September 2023 - Page 5

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle A coalition funded by prominent Oregonians, including retired Nike co-founder Phil Knight, plans to ask Oregon voters in 2024 to roll back some of Measure 110, the voter-passed law that decriminalized the use of hard drugs. The group, the Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot Measure 110, announced Monday it had filed two ballot initiatives

By JONATHAN LEVINSON/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon’s new voter-approved gun laws passed constitutional muster in a federal court this summer, but now they face another round of legal challenges — this time in state court. Starting Monday, Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio will preside over a six-day trial to determine if the Oregon Constitution allows the state to ban

 A woman enters the Great Circle drug treatment center in Salem on March 8, 2022. Two years ago, Oregonians voted to decriminalize drugs and dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to treatment services, but the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization has had a rocky start. By ERIKA BOLSTAD/Stateline News Just before Portland’s City Council approved a ban on public drug use last

BY ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying the possibility of ending hydropower production at its system of dams in the Willamette River Basin. The federal agency manages the dams and reservoirs, mostly located on tributaries east of Salem and Eugene, primarily for flood control. But the dams are also used for water storage, recreation