News Eugene police cited Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-East Portland) in 1993 for an misdemeanor assault charge stemming from an incident with a woman at an off-campus party when he attended the University of Oregon.

Police and the Lane County District Attorney's office dropped the charge after Smith, then 20 and a sophomore at UO, settled out of court with the woman.

Smith spoke to...   More

Cover Story Portland Fire & Rescue’s newest ladder truck is one of the most sophisticated machines of its kind, a 78,000-pound, gleaming red...   More

News Anybody with the slightest interest in politics or universal healthcare will find a piece called "The Lie Factory," in the current edition of the New Yorker fascinating. Writer Jill Lepore describes how a former California newsman named Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter, a former re...   More

News Gov. John Kitzhaber really, really wanted Portland lawyer Elisa Dozono to chair the Oregon Lottery Commission.
Like many politicians, Kitzhaber has a love-hate relationship with gambling—he's decried the harmful effects gambling has on Oregonians but knows the state is addicted to the more than $500 million Lottery puts into state coffers every year.As WW r...   More

News Proponents of Measure 79, which would amend the Oregon constitution to ban real estate transfer taxes, already bear the burden of trying to convince voters to solve a problem that does not exist. But in doing so they're making statements that at best are misleading, and, at worst, are flat-out lies.As WW    More

News Last week, proponents of the $3.5 billion Columbia River Crossing project told a legislative oversight committee that the project is aiming at applying for a $850 million of federal money, from a transportation called New Starts, to cover much of the cost of the light rail portion of the project.
In the    More

News Republican Steve Newgard is campaigning for a seat in the Oregon House based on his business background and his fiscal discipline.
"I've signed the front of paychecks," says Newgard, who lives in Milwaukie. "I have had to handle money in a responsible way."
Yet records show Newgard repeatedly failed to pay his property taxes for most of the past decade and also failed to pay h...   More

News Neither former Gov. Ted Kulongoski nor former University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer is on the ballot this November, but the two political heavyweights are backing different candidates in a low-profile but fascinating race for an open seat on the Oregon Supreme Court. Both men possess strong legal credentials. Kulongoski was attorney general and an Oregon Supreme ...   More

News Jim McDermott, who heads the litigation practice at Portland's Ball Janik law firm has earned a reputation as one of the city's top lawyers. In recent years, McDermott has begun weighing in on public policy, writing op-eds for The Oregonian about tax policy.
In 2009, when the state was debating Measures 66 and 67, which increased personal and corporate income taxes, McDermott wrote a   More

News State Sen. Frank Morse (R-Corvallis) surprised colleagues and observers today in an interim legislative session by announcing he is resigning from the seat he has held for 10 years.Morse, the Vice-Chair of the Senate Finance Revenue and Senate Education & Workforce Development Committe...   More