September 2024 - Page 7

By JUSTIN HIGGINBOTTOM/Jefferson Public Radio St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church sued the city of Brookings in 2022, challenging a city ordinance that limited their free meals program. That law, passed amid concerns about a growing homeless population, required a permit to offer free meals in residential areas as well as restricting the service to two days per week. St. Timothy’s began

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Officials with a small school district nestled in northwest Oregon’s Clatsop State Forest have paid tens of thousands of dollars to fight new state limits on logging and are prepared to “bet the farm” to support its lawsuit against the state. The Jewell School District has paid $148,000 and owes $3,000 more to lawyer John

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon’s highest needs schools that are focused on revamping literacy instruction and boosting student reading proficiency will get federal financial help next year. The U.S. Department of Education has announced it will send Oregon schools $11.5 million next school year, and could potentially allocate up to $57 million over the next five years

By ALEJANDRO FIGUEROA/Oregon Public Broadcasting More Oregonians were food insecure, couldn’t afford groceries or outright skipped meals in 2023, compared to 2020. That’s according to an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture household food security report released last week. While inflation is cooling down, prices at grocery stores still remain high for many people. In Oregon, food insecurity rates rose sharply to

 The Rail Ridge Fire south of Dayville in Grant County has scorched more than 135,000 acres. (Courtesy of Grant County Emergency Management) By LYNNE TERRY/Oregon Capital Chronicle Firefighters battled blazes over the hot weekend, with three new fires flaring in Oregon, dozens of households under immediate evacuation orders, hundreds of homes threatened, schools closed and thousands more acres blackened.