were not reactionary and instead an example of Portland being willing to try new things, which ties into Oregon’s long history of democratic reforms aimed at making government more participatory.“It was a message about change, but it was definitely a hopeful one,” she said. “It was always about these changes will make our government more effective and equitable.”The city has spent the last two years preparing for a project unlike anything Portland has seen before,Oppenheim said. “We had a really short timeline … It’s been an all-hands-on-deck approach,” she said. “There is no playbook. We are making it up as we go along.”Next month, voters will decided among more than 100 candidates for 12 council seats and 19 candidates for mayor. A recent poll from the Oregonian suggested a once-longshot candidate, whose campaign has focused on ending homelessness, is well positioned to win.In a poll of roughly 300 voters from early October, before election packets were sent out, two-thirds responded that they understood how voting works very well or somewhat well. People tend to understand the system right away given that they rank things every day, Oppenheim said.The city has also developed a voter education program to inform residents about the changes and trained operators on its information line how to explain ranked-choice voting.The hope is that voters will feel the increased power of their vote, Lee said. “Every vote has a lot of power. Your constituents’ voices really matter. Their second- and third-choice rankings actually really matter.”After the election, the other major test comes next year when Portland’s new government takes the reins. “We want to be ready on day one so all the city business can continue,” Oppenheim said.“Portlanders have huge expectations for change and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do things better,” Oppenheim said. “They want a more representative government. We have it in our power to deliver that.” More

    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      Klamath River Dam Removal Should Allow Salmon to Thrive

      by

      The Klamath River was once so flush with fish that local tribes ate salmon at every meal: flame-roasted filets on redwood skewers, stews flavored with fish tails, strips of smoky, dried salmon. In the language of the Yurok, who live on the river among California’s towering redwoods, the word for “salmon” translates to “that which we eat.”But when hydropower dams were built on the Klamath, which wends from southern Oregon into far northwest California, the river’s ecosystem was upended and salmon were cut off from 420 miles of cooler tributaries and streams where they had once laid their eggs. For decades, there has been little salmon for the tribes to cook, sell or use in religious ceremonies. The Yurok’s 60th annual Salmon Festival this summer served none of its namesake fish.But tribal members hope the situation is about to dramatically change.Four giant dams on the Klamath are being razed as part of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, a victory for the tribes who have led a decades-long campaign to restore the river. This week, as the final pieces are demolished, a 240-mile stretch of the Klamath will flow freely for the first time in more than a century — and salmon will get their best shot at long-term survival in the river.“The salmon are going to their spawning grounds for the first time in 100 years,” said Ron Reed, 62, a member of the Karuk tribe who has been fighting for dam removal for half his life. “There’s a sense of pride. There’s a sense of health and wellness.”Juvenile chinook salmon before being released into the Klamath River near Hornbrook, Calif.Salmon play an outsize role in nourishing and holding together ecosystems, scientists say, and their plight has fueled a growing trend of dam removals nationwide. Of the 150 removals on the West Coast in the past decade — double that of the previous decade, according to data from American Rivers, an environmentalist group — most have benefited salmon. Chinook salmon, or king salmon, in the Klamath are predicted to increase by as much as 80 percent within the next three decades.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Record-Breaking Heat Broils Much of Western U.S.

      by

      From Oregon to California to Arizona, several cities have seen scorching temperatures in recent days. And there is little relief in sight, forecasters say.Millions of people across the Western United States were broiling under record-breaking heat on Saturday, with little relief in sight over the coming days, according to forecasters.From Oregon to California to the deserts of Arizona, several cities have seen stifling temperatures in recent days. Jacob Asherman, a forecaster for the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said the blistering temperatures were being fueled by a ridge of high-pressure air that had parked over much of the West, preventing hot air near the surface from rising higher in the atmosphere.While many of these cities — like Las Vegas, where temperatures were forecast to reach 117 degrees over the weekend — expect triple-digit temperatures every summer, some residents in other regions were caught off guard by what is predicted to be a long stretch of sizzling days.In Portland, Ore., temperatures were forecast to hover around 100 degrees for five straight days starting Friday, conditions that once would have been considered unusual for a region where summers were so mild that people rarely needed air-conditioners. The sweltering temperatures prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a statewide heat emergency, warning that the extreme heat represented a “new normal” of a changing climate.“Both the record-breaking temperatures and the duration of heat present a clear and present danger, particularly for children, elders, people with disabilities and people who work outside,” Ms. Kotek said in a statement.A person cooled off during the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Ore.Jenny Kane/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      A Tenacious Pekingese Is the ‘World’s Ugliest’ Dog, After Many Tries

      by

      Meet Wild Thang, an 8-year-old Pekingese from Oregon who had sought the title of “World’s Ugliest” for years. Now, it’s finally his.Maybe it’s the way his lolling pink tongue juts out, or how his glittering wide eyes bejewel a tiny head under a mop of long, frizzy, brown-and-white fur, but there’s just something about Wild Thang — and a panel of judges agreed.The 8-year-old Pekingese from Oregon was crowned the World’s Ugliest Dog on Friday, confirming that when the looks are, well, lacking, there’s something to be said for persistence. It was his fifth try for the top prize at the competition.“His victory is a testament to his undeniable charm and resilience,” said a statement released by the competition following Wild Thang’s big win.Born and raised in Los Angeles, Wild Thang’s life got off to a difficult start, according to his biography (yes, he has one). As a puppy, he contracted distemper, an infectious disease caused by a virus that attacks dogs’ respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. He barely survived, and his biography notes that Wild Thang was left permanently affected by the disease: “His teeth did not grow in, causing his tongue to stay out and his right front leg paddles 24/7.”Nevertheless, Wild Thang is “a healthy, happy Glugly (glamorous/ugly) guy” who “loves people, other dogs and especially his toys.”Like other beauty pageant winners, Wild Thang champions causes dear to him, according to his biography. He has helped raise money to get his fellow Pekingese doggies in Ukraine to safety — and has already saved seven of them from the war zone.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Three Injured After Bull Jumps the Fence at an Oregon Rodeo

      by

      While the crowd sang “God Bless the U.S.A.,” the bull leaped across a barrier into the stands and raced through the grounds of the rodeo before being captured.The bull ran back to the livestock holding pens where it was secured by rodeo workers and placed into a pen, according to the Sisters Rodeo Association.Danielle Smithers, via Associated PressThree people were injured Saturday night in central Oregon after a large bull jumped over a barrier and into the crowd at a packed rodeo event, sending onlookers scrambling for safety before the animal could be captured, the authorities said.The incident occurred during the final portion of the bull-riding event at the 84th annual Sisters Rodeo in Sisters, Ore., more than 150 miles southeast of Portland, the rodeo said in a statement.Video of the frantic episode circulating on social media shows a packed crowd under the arena lights, swaying and singing along to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” when a large brown bull circles the bull ring and leaps over a metal gate and into the stands. Other footage shows the bull charging through an area designated for concessions and flipping a person through the air.When the bull first jumps the fence, a rodeo announcer can be heard giving instructions for an emergency response plan, repeatedly asking the crowd to take cover.“Get to higher ground, everybody,” the announcers shout over the loudspeakers. “Get to higher ground, there’s a bull out!” An announcer also instructs attendees on the grass to seek shelter under the grandstands.The Sisters Rodeo Association said the bull ran throughout the rodeo grounds and back to the livestock holding pens, where it was eventually secured by rodeo workers and placed into a pen.The bull injured three people, event officials said, two of whom were transported to the hospital. Their conditions were unknown as of Monday morning, though Sisters Rodeo said in a post on its Facebook page that all of the injured people had returned home.Sgt. Joshua Spano of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office told KTVZ, a local news channel, that several ambulances were called to the scene and that the bull was captured “pretty quick.”The bull was taken home after Saturday night’s episode, and Leslie Lange, a spokeswoman for Corey and Lange Rodeo, a livestock contractor hired by Sisters Rodeo, told the channel the bull would receive additional training.The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, which put on several sanctioned rodeo performances throughout the five-day event, including one titled “P.R.C.A. Xtreme Bulls,” said in a statement that while rodeo is a “highly entertaining sport, on very rare occasions it can also pose some risk.”In 2022, a bull jumped a fence at a rodeo event in California, injuring several people before being captured a half-mile from the arena.The P.R.C.A. said it was grateful to quick-thinking rodeo staff members and emergency medical workers who prevented Saturday’s situation from being worse.Sisters Rodeo was established in 1940 with $500 purses, and the event grew over the years into one of the most popular rodeos in the Western United States. The rodeo joined the P.R.C.A. in 1988 and often features world champions.Despite the fiasco on Saturday, Sisters Rodeo resumed all scheduled events on Sunday. More

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Voters Oust Progressive Prosecutor in Portland

      by

      Mike Schmidt, the progressive prosecutor in Portland, Ore., who has held office during a tumultuous period of street protests, drug overdoses and violent crime, lost his seat to a co-worker who has called for more aggressive prosecution of criminals, The Associated Press said on Wednesday.The co-worker, Nathan Vasquez, a deputy district attorney in the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, had mounted a campaign that blamed Mr. Schmidt for the city’s recent problems. Mr. Schmidt, a Democrat, was one of a series of progressive prosecutors around the country who had vowed to reshape the criminal justice system.But in the years since Mr. Schmidt’s election in 2020, voters in Portland have signaled an interest in cracking down on crime and homelessness. As businesses fled the city center, people reported feeling unsafe on the streets. Homicides and overdoses soared.Mike Schmidt in 2020.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian, via Associated PressMr. Vasquez called for a new approach, setting up a bitter campaign against his boss. He promised to take on lawless behavior and petty crimes, differentiating himself from Mr. Schmidt, who had won four years ago with pledges to move away from focusing on low-level crimes.Mr. Schmidt tried to highlight the progress seen in the last year, when car thefts dropped rapidly and homicides were coming down from record highs. He backed an effort to partially roll back Oregon’s drug decriminalization law.Mr. Vasquez, an independent who previously was a registered Republican, is the latest public official in a West Coast city to be elected with a promise to be tougher on crime. In 2021, voters in Seattle elected a Republican as the city prosecutor after she vowed more action on low-level crimes. The next year, voters in San Francisco recalled the progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin.The district attorney position in Portland is nonpartisan, and with only two candidates on the primary ballot Mr. Vasquez’s victory means he is set to take over the office next year. More