News Citing "significant gaps in coverage" and a lack of funding, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger today called for an overhaul the state's drug and alcohol treatment programs. The state Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, which Kroger chairs, released a report (PDF) urging the creation of a new state Director of Alcohol and Drug Policy to oversee revamping a "fragmented" system. Last year, ...   More

News There's been a stunning turn of events in the tax evasion case against initiative activist Bill Sizemore, a two-time Republican gubernatorial candidate in Oregon. His wife, Cindy Sizemore, is considering testifying against her husband, according to a motion filed by the state in Marion County Court on June 4. Here's an excerpt from that motion: The case began last November when Oregon Attorney ...   More

News Attorney General John Kroger today responded in writing to requests for information from Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day) regarding Kroger's former top environmental deputy, Brent Foster. Foster resigned under pressure last month after questions arose about his role in a Hood River County investigation into an alleged polluter. Kroger pledged to cooperate with Ferrioli, the Senate minority ...   More

News Oregon Solicitor General Jerry Lidz, who was Attorney General John Kroger's top appellate lawyer, resigned last week. Lidz's resignation comes on the heels of departures by two other top Kroger lieutenants, environmental lawyer Brent Foster and elections law specialist Margaret Olney. Lidz, whose job is the state equivalent of what Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan does at the federal level, ...   More

News Oregon officials are alleging in a lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp. of Delaware and its underwriters that the state's Public Employee Retirement Fund lost $29 million because the defendants misled investors into buying "risky mortgage-backed securities." The announcement this morning by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and state Treasurer Ted Wheeler says Oregon is on a plaintiff ...   More

News WW has learned from three sources that the Oregon Department of Justice is investigating one or more contracts involving the embattled Oregon Department of Energy and 3EStrategies, a Bend-based renewable energy consulting firm. The investigation by Attorney General John Kroger's office is potentially fraught with political implications because the CEO of 3EStrategies is Cylvia Hayes, the long-time ...   More

News When Oregon Attorney General John Kroger vowed to become a major environmental champion during his winning 2008 campaign, some observers saw it as another sign that Kroger's future political ambitions stretch beyond the AG's office to governor. Now another state official often mentioned as a potential future gubernatorial candidate—Treasurer Ted Wheeler—is also taking up the mantle ...   More

News A Salem non-profit filed a federal lawsuit today against Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and Secretary of State Kate Brown. The lawsuit, filed by one of the country's highest-profile opponents of campaign finance regulation, is on behalf of the Oregon War Veterans Association. The lawsuit filed in in U.S. District Court in Eugene seeks to stop Kroger from releasing documents that the AG's ...   More