Dirk VanderHart
Dirk VanderHart covers Oregon politics and government for KLCC. Before barging onto the radio in 2018, he spent more than a decade as a newspaper reporter—much of that time reporting on city government for the Portland Mercury. He’s also had stints covering chicanery in Southwest Missouri, the wilds of Ohio in Ohio, and all things Texas on Capitol Hill.
Dirk’s byline has appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, The Houston Chronicle, The Columbus Dispatch, The Oregonian, and more. He’s got a journalism degree from Michigan State University.
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Transportation leaders say they will be looking at the concept again next year, as they plot out the future of funding road maintenance.
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The passage of House Bill 4024 means campaign contributions in the state will be capped starting in 2027.
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Republicans have deployed tactics to block a pair of hard-fought bills that could ensure they won't pass before the session ends.
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Oregon lawmakers have reached a deal that appears likely to give state campaign finance limits for the first time in decades.
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As the Legislature speeds to adjournment, a proposal to regulate political giving is still being negotiated.
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State estimates show 1,333 people will be convicted of drug possession and 533 could go to jail every year under the bill approved by Oregon lawmakers last week.
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The voter-approved Measure 110 is nearing its end as the Legislature sends a bill unwinding Oregon's drug decriminalization toward the governor's desk.
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The Oregon state legislature has voted to overhaul Measure 110, recriminalizing small amounts of drugs and signaling the end of the most progressive experiment in U.S. drug policy.
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Oregon's House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would recriminalize drug possession in the state, with 51 members voting to approve the bill. The bill would make possession of small amounts of drugs a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
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Oregon's bill to recriminalize illicit drug use sailed through a joint committee that was tasked with addressing the state's addiction crisis.