Oregon Is Removing a Requirement for High School Students to Show 'Essential Skills' Before Graduating
The measure, which had been paused since 2020, required students to meet benchmarks in reading, writing, and math.
Oregon
A Study Finds 'No Evidence' That Decriminalization Boosted Drug-Related Deaths in Oregon
The researchers reached a similar conclusion about overdose trends in Washington, where penalties for simple possession were reduced in 2021.
Oregon's Drug Problems Were Not Caused by Decriminalization
Prohibition is at the root of the hazards that have led to record numbers of opioid-related deaths.
Did Drug Decriminalization Cause a 'Catastrophe' in Oregon?
Many of the problems the state is experiencing are caused by the continuing impact of prohibition.
Zoning Police Criminalize Kindness in Oregon
A town clamps down on distributing clothes, personal care items, and food to the homeless.
Rent Control 2.0 Looks a Lot Like Rent Control 1.0
Rent control is getting a rhetorical makeover from progressive policy makers.
Oregon Voters Will Decide Whether To Embrace Ranked-Choice Voting
Will the Beaver State join Maine and Alaska?
Oregon Partially Repeals Ban on Adults Fueling Their Own Cars
After many failed efforts at reform, the Oregon Legislature has passed a bill allowing gas stations to designate up to half their pumps as self-service.
Don't Mix Rare Bourbon With State Power
Oregon liquor regulators were caught diverting prized whiskey for personal use.
Desperate To Avoid Decriminalization, Washington Legislators Lovingly Threaten Drug Users With Jail
The imminent expiration of a law that recriminalized drug possession triggered a bipartisan panic.
Why Homelessness Is Worse in California Than in Texas
Today, the Lone Star state counts 90 homeless people per every 100,000 residents. In California, the problem is almost five times as bad.
An Oregon Man Was Wrongly Imprisoned for Almost a Year Because of an Error in a DMV Database
The Oregon DMV knew about the problem, but it "wasn't at a high enough level to understand the urgency" of the need to fix it.
Despite Multiple States Abolishing Single-Family-Only Zoning, Very Few Duplexes and Triplexes Are Being Built
A new report illustrates that the middle of the housing market is still missing.
Will Oregon's Housing Reforms Spark a Building Boom or Be a Bureaucratic Bust?
Lawmakers are considering giving state officials the ability to rewrite NIMBY cities' restrictive zoning codes.
Oregon's Whiskey Ring Shows Perils of State Liquor Control
Top government officials reportedly kept rare bourbons for themselves and other powerful insiders.
They Fell Behind on Their Property Taxes. So the Government Sold Their Homes—and Kept the Profits.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear 94-year-old Geraldine Tyler's case challenging home equity theft.
Oregon Supreme Court Orders New Trials for Hundreds Convicted by Split Juries
Oregon was one of only two states that allowed for non-unanimous guilty verdicts until the Supreme Court outlawed them in 2020.
New Oregon Wastewater Rules Threaten Portland's Food Cart Culture
Compliance could prove impossibly expensive for independent food sellers.
2022 Was a Year of Bad, Botched Death Row Executions
Fortunately, government kills fewer prisoners each year.
California Bill Builds on Reforms That Could Herald the Surprisingly Fast Collapse of Psychedelic Prohibition
S.B. 58, which emulates an initiative that Colorado voters approved last month, would legalize the use of five psychoactive substances found in fungi and plants.
Oregon's Governor Commutes Sentences of All State Death Row Inmates
Brown: “The state should not be in the business of executing people.”
Oregon's Anti-Vape Laws Will Put This Deaf Immigrant's Hookah Shop Out of Business
You can smoke all the pot you want, but flavored tobacco or nicotine is soon to be illegal.
A Federal Judge Suggests That Oregon's 10-Round Magazine Limit Does Not Implicate the Second Amendment
The new ban, which has been blocked by a state judge, so far has fared better in federal court.
Oregon Governor Pardons 45,000 Marijuana Offenders
The ACLU of Oregon is calling on other state governors to follow suit.
Oregon's Newly Legal Magic Mushroom Industry Could Be Strangled by Restrictive Zoning Regulations
Local governments are considering rules that could force "psilocybin service centers" to locate near highways and go through expensive, discretionary permitting processes.
The Crime Backlash Mostly Failed To Materialize on Election Night
Apocalyptic attack ads about crime failed to drive a red wave, and criminal justice reform candidates were still successful in several local races around the country.
Driving Electric Cars Produces Little Carbon. Making the Batteries Produces a Lot.
Many politicians who want to ban gas-powered vehicles appear to misunderstand the science.
Colorado Voters Will Soon Decide Whether To Decriminalize 5 Natural Psychedelics
The ballot initiative also would authorize state-licensed "healing centers" where adults could obtain psychedelics for supervised use.
Prison Slavery Up for a Vote in 5 States
Plus: Federal court dismisses state challenge to student loan debt forgiveness, not all independent contractors want to be employees, and more...
Portland Legalized 'Missing Middle' Housing. Now It's Trying to Make It Easy to Build.
This month, the city passed a number of liberalizing reforms that legalize more types of housing and make already-legal homes more practical to build.
Study: Jersey Girls' Refusal To Pump Gas Is Costing Everyone a Lot of Money
Research on the effects of Oregon's loosening of its self-service gas ban finds that allowing adults to pump their own gas increases supply and lowers prices.
Under Oregon's Proposed Rules, Legal Psilocybin Will Be All-Natural, Organic, and GMO-Free
The state's regulators plan to start accepting applications from manufacturers and "service centers" on January 2.
With Just 10 Signatures, This Gas Station Owner Could Kill a Ban on Pumping Your Own Gas
Legislators in New Jersey and Oregon keep failing to repeal their states' bans on self-service gas stations. Is Massachusetts' small town direct democracy the solution?
Lawsuit: Crackdown on Church Soup Kitchens Violates the First Amendment
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church says that a Brookings, Oregon, law limiting its "benevolent meal service" to two days a week unconstitutionally restricts its religious mission to feed the hungry.
Are Oregonians Ready To Pump Their Own Gas?
A bill would let Oregon gas stations turn their customers loose on a limited number of self-service pumps. Some drivers fear the freedom.
You Can't Solve Homelessness by Making It a Crime
In an August ruling, Washington's Supreme Court found that a homeless plaintiff's truck qualified as his homestead.
Government Officials Hunger for More Revenue Through Food Taxes
Inflation isn't the only reason some folks may be paying more for dining and groceries.
Oregon Town Bans Church Soup Kitchens From Serving Meals More Than 2 Days a Week
Rev. Bernie Lindley of Brookings' St. Timothy's Episcopal Church says that the new rules violate his First Amendment rights, and that he won't comply with them.
An Anonymous Jokester Installed a 'Merge Simpson' Sign Near a Portland Interstate. City Killjoys Took It Down.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation said that the sign was a safety hazard and therefore had to go.
Oregon Legalizes a Breakthrough Treatment: Magic Mushrooms
Oregon will license and regulate psilocybin-assisted therapy by 2023. Some health care professionals aren't willing to wait.
Oregon Will Require People To Wear Masks Outdoors Even if They're Vaccinated
The government "strongly recommends" masking at private outdoor gatherings as well.
Psychonautical Journalist Michael Pollan Is Finally Ready To End the War on Drugs
The evolution of Pollan's thinking reflects the confusion caused by arbitrary pharmacological distinctions.
If Sha'Carri Richardson Can Get High and Still Outrun Everybody, She Should Be Allowed To Do It
Banning the American sprinter from the Olympics for using marijuana is completely ridiculous.
In an Unprecedented Heat Wave, Portland's Lingering COVID Restrictions Hurt Bars and Restaurants Again
The state, one of the last to fully reopen, lifted some capacity limits early. But the service sector was hamstrung during a heat crisis in which it could have helped.
Oregon's New Vaping Restrictions Will Drive Kids to Smoke
Officials publicly congratulate themselves for protecting teens, but they know that they’re prodding young people to switch to cigarettes.
Public University Threatens To Monitor and Punish Off-Campus Student Behavior
Doing the wrong thing at an off-campus party could lead to on-campus consequences.
