2025 - Page 102

By  TONY SCHICK and COURTNEY SHERWOOD/Oregon Public Broadcasting The Bonneville Power Administration could lose nearly 20 percent of its workforce because of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, according to agency figures released Thursday and interviews with staff. That’s raising concerns among current and former employees about the agency’s ability to ensure the reliability of the region’s

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Over the past few years, the Oregon Legislature has responded to industry-wide labor shortages in manufacturing, tech and health care by directing millions of dollars to workforce development programs. Now, education advocates say it should do the same for child care and preschool teachers. Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville, introduced House Bill 3011 to direct

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Nearly four years ago, in the aftermath of the state’s most destructive wildfires in history, the Oregon Legislature passed a bipartisan package of wildfire prevention initiatives, including one that required state experts to create a map showing high wildfire risk areas statewide. The point of the Wildfire Risk Map, first published in 2022, was to

By JAKE GOLDENSTEIN-STREET/Washington State Standard The Trump administration has told states it is blocking money for electric vehicle chargers, including $52 million for Oregon and $71 million for Washington, one of the latest steps by the White House to halt Biden-era funding. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, known as NEVI, was set to dole out a total of $5

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting Several people who were added to Oregon’s voter rolls because of errors by state employees could face prosecution for voting despite not being U.S. citizens. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read’s office last week forwarded three cases of suspected voting by noncitizens to the state’s Department of Justice for further investigation. Elections officials are still