Lauren Dake

Gov. Tina Kotek warns of worsening fire conditions as summer continues.

The latest budget is a signal from state lawmakers that they want to ensure the current dollars are being spent wisely.

The measure, House Bill 3940, would tax oral nicotine products and tap the interest on Oregon’s rainy day savings account and put the money toward wildfire mitigation.

In a sign of mounting concerns about political violence, Oregon state lawmakers recently passed a bill blocking their personal addresses — hours before a Minnesota lawmaker was shot and killed in her home.

The former executive director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission had agreed to the deal, but ethics commissioners said the negotiated fine is not stiff enough.

“I know my actions were indefensible,” she told the state ethics commission.

New allegations of MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility staff sexually abusing teens in custody are detailed in another lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court last week.

Despite leadership changes and legislative fixes, Oregon has for years failed to provide attorneys to everyone charged with crimes.

A conversation on the Senate floor on Monday pivoted from being about a measure requiring the state to provide luggage to kids in foster care rather than trash bags into a larger bipartisan discussion about why the agency charged with kids in its care has struggled for so long.

Lawmakers in Salem have yet to tackle the biggest items — such as passing a budget and debating a major transportation package

A legislative hearing earlier this year highlighted that a child welfare watchdog doesn't have a ton of independence.

The wide-ranging bill would create exceptions to send children out-of-state for care and change definitions around restraints and seclusions. Proponents believe it will help more kids get care. Some advocates are worried it will cause more harm.