The Oregonian/OregonLive is in the midst of its annual update of the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System beneficiary database. Last week, we published an update that showed nearly 6,000 retirees tapped into the pension benefit system in 2023. In a week or so, we’ll have our database fully updated and available so readers can lookup all current…

Many homeowners in Oregon are feeling the impacts of higher electricity bills and facing the prospect of yet another rate increase next year. As electricity bills have skyrocketed, causing widespread anger and frustration, many people have begun to question how and why utilities recoup money from their customers. Last month, the Oregon Citizens’ Ut…

In February, elected leaders of a small town in Marion County took the extraordinary step of firing its top cop amid a series of troubling allegations. Gervais Police Chief Mark Chase’s removal has since touched off a feud between the chief’s defenders and officials in the quiet community about 15 miles NE of Salem. Chase, it turns out, is no stran…

Oregon’s largest corporate employer has been one of the biggest boosters calling for an infusion of taxpayer dollars into U.S. manufacturing of computer chips. Last week, Intel got its wish: an $8.5 billion check from the federal government. Mike Rogoway, who covers the chip industry for The Oregonian/OregonLive, spoke with business editor Elliot N…

Environmentalists notched what they consider a major win in the 2024 short legislative session. The COAL Act directs the state to drop about $1 billion in coal investments and to cease new investments in companies that mine and burn coal. Proponents say the legislation aligns the state’s public pension investments with Oregon’s existing climate goa…

A lack of funding and the passage of Measure 110 dealt a double whammy to Oregon drug courts. Even as fentanyl became a scourge, one of the best tools to help addicts largely faded away. Programs in Deschutes, Benton, Polk and Multnomah counties shut down in recent months or years and others have been hit with funding problems. But in this short le…

Utility customers in Oregon have seen steep rate increases in the past two years – and more are in the works. What gives? Portland General Electric customers saw their bills go up by 18% in January, in addition to a 14.8% rate increase in 2023. Pacific Power customers saw bills increase by 21% at the start of 2023 and by another 12% in January. Pac…

There is trouble at one of the most beloved natural attractions in Oregon and all of the Pacific Northwest.Busted buildings. Hazardous spills. Injuries and allegations of sexual assault. Years of mismanagement by Crater Lake Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark, the corporate behemoth hired by the National Park Service in 2018 to operate concession…

It’s hard to escape the fentanyl problem in Oregon. The use of fentanyl is evident on the streets of Portland and provides added fuel to Oregon’s homelessness crisis. The decriminalization of the drug and others is at the heart of a debate in the Oregon Legislature over Measure 110. The Oregonian/OregonLive recently published two in-depth articles …

The Oregon Legislature’s 2024 session is underway, and even though lawmakers’ work is constitutionally limited to just 35 days, they plan to take on some of the state’s biggest issues. On this week’s episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, state government reporter Carlos Fuentes runs down lawmakers’ top priorities and how a state Supreme Court r…

In January, the Portland metro area was encased in a week-long ice, snow and wind storm that shut down the region. The storm toppled hundreds of massive trees, which in turn crushed cars, felled power poles and lines and split people’s homes in half. The devastation left many people traumatized and anxious – and reexamining their relationships with…

Oregon has long been awash in cash when it comes to state elections and political races. One big reason? It’s among just a small handful of states that do not limit how much money candidates can accept from individuals, political groups, corporations, unions or any other entity. But that could change this year, as Oregon voters will likely face a p…

This year, 2024, is a big political and election year, and Oregon faces many serious and complex issues. The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board meets regularly to talk about significant issues where the newspaper as a local institution might weigh in. Editorials are written by Opinion Editor Helen Jung and appear on the Opinion pages. The opinion…

A terrifying mid-flight emergency forced an Alaska Airlines plane back to Portland Jan. 5 and launched an investigation that temporarily grounded fleets of Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger jets nationwide. Miraculously, nobody on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was critically hurt when a “door plug” — a wall panel that’s used as an emergency exit on some pla…

In December, Portland leaders announced that the city’s clean energy fund is expected to raise an unanticipated $540 million over the next five years. This staggering surplus comes at a time when city agencies are facing major budget shortfalls. Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who oversees the fund, has proposed funneling half of the excess money to cas…

During the final weeks of 2023, Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Aimee Green crisscrossed Portland to ask strangers from all walks of life what they wished for themselves — and for their city — in the coming year. One hundred people shared their hopes, both big and small. On the latest Beat Check, Green and I discuss her project, the joys of striking …

Merry Christmas! This time of year, The Oregonian/OregonLive features nonprofits from Oregon and southwest Washington to highlight their good works for our longstanding Season of Sharing campaign. Longtime features editor Grant Butler talks with Editor Therese Bottomly about the annual campaign, which runs roughly from Thanksgiving to the end of th…

In late October, two dozen Oregon policymakers, advocates, police and prosecutors landed in Lisbon, Portugal, to learn about that nation’s two-decade-old drug decriminalization law. They arrived a few days after reporter Noelle Crombie, who traveled to the country independently to do much the same. The fact-finding missions come as the voting publi…

Heat pumps, electrical work and insulation projects are very expensive – and many families in Oregon can’t afford them, despite their potential for reducing carbon emissions, saving energy and slashing utility bills. The federal government has promised financial help: generous rebates and tax credits to defray the costs of home energy efficiency up…

In 2019, Portland’s lone drop-off center for people experiencing severe intoxication from drugs or alcohol abruptly shuttered. The closure left a massive gap in how Oregon’s largest city could respond to those in the throes of visible — and often dangerous — bouts of crisis, just as drug use and overdose deaths began to soar. Dozens of local leader…

Five years ago, The Oregonian/OregonLive published the award-winning five-part series, “Ghosts of Highway 20,” accompanied by a full video series along with the articles that chronicled the victims of an Oregon serial killer. Lead reporter Noelle Crombie, a senior criminal justice reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, joined Editor Therese Bottoml…

A bunch of well-known Northwest brands – like Bamboo Sushi, Sizzle Pie, Water Avenue Coffee and Rudy’s Barbershops – were bought up during the pandemic by Sortis Holdings, a company that positioned itself as a savior for businesses that were struggling. But now, Sortis Holdings has had to call off a big transaction, disputes over unpaid bills have …

"Life on the planet is imperiled," "we’re on the brink of collapse" and there’s "little progress on combating climate change." That’s according to a new climate study published at the end of October by a group of renowned U.S. and global scientists, including several researchers from Oregon. On this episode of Beat Check, The Oregonian's environmen…

While true crime tales have become mainstays of media and pop culture, the disturbing stories told in The Oregonian/OregonLive’s 2018 prize-winning project, “Ghosts of Highway 20″ had a particular impact on Octavia Spencer, the Oscar-winning actor, who help produce the new “Lost Women of Highway 20” documentary series for Investigation Discovery. Y…

The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police set off social justice protests across the nation and in Portland. For some members of the city’s small Black community, Floyd’s death was a reminder of Portland’s painful history. In this podcast episode, reporter Fedor Zarkhin joins Editor Therese Bottomly to talk about his recent four-part series…

We'll be back with another episode of Beat Check next week. In the meantime, don't miss the episode we published Thursday, answering your questions about the potential Portland Public Schools teachers' strike. Given the dynamic nature of that story, we wanted to bring it to you as soon as possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.…

On a special edition of The Oregonian’s Beat Check podcast, education reporter Julia Silverman and City Hall reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh answer your questions about the potential Portland Public Schools teacher strike. Read our previous strike coverage here: Portland Teachers Vote to Authorize a Strike Final Offers, Plenty of Acrimony and Little…

Jayati Ramakrishnan and Nicole Hayden, both staff reporters for The Oregonian/OregonLive, produced the first two parts of the newsroom’s in-depth examination of Oregon’s mental health system and its failures. Editor Therese Bottomly leads a discussion of what their findings have been so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch…

At the end of September, students from 50 school districts across the country launched a new campaign to spur climate action in classrooms, school buildings and in the job market. In this episode of Beat Check, The Oregonian/OregonLive's environmental justice reporter Gosia Wozniacka interviews Adah Crandall, a 17-year-old youth climate organizer a…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss the etiquette surrounding taking your shoes off in someone else's home, what they're into and not into this week and whether you can keep someone from smoking cigarettes near your house. For a more distill…

Four years after Portland officials passed what they hailed to be some of the strongest rules governing short-term rentals in the country, Portland’s regulation of Airbnb rentals remains fundamentally broken, a recent investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Ted Sickinger found. On the latest Beat Check, I speak with Sickinger about how the city…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss what you can do when people are making unnecessary noise in your general area. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho the Tuesday follow…

Ambitious plans for the Lloyd Center shopping mall were unveiled recently. What can we expect to see on the 26-acre site in the future? How will the development change the existing mall and the surrounding neighborhood? Editor Therese Bottomly talks with business reporter Kristine de Leon about the new proposal for the historic mall in inner Northe…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss how you can still maintain friendships when you don't have a kid but your friends do! For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho the Tuesday…

Scores from the standardized tests Oregon students take each year are out, and the 2023 results are dispiriting, to say the least, for anyone who hoped to see a rebound from a pandemic drop. Education reporter Julia Silverman analyzed the results for The Oregonian/OregonLive and discussed them on this week’s episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian…

This week on Why Tho? the Podcast, advice columnist Lizzy Acker and social media producer Destiny Johnson talk about the magic word. How magic is it? Can an adult tell another adult that they need to say “please.” For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho the Tuesday following the ai…

Earlier this month, a federal advisor committee met in Portland to come up with recommendations for updates to the Northwest Forest Plan, a blueprint that will guide forest management in the region through the next century. Ryan Reed, the 23-year-old representative on the committee who is also an Indigenous firefighter, talked with Beat Check about…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss Zoom etiquette in the year 2023. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho the Tuesday following the airing of this podcast! More: Read the…

Less than three years ago, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize minor possession of street drugs through an initiative that also promised to expand addiction-treatment services to people experiencing substance use disorder. Yet voters who overwhelmingly approved Measure 110 are already souring on the law amid a disastrous roll…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss the child abuse allegations against a Utah mom, Ruby Franke, who used to run a successful YouTube family channel called "8 Passengers." For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which…

The city of Portland has been grappling with homelessness for decades. Longtime residents remember then-Mayor Bud Clark’s plan to solve the problem in the 1980s. But the plight of unsheltered residents has continued and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated efforts to help the unhoused. Now, governments are poised to spend millions to deal with the iss…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss whether you can do anything about someone's troublesome social media posts that are bringing down the vibe of a whole group. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publi…

Intel appears to be doubling down on its key research and development sites in Oregon, with plans to spend billions of dollars to expand its computer chip factories in Washington County. Mike Rogoway, who covers the tech industry for The Oregonian/OregonLive, broke the news of Intel’s plans earlier this month. He joined business editor Elliot Njus …

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss whether you should confront your neighbor about their screaming children when you work from home. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho…

A proposed $24.6 billion merger could bring together Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC, and Albertsons, which has also owned Safeway since 2015. The Pacific Northwest is one of the regions where the two companies compete directly, so the combination could leave Oregonians with fewer choices for grocery shopping. Learn more about your…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss whether it's appropriate to ask someone not to hang out with someone you mutually know. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whytho the Tuesd…

Gov. Tina Kotek is convening a panel of local elected officials, business executives and civic leaders to focus on how to best bolster downtown Portland’s economic future. The move comes as Portland’s urban core remains among the nation’s slowest to recover in the aftermath of the pandemic amid blocks of empty offices and storefronts as well as per…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss the freedom to have bodily autonomy and making the right choice for your kids and the judgement that can come from it. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at …

Maxine Bernstein has covered a lot of stories in her more than two decades with The Oregonian and now OregonLive. A recent Saturday run along the waterfront quickly gave way to a long day’s work when she heard reports of a shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, not far away in Northwest Portland’s Nob Hill District. In this episode of Be…

Join The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker and Destiny Johnson as they discuss your conundrums for Lizzy's advice column "Why Tho?" This week they discuss the Jonah Hill controversy with his former girlfriend Sarah Brady and what boundaries actually are. For a more distilled version of this, check out Lizzy's column, which will publish at Oregonlive.com/whyt…