24 years ago, Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered in an act of religious hatred after 9/11. Last week, my team joined the Sikh community in Mesa to honor his memory and reaffirm the importance of diversity, unity, and acceptance to our country and its founding values.

Two Oregon lawmakers are among 250 state legislators across the U.S. visiting Israel this week on a trip sponsored by the Israeli government.  oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/09/18/t...

UPDATE: Any Oregonian who wants COVID-19 vaccine can get it, state says. buff.ly/EIvOvoeby @shaanthx.bsky.social

Aaand we have a new (reiterated) bulletin from the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation prohibiting insurer cost-sharing ie copays, etc. for COVID vaccines "All health benefit plans (including grandfathered health benefit plans) in Oregon must provide coverage." dfr.oregon.gov/laws-rules/D...

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that she was fired after just 29 days because she refused to pre-approve vaccine recommendations or fire career officials for no reason.

The nation’s four West Coast states on Wednesday recommended that all adults and children concerned about the respiratory season can receive the COVID-19 vaccine and other common inoculations.

Updated with news from the Oregon Board of Pharmacy; just aligned its COVID-19 vaccine guidance with West Coast alliance, allowing those ages 7 years or older to receive from a pharmacist. Trying to get some clarity on under 7, might need Kotek for that. Rule awaits filing by today or early tmrw.

With the federal government backing down from consumer protection, Gov. Tina Kotek said states have to step up.

Updated: Senate Republicans elected Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, as their new caucus leader, while outgoing leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, confirmed he will resign from the Senate in October. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/09/15/o... by @shaanthx.bsky.social

Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, is stepping down from Republican leadership on Monday, his colleagues said, leaving the door open for a new leader and spurring speculation about his future plans. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/09/15/o...

This begs the question too if lawmakers will want to try and give the health agencies in Oregon the ability to issue similar orders to Washington. Short sessions mean two bills a piece for lawmakers historically so someone in 2026 would need to make it a priority.

The threats targeted three top Democrats.

‘Frustrated’ Oregon governor says she’s trying to ensure COVID vaccine access amid confusion

Explanation in here from Oregon Gov Tina Kotek’s office on why Oregon won’t replicate Washington’s COVID vaccine standing order…

Oregon lawmakers have just a few months to decide if they’ll let state tax policy automatically couple with federal tax cuts passed in the July GOP megalaw that would leave the state government without hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for public services.

As the state of Washington plans to destroy $1.3 million worth of expiring abortion pills it bought in 2023, Oregon leaders late last year thought ahead and replaced its expiring pills with ones that don’t expire until 2028.

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, died Wednesday after being shot at a college event, Trump said.

This is a breaking news alert. Check back for updates.

CVS walked back its offering of the COVID-19 vaccine to Oregonians without a prescription as pharmacies and the state government await clarity from a federal public health agency in the midst of political upheaval.  buff.ly/adZaq22 by @shaanthx.bsky.social

Oregon leaders say they are prepared to litigate and legislate against President Donald Trump’s potential mobilization of the National Guard in Portland following his comments last week vowing to “clean up” the state’s largest city and “wipe out” protesters.

Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon Health Authority are exploring measures aimed at ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccination in the face of federal guidelines that have tightened access to the shot and spurred confusion for patients across the state. buff.ly/ti0OXJl by @shaanthx.bsky.social

A couple Salem-area lawmakers had to show up at the capitol today to bang gavels and adjourn until Monday. @shaanthx.bsky.social has the details on why this is going to happen a few more times before the Senate's transportation vote. #orleg oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/09/05/o...

With a final transportation vote postponed until mid-September, why are the House and Senate meeting today? buff.ly/X2cdCbc by @shaanthx.bsky.social #orleg

22 children known to the state's Department of Human Services have died this year, up from last year when it was 20. Now, Oregon wants to ensure that foster parents are trained in identifying unsafe sleeping conditions or products.

Salem Police Department Detectives Mike Quakenbush and Craig Stoelk arrested Johnson in 1998 for the murder of Harriet Lavern Thompson. He would spend the next quarter century, including 17 years on death row, locked up in Oregon.

Oregon’s child welfare agency has given itself until the beginning of next year to more adequately train prospective foster parents on safe sleeping conditions after a 4-month-old in the care of a foster parent died facing down in a style of bed linked to infant deaths.

DHS in a statement this morning said the masking bans are "repulsive messaging bills that stoke dangerous anti-ice rhetoric for cheap political points and fundraising emails" "Make no mistake, if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

‘We’ll have to litigate’: Oregon bipartisan duo seek novel ban on law enforcement masking oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/09/02/w...

Oregon Republicans opened Friday’s special legislative session with a proposal of their own to prevent hundreds of layoffs at ODOT, by redirecting money earmarked for pedestrian, bike safety, and climate programs @shaanthx.bsky.social oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/08/29/o...

A 2018 Oregon law requiring pharmaceutical companies to report to the state the reasons for raising already expensive drug prices has been spared from a legal challenge brought by the pharma industry for now @shaanthx.bsky.social reports oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/08/28/c...

Oregon's chief economist told lawmakers in May 25,000 jobs were created since spring 2024. "Now I have to share the unfortunate news that we’ve lost 25,000 jobs," he said. “The situation is worse for ... categories that you would expect to bear the brunt of an escalating trade tension situation.”

Oregon’s Department of Revenue is encouraging taxpayers to answer questions from the federal Internal Revenue Service about a Biden-era free, online tax filing program that could be on the chopping block, @shaanthx.bsky.social reports. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/briefs/orego...

More than 20 children known to Oregon’s child welfare agency have died in 2025, surpassing the number of fatalities the state has reported by mid-August for the past four years.  buff.ly/ie6MpBa by @shaanthx.bsky.social

A new Oregon Health Authority report highlights mental health professionals' efforts to put a stop to the mental health crisis. As Co-Chair of the Mental Health Caucus, I'll continue ensuring that our qualified professionals have access to the necessary training to support those in crisis. (1/2)

A class-action child abuse settlement set to make major changes to Oregon’s foster care system must consider the needs of hundreds of foster youth who still live with their birth parents, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.  buff.ly/5Y6yKzu

Federal appeals court sides with Oregon foster youth victims, expanding abuse settlement oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/08/12/f...

Oregon’s Department of Human Services is reining in how often the state miscalculates the amount of food stamps enrollees should receive, aiming to comply with new federal restrictions and avert what could be the worst financial strain on the state’s largest agency.  buff.ly/i0hovSr

Oregon to install ‘executive’ SNAP error watchdogs after new federal aid restrictions  oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/08/11/o...

Leaders of Oregon’s Government Ethics Commission agreed Friday that there isn’t enough clarity surrounding their recently-acquired power to ensure public officials only make governing decisions in front of their constituents. buff.ly/K1N5WVt

some really great reporting by my colleague and our senior reporter @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social

Oregon’s US Rep. Cliff Bentz outspent every House member on Trump inauguration weekend. buff.ly/pe5NOZR by @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social

Fantastic profile by @miamaldonado.bsky.social of state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook Republican who has taken stances on LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and welfare that set him apart from many in his party. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/30/s...

A group of Democratic states that sued the federal government over a shift in federal policy to bar thousands of immigrants without permanent legal status from accessing community benefits like child care and pre-K won’t be subject to those changes until early September. buff.ly/BVaAQrB

I'll be on a panel "identifying anti-trans and anti-queer bias" at @aajaofficial.bsky.social this year with these amazing journalists @gracesdeng.bsky.social, @shaanthx.bsky.social, and Hannah Chinn. Don't miss it! Saturday, 9 am at the Redwood. See you there. 😤

A federal appeals court granted a Malheur County woman’s request to halt Oregon’s policy requiring adoptive parents embrace their child’s sexual or gender identity, urging the state to implement a less prescriptive approach to protecting some of the state’s most vulnerable youth.  buff.ly/kn1tRkD

Looks like the DOJ puts the number of Oregon immigrants at risk of losing Head Start services at 4,800, about in line with the 1/3rd estimate in this article. I've asked how this number was calculated since the program doesn't collect info on immigration status. www.doj.state.or.us/media/news-m...

Leaders of Oregon’s Department of Transportation issued their most dire warning to date Thursday about cuts to services, including road maintenance and snow plowing, if legislators don’t patch a $350 million hole in their budget. buff.ly/5WHzCP2

Thought Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, had an interesting take in this story: “I was really surprised to hear because I have this prison population that I have outsized power and influence in the Legislature,” he said. “I wish somebody told me that before — I would have tried to use it.”

Voters in eastern Oregon, Salem and other largely rural areas with prisons have a greater say in the state House than other Oregonians because of how the state calculates where incarcerated Oregonians reside, according to a report released by advocates. buff.ly/jC7IeaS by @shaanthx.bsky.social

BREAKING: oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/22/o...