Gov. Kotek formally announced her 2026 reelection bid Thursday, leaving her less than a year to convince Oregonians she remains the best choice to lead the state. News came after weeks of signals that Kotek, whose campaign has been emailing supporters for months, was officially gearing up for the 2026 election.
With growing concerns over major state budget deficits, stagnating population growth, rising unemployment and new data showing Oregon businesses have started looking elsewhere as they expand, Governor Tina Kotek announced her intention to dig the Beaver State’s business cred out of the basement
No Tax Oregon petitioners have gathered over 150,000 signatures to petition the planned increases to the state’s gas tax, vehicle registration and title fees and a transit payroll tax until voters have a chance to weigh in next November
Oregon State Sen. Jeff Golden announced on Monday, Dec. 1, that he will seek another term and that the political climate under Trump’s second term demands stronger state-level resistance.
Oregon has expanded access to birth workers, shown to improve the wellbeing of parents, opening up Medicaid to doulas in 2014 and to lactation consultants in 2020. But years into that effort, professionals say their inability to get paid remains one of the most persistent obstacles to providing care to low-income families
State employees packed boxes of food to be distributed throughout the state to help low-income Oregonians. But it’s not just to give out immediate food aid, it’s an exercise the Office of Resilience and Emergency Management will use to prepare agencies to help respond to major emergencies.
Oregon is co-leading a group of Democratic attorneys general in suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its leader Brooke Rollins over abrupt cuts to food assistance for refugees and asylum seekers. The cuts could affect up to 3,000 Oregonians who rely on SNAP.
Despite early forecasts of a punishing 2025 wildfire season, Oregon escaped relatively unscathed. Less than 400,000 acres burned in 2025, only one-fifth of the 2 million acres ravaged the year before and well below the 10-year average of 680,000.
Oregonians have just more than a month to take advantage of federal tax credits meant to reduce by thousands of dollars the costs of buying and installing new energy efficient heating and cooling pumps, insulation, windows and solar panels; the savings can cover half to nearly all costs, depending on the purchase.
Dee Anne Everson, the CEO and executive director of United Way of Jackson County, has been appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek and confirmed by the Oregon Senate to serve on the university’s Board of Trustees, according to a news release. Everson began her service to the board on Nov. 20.
John Paul Valdez: The necessity for service model reform in Jackson County is starkly illuminated by the failure of the centralized system to recognize the organic, effective mutual aid operating within sparse communities.
Michael O’Looney: President Donald Trump’s relentless name-calling of those he regards as his adversaries in politics and the media has become something more than a feeble attempt at conjuring up innocuous nicknames. Besides being childish and unimaginative, his slurs have become methodically vicious.
Public hearings on a pair of projects, one in a quiet residential neighborhood along Scenic Drive and the other in a busy commercial area near Shop’n Kart grocery market are set before the Ashland Planning Commission Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The Ashland City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 2, took steps to repurpose two city-owned properties — the 846-acre Imperatrice property and the 380 Clay St. parcel — as part of a broader effort to rein in city finances.
Concert violinist Carla Ecker moves in a steady triangle between Phoenix, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and the Rogue Valley — performing opera, symphony and chamber music.
Don’t miss your chance to experience the Ashland High School production of “Wizard of Oz” in its closing weekend.
(It’s free)
