Politics & Government

Dozens of protesters showed up outside the Eugene Federal Courthouse on Saturday in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. This comes after the Trump Administration’s move to defy a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstating the program.

Congress has adjourned for the weekend, without resolving the issue of “supercharged” unemployment benefits.  The weekly $600 in federal aid for jobless Americans expired Friday (7/31), after the U.S. Senate failed to reach a deal. 

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta holds a celebration of life for Rep. John Lewis, who died at 80.

The Eugene City Council Monday is expected to establish a task force to look at public safety funding in the community. The move is spurred by demands from Black Lives Matter protesters who seek a change to how the police department is funded.

New legislation aims to let the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde file claims and potentially be compensated for any federal surveying errors on their land.

A bill introduced by Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden aims to improve water access and quality for Native American tribes.

Eugene city officials are weighing next steps after hearing demands from protesters to reduce or eliminate funding for police. Protesters have sent hundreds of emails, voiced concerns during city meetings, and some have shown up outside the homes of city officials.

Eugene joined nationwide Juneteenth observations on Friday. An event hosted by the organization Black Unity saw hundreds of attendees who celebrated and learned about the holiday through, speakers, music, art, and food.

In a unanimous decision Monday evening, Eugene City Councilors voted to appoint Sarah Medary as City Manager. Medary has served in an interim role for the position since October 2019, following Jon Ruiz's retirement.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the 2020 Census effort, Oregon respondents are doing fine, according to a Census official.

Eugene’s State of Emergency, declared at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic three months ago, has expired. 

For a 12th consecutive day, protests continued in Eugene Tuesday. 

The cities of Corvallis and Albany re-opened many of their offices to the public Monday for the first time since late March.

More than one week after the election, the results of a Republican legislative primary in parts of Linn and Marion County is still too close to call.

President Trump’s furor over Twitter linking fact-checking articles to his tweets over mail-in voter fraud has reached a new phase.

In a unanimous decision, Eugene city councilors voted Tuesday night to adopt an ordinance condemning COVID-19 related bigotry aimed at people with Asian descent. Concurrently, the resolution recognizes May as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.

The results for the Republican nomination for a state House seat in eastern Linn and Marion Counties are getting narrower.

County government offices in Benton County will re-open to the public on Tuesday, May 26.  

UPDATE (Thursday, May 21, 7:27 a.m. PT) — With more than half a million votes counted in the race for the Democratic nominee for Oregon secretary of state, barely 2,100 votes separate the top two contenders.

According to numbers released Wednesday, state Sen. Shemia Fagan was leading Sen. Mark Hass. The Oregonian/OregonLive had called the race in Hass' favor on Election Night, but the Beaverton-area lawmaker wasn't ready to declare victory then.

“We’re just not there yet,” he told OPB. “It’s just too close to call.”

Laurie Trieger and Joel Iboa are the two front-runners in the race to replace outgoing Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson. They’ll face a runoff in November for the South Eugene seat.

On Tuesday, Lane County voters approved a Lane Community College bond measure. Now, the funds will be used to repair buildings and expand their programs.

Christine Lundberg has won another term as mayor of Springfield. In unofficial results, she beat challenger by Mike Eyster with just over 57 percent of the vote Tuesday.

Linn County Republicans are on track to choose a political veteran to replace an outgoing county commissioner.

The contenders for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District were established in last night’s primary.