News For most of the 2011 legislative session, lawmakers have avoided debating the massive Columbia River Crossing, a $3.6 billion proposal to build a new bridge and widen Interstate 5 at the Oregon-Was   More

Cover Story If anyone should love the idea of creating jobs and boosting the Oregon economy, it’s Katie Eyre Brewer.  Eyre Brewer is a freshman Republican representative from Hillsboro, as well as a form   More

News After years of debate about the proposed Columbia River Crossing project, backers of the bridge, lightrail and highway project have failed to convince some pretty key stakeholders that the project will reduce congestion, can be completed anywhere close to its $3.2 billion-$3.6 billion tentative budget—or is even necessary.That, at least, is the takeaway from a straightforward letter [PDF] submitted ...   More

News The Columbia River Crossing has occupied much of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s attention since his election last fall.    More

News At 8:05 pm, Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen took the microphone in a crowded bar to announce his aide, Karol Collymore, had lost the race to represent North and Northeast Portland on the county commission. His conclusion came right after the first results showed Collymore losing to Loretta Smith 36 percent to 63 percent. "It was an amazing campaign; she did a phenomenal job," Cogen said ...   More

News Gov.-elect John Kitzhaber went on the offensive today, addressing head-on questions about whether he will devote sufficient attention to the economy and private-sector job growth. After Kitzhaber's post-election press conference last week, media coverage of his remarks focused on his interest in protecting the environment, even though Kitzhaber specifically stated jobs would be his top priority ...   More

News Now that the federal government has decided infrastructure spending may provide a path out of the recession, the proposed $4.2 billion Columbia Crossing Bridge may be more than just a dream for the Departments of Transportation in Oregon and Washington. Since rolling out the initial Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in May, project organizers — namely the two states' transportation ...   More

News When an area congressman from the majority party raises red flags about a huge project like the Columbia River Crossing it's pretty noteworthy. And Tuesday's Columbian quoted U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) as raising those concerns with some provocative comments (PDF) questioning the crossing's financing and concluding the project might need to be scaled back. He told the Vancouver newspaper ...   More

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News The big official news recently about the proposed Columbia River Crossing bridge between Portland and Vancouver is the shaving of the price-tag from $4.2 billion to $3.6 billion. Today, the Project Sponsors Council (which includes local electeds, transit officials and Department of Transportation officials from Washington and Oregon) punted on whether to vote to approve the down-sized option. ...   More