ashland.news
December 8, 2023

State government

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Some want repeal. Others want tweaks. But nobody seems to want the status quo in the drug crisis.

Oregonians who packed a legislative hearing on the state’s addiction crisis and flooded the Legislature with passionate testimony this week have vastly different viewpoints, but on one thing they agree: The status quo is not working. Some want to repeal Measure 110, the state’s voter-approved drug decriminalization law. Others say it needs to be tweaked.

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Oregon economists revise revenue forecast — downward

Oregon lawmakers will have less money to spend next year than they anticipated after a promising revenue forecast released last week. The Office of Economic Analysis on Tuesday revised its December revenue forecast, saying it overstated an expected increase in tax collections. In fact, insurance tax collections are trending down, not up

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Donald Trump 2017 Inaugural
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Group presses Oregon secretary of state to block Trump from ballot

A group trying to block former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in all 50 states ramped up pressure on Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade this week. Its latest letter asks Griffin-Valade to respond and indicate whether she’ll issue a temporary rule declaring Trump ineligible to appear on ballots in Oregon by Dec. 1. 

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Harney County judge declares Measure 114 on gun safety unconstitutional

Oregon’s voter-approved gun law that would require permits and a safety course violates the state constitution, a Harney County Circuit Court judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling is a setback for gun safety advocates who backed Measure 114 in response to gun violence and mass shootings and convinced Oregon voters to pass it in 2022.

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State government

State and resettlement groups help Ukrainians in Oregon

About 4,500 Ukrainians have arrived in Oregon since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, upending their lives and forcing them to flee the danger and chaos of their homeland. Nearly two years later, government agencies, resettlement organizations and community groups have banded together to help Ukrainians settle into a new life in Oregon.

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Housing

State wildfire recovery program helps hundreds of households affected by 2020 Labor Day fires

More than 1,100 Oregon households have received help from a $150 million wildfire recovery program the state set up after residents lost their homes during the devastating 2020 Labor Day fires. Three years later, the area is still recovering from the wildfires, which burned more than 1 million acres and destroyed or heavily damaged more than 4,300 homes in an eight-county region of Oregon. A full recovery is still years away.

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Housing

Oregon eviction filings above pre-pandemic levels; advocates say more state aid needed

Landlords are filing more court evictions monthly than they did before the COVID pandemic, though the number of evictions trended down after the Legislature passed a law giving tenants more time to make up late rent. House Bill 2001, which took effect in late March, requires landlords to give tenants 10 days notice when filing for eviction for nonpayment of rent, rather than the previously allowed 72 hours.

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Relocations: Politics far and near

Herbert Rothschild: Apparently, Kissinger insisted on recording practically every word he said. His aides later commented that he needed to keep track of which lie he told to whom.

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Ashland City Council approves camping ordinance in split vote

On a 4-2 vote, the Ashland City Council on Tuesday approved the first of two required readings of an ordinance to control time, place and manner of camping in Ashland. The ordinance will control occupation of public spaces and enforce behavior, rather than status, and does not seek to punish those who are homeless, the acting city attorney told the council.

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Mt. Ashland Ski Area pushes back opening day, despite snowstorm

Andrew Gast, general manager of the Mt. Ashland Ski Area, had hoped that this Saturday would be opening day for skiing this season, but he admitted defeat on Thursday, despite the latest snowstorm. Things are now day to day, while he, a couple hundred employees and untold numbers of skiers wait for more snow.

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