Top Kotek staff were concerned about first lady’s role, security requests, records show

Top staff in Gov. Tina Kotek’s office raised concerns internally about first lady Aimee Kotek Wilson’s growing role in the administration, public records released Friday show. The governor’s office began releasing thousands of pages of emails and other correspondence on Friday afternoon in response to March records requests from the Capital Chronicle and other media […]
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More Oregonians stuck working part-time jobs

The number of Oregonians working part time because they can’t find a full-time job is up sharply over the past two years. It’s a sign that the state’s tight labor market is easing — and a signal that will be a painful transition for some workers. Roughly 73,000 Oregonians are working part-time because their hours […]
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State fire marshal wants Oregonians to do more to protect their homes from wildfires

Climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and intensity of wildfires, according to the U.S. Forest Service. So now, in addition to more dry eastern Oregon wildfires, we’re likely to experience more wildfires in the wetter western part of the state. “Wildfire is not an ‘if,’ but a ‘when,’ living in Oregon,” said […]
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Oregon governor’s staffers raised concerns about role of first lady before exits

Emails released Friday confirm that senior members of the governor’s team had questioned Aimee Kotek Wilson’s expanding role. A top aide to Gov. Tina Kotek voiced worries about Aimee Kotek Wilson’s role in the administration earlier this year, after Kotek asked a staffer to do a favor for one of the first lady’s friends, newly […]
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Oregon wildfire, smoke experts weigh in on future risks and 2024 season

Experts from the University of Oregon offered generally good news about wildfire risks for the West but uncertainty for Northwest. Oregon’s getting better at preventing and responding to wildfires, experts said Thursday, April 25, but much more still needs to be done. A panel of University of Oregon professors who study climate change, smoke and […]
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Oregon’s top police trooper on leave following Amber Alert shooting

Superintendent Casey Codding, who leads the Oregon State Police, is one of three troopers on administrative leave after he fired his service weapon Tuesday amid a high-speed chase on Interstate 5 near Eugene. Codding was among the troopers who responded after police in Oregon identified a former Washington state police and school resource officer who […]
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Oregon State Police superintendent’s role in high-speed chase, shootout highly unusual, experts say

Oregon State Police Superintendent Casey Codding was driving south on Interstate 5 in an unmarked SUV when he heard over the police radio that the chase was on for the Amber Alert gunman suspected of fleeing a double murder with his 1-year-old son in tow. Two state police cars racing behind the suspect’s car passed […]
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The toxic trouble with tires, for salmon and fish kills

For decades, concerns about automobile pollution have focused on what comes out of the tailpipe. Now, researchers and regulators say, we need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires as vehicles roll down the road. At the top of the list of worries is a chemical called 6PPD, which is added to rubber […]
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Tina Kotek staffers raised concerns about using powers, perks of governor’s office for wife, records show

Top staffers for Gov. Tina Kotek expressed concerns internally in recent months over the degree to which the governor and her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, sought to use the perks and powers of the governor’s office to benefit the first lady, newly released records show. In emails, the high-level aides worried about the impact that […]
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PGE rate hikes: Oregon regulators say they can’t dismiss increase request

The Oregon Public Utility Commission declined to dismiss Portland General Electric’s newest rate increase proposal, rejecting a motion filed by a state nonprofit group that advocates for utility customers. The decision Thursday means PGE’s proposed 7.5% increase will go through the regular lengthy rate-setting process. Request full-text (for State Agency patrons only) Source: PGE rate […]
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