State overhauls 'green' tax breaks
SALEM (AP) Oregon s Department of Energy has issued new rules aimed at curbing a state program that grants lucrative tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable power plants. The changes are intended to trim the program s cost by making it hard...
 2.6K - Nov. 4, 2009; scored 89.0 10,000 children benefit from health plan
SALEM More than 10,000 children have been added to the state health plan under a new law aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to nearly every child in Oregon, officials said Tuesday. Cathy Kaufmann, manager of the program, said the sign-ups...
2.1K - Nov. 4, 2009; scored 179.0 Activists rally to OK gay nuptials
SALEM Gay rights backers kicked off a voter education campaign Monday aimed at eventually overturning Oregon s ban on same-sex marriage. Evan Wolfson of the national gay rights group Freedom to Marry said Monday he thinks hearts and minds are chan...
3.4K - Nov. 3, 2009; scored 141.0 Hang up and drive law comes Jan. 1
SALEM As of Jan. 1, you can get slapped with a $90 fine if you use a hand-held cell phone while driving in Oregon. Will that be enough to encourage motorists to keep their full attention on the road? And how well can the law be enforced? Orego...
6.2K - Nov. 2, 2009; scored 141.0 Tax breaks cost state more than predicted
PORTLAND (AP) State officials deliberately underestimated the cost of Gov. Ted Kulongoski s plan to lure green energy companies to Oregon with big taxpayer subsidies, resulting in a program that cost 40 times more than unsuspecting lawmakers were t...
11.0K - Nov. 2, 2009; scored 89.0 You can't outlaw unpopular ideas
If Oregon had a neck, environmental protesters would be a throbbing pain in it. But the state s Court of Appeals was right to confirm that these sometimes irritating activists have the same rights as other Americans. The court this week struck down a...
2.1K - Oct. 30, 2009; scored 89.0 Oregon should not keep illegals
I d like to add some information to the article Glitch delays plan to deport inmates (The World, Oct. 17). First, let me thank you for printing an article that notifies readers of an issue that is seldom addressed in the media. It deals with illega...
1.7K - Oct. 29, 2009; scored 141.0 Ships will be scrapped
Mothballed military vessels in Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California that have been moored in debate for several years will be sailing again to Texas for deconstruction and recycling. The U.S. Maritime Administration announced it has awarded contr...
1.6K - Oct. 29, 2009; scored 89.0 In choosing words, emphasize respect
Here s a simple way to judge whether an expression is publicly utterable: If a word offends people, it s probably offensive. Take squaw. Some people contend it s a innocent synonym for woman, legitimately derived from the Algonquin language. They...
2.1K - Oct. 27, 2009; scored 89.0 Oregon gives raise to most foster parents
PORTLAND (AP) An overhaul of the way Oregon compensates foster parents means a big raise for most but deep cuts for some who care for children with extensive medical, mental health or behavioral problems. The 2009 Legislature put an additional ...
3.4K - Oct. 27, 2009; scored 89.0 UO prof advocates cleaning up map language
NORTH BEND A University of Oregon professor asserts that the word squaw, in reference to Native American women, packs as much degradation as other racial slurs. And yet, there are still dozens geographic features in Oregon that hold the name Squa...
3.4K - Oct. 26, 2009; scored 89.0 Ballot titles draw fire
SALEM A business-backed group that opposes the Legislature s $733 million tax increase is pursuing legal action to block what it says are biased ballot titles for two referendum measures. Oregonians will vote Jan. 26 on whether to uphold the t...
2.7K - Oct. 25, 2009; scored 232.0 Ballot titles draw fire
SALEM A business-backed group that opposes the Legislature s $733 million tax increase is pursuing legal action to block what it says are biased ballot titles for two referendum measures. Oregonians will vote Jan. 26 on whether to uphold the t...
2.7K - Oct. 24, 2009; scored 232.0 State lists toxins posing risks to people
PORTLAND(AP) The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a list of persistent pollutants in state waters that pose a danger to fish and people. Mandated by the Legislature, the list of 118 pollutants issued Tuesday was developed by co...
0.4K - Oct. 21, 2009; scored 89.0 Report recommends ways to reduce prison beds
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) A new draft report recommends either closing the old buildings at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla or downsizing a facility on McNeil Island to a minimum-security prison. The Legislature directed the state Office ...
0.9K - Oct. 15, 2009; scored 141.0 Corporate tax hike is long overdue
If the necessity for a tax increase arises in Oregon, corporations and high-income earners are the prime candidates that can well afford to absorb the cost. And lo and behold, our state Legislature finally bit the bullet, passing a tax bill that targ...
2.8K - Oct. 14, 2009; scored 89.0 Tax hikes will appear on Jan. 26 ballot
SALEM (AP) It s official: Oregon voters will decide in January whether to uphold the $733 million tax increase passed by the 2009 Legislature. On Thursday, state elections officials confirmed that opponents of the tax hikes turned in nearl...
0.6K - Oct. 9, 2009; scored 89.0 Obama wins peace prize
OSLO (AP) President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize today in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilater...
11.2K - Oct. 9, 2009; scored 89.0 Those dams have got to go
The tentative agreement to remove four Klamath River dams was a welcome breakthrough on an issue that, in recent years, has divided local, state and federal officials, farmers, fishermen, Native Americans, environmentalists and a host of others. Bu...
1.6K - Oct. 9, 2009; scored 141.0 Two old chums vie in race for governor
SALEM John Kitzhaber and Bill Bradbury go back quite a ways. When Kitzhaber was governor, he appointed Bradbury as Oregon secretary of state when the office became vacant in 1999. They are close friends, so close that Kitzhaber jokingly dubbed the ...
5.7K - Oct. 5, 2009; scored 89.0 | 
