This morning, I learned some new stuff about my state senator. Chris Lehman, OPB: You wouldn't guess it by seeing her. But Oregon State Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward has multiple sclero

In Curry and Josephine counties, things are getting dismal. When the local county sheriff says "move someplace else" if you need a restraining order against an abusive ex, you know things are bad.

By Mara Gross of Portland, Oregon. Mara is the Interim Executive Director of the Coalition for a Livable Future, an organization that unites a diverse array of organizations and individuals to promote healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities in the Portland-Vancouver region. A few days ago, th

Memorial Day is an uncomfortable holiday for many veterans. It begs reflection, thought, and at least a little gratitude - and guilt. We that survive war are honorbound to do what we can, when we can, to honor the sacrifices of those that gave what Lincoln defined as the "last full measure of devotion..." Many a

I have ambivalent feelings towards Memorial Day. I am humbled that men and women throughout our nation’s history have willingly (and some, not so willingly) put their lives in mortal peril in order to preserve the country and home they loved. But I can never escape the knowledge that few of our wars have been justified

Politicians have spent the better part of two decades debating effective management of two-plus million acres of public forest land in Western Oregon. These lands -- commonly referred to as O&C lands after the land-grant program for the Oregon & California Railroad Co. -- are home to old growth forests, r

Watch this short (3 min.) video in which small business owners from communities across Oregon -- members of the Main Street Alliance of Oregon -- urge lawmakers to extend and improve the Oregon Earned Income Tax Credit. Learn

The Statesman Journal published a nice re-cap of a public hearing in Hearing Room A of the State Capitol on the Oregon Earned Incom

First things first: Watch the video. It's a three-minute floor speech by Rep. Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis) given on Monday morning. What happened to Adam Goeken on Saturday night was completely unacceptable. This personally hit home for me - in part because I spent my entire junior year, as the

Judge Michael McShane, a Multnomah County circuit court judge, was confirmed unanimously by voice vote on Monday by the U.S. Senate as Oregon's newest federal judge. He'll take the federal district court

Now I get that team Tea Party is in a froth over the IRS situation. There's certainly been enough chum thrown at them by the media to get them there. But frankly, there are serious questions to be raised about how 501(c)4

Watch this short (less than 3 min.) video in which small business owners from communities across Oregon -- members of the Main Street Alliance of Oregon -- tell the Legislature that the Earned Income Tax Credit is spent in the community, which is good for small busine

I turned in my ballot about an hour ago, running up N Commercial to the Killingsworth Library in the rain (prior to some sprint training, also in the rain). I voted for Micro Dorrow, Tom Koehler and Martain Gonzalez. I voted Yes on the Children’s Levy and the Natural Resources Levy. Those were all easy votes. Fl

Writing in the Washington Post, überwonk Ezra Klein describes what's happening in Oregon health care reform as "the right next step" after ObamaCare. And what's that exactly?

Watch this short (3 min.) video in which small business owners from communities across Oregon -- members of the Main Street Alliance of Oregon -- tell the Legislature why renewing and improving the Earned Income Tax Credit "is the right thing to do." Learn

Last week's legislative melodrama in which the Republicans have decided to simply abandon all common sense and overplay their hand on PERS with the Governor. The GOP is essentially

Last week, Governor Kitzhaber offered the Republicans a deal - a "grand bargain", to use the latest political term-du-jour. The Republicans keep saying they won't consider more revenue unless Democrats offer up more PERS reform. So,

By Maria Smithson of Charlotte, North Carolina. Maria is a native Oregonian and a longtime national campaign operative. A proud mother of four Democrats, she is currently Political Director of True Blue NC. Dear Michele: The

A colleague saw me in the hallway recently and quipped "I love standard errors!" He was referring to a report we'd both recently read that cited survey data but didn't provide any standard errors. We were both good enough at math to realize that the differences were almost surely not statistically significant. O

Last week Multnomah County and Street Roots released their second annual report on homeless deaths in Multnomah County. The report found that 56 Portlanders died last year while experiencing homelessness. 2012 yielded nine more deaths than the 47 reported deaths from 2011. The causes of death were numerous, drug overd

I don't know when this happened, but apparently the Republican caucus in the Oregon Legislature decided that Oregonians were really hoping they'd act exactly like Republicans at the federal level. Because really, the federal level style of GOP obstructionism is exactly what we all want for Oregon, right? Af

By Jody Wiser of Portland, Oregon. Jody runs the citizen watchdog group, Tax Fairness Oregon. Previously, she contributed "The enormous tax break for the rich

By Frank Erickson, MD, of Pendleton, Oregon. Frank is a Radiologist from Pendleton, who toured with the Mad As Hell Doctors in 2011 through eastern Oregon. He has served as a Radiation Safety Officer in the Navy and practiced as a Board Certified Di

By Roey Thorpe of Portland, Oregon. Roey is a longtime Oregon activist currently working in the national LGBT equality movement. In a few minutes, I’ll be testifying against House Bill 3518, which would shut down the growing number of poker rooms operating in Portland and in sm

By Martin Gonzalez. Martin is co-chair of the Portland School Board and is running for re-election. He works as TriMet's Multicultural Programs Manager, was Executive Director of the Portland Schools Alliance, and worked for 18 years in leadership

By D. Michael Dale of Cornelius, Oregon. Michael is executive director of the Northwest Workers’ Justice Project, a member of the Oregon Coalition to Stop Wage Theft

Oh BlueOregon community, you really are an awesome bunch. We were able to deliver the gun safety petition to the Oregon Senate with 2731 signatures. Thank you for standing up for reasonable, common sense legislation. The best part? Signatures to the petition came from ALL OVER THE ST

Update: SATIRE ALERT: I was snookered by this satire. I guess the best stuff is the kind that has the ring of truth, right? Poor Michele Bachmann. Her state is poised to pass marriage equality soon and well, Michele is angsty.

By Erik Kancler of Bend, Oregon. Erik works in government and media relations and is writing on behalf of Economic Fairness Oregon. A former BlueOregon c

Earlier this week, I met Jenna Passalacqua for the first time. I’ve heard Jenna speak several times but had not gotten the chance to introduce myself and let her know how much I admire what she is doing. I got that opportunity this week because she and I were both in Salem doing the same thing: advocating for gun legis