Latest Oregon Headlines

All the headlines from our Oregon Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Oregon Easing Some Asbestos Rules to Speed Wildfire Cleanup

Oct 12 2020 // Oregon officials are relaxing some requirements for handling ash and debris containing asbestos to speed work in removing debris from homes and buildings destroyed by wildfires.The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission...

Oregon Insurance Division Issues Amended Wildfire Emergency Order

Sep 28 2020 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Division of Financial Regulation has issued an amended wildfire emergency order.The amended order means that insurance companies must immediately take steps to...

Western Wildfires Taint Vineyards With Taste Of Smoke

Sep 25 2020 // Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage.Wineries in California, Oregon and...

Oregon Businesses Threatening to Sue Over Virus Restrictions

Sep 24 2020 // Several Oregon businesses have threatened a class action lawsuit against the state over COVID-19 restrictions implemented by Gov. Kate Brown to slow the pandemic.A lawyer representing the businesses argues that Oregon...

Oregon Issues Insurance Emergency Order for Wildfire Victims

Sep 23 2020 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Division of Financial Regulation has issued an insurance emergency order for people affected by the state’s wildfires. Insurance companies must...

Fire Weather May Improve for Pacific Northwest, No Such Luck for Tinderbox California

Sep 18 2020 // Rains may bring some reprieve to those suffering from massive blazes in the Pacific Northwest in the next few weeks, but forecasters don’t expect any help for wildfire-plagued California anytime soon.That’s...

Moody’s Says Property/Casualty Insurers Face Significant Losses from Western Wildfires

Sep 17 2020 // Dozens of wildfires raging in California, Oregon, Washington and other Western states have resulted in loss of life, damaged or destroyed about 9,657 homes and commercial structures and burned more than 5 million acres,...

Bad Air From Western Wildfires Just Won’t Ease up

Sep 15 2020 // Relief from putrid, dangerous air spewing from massive wildfires across the West won’t come until later in the week or beyond, scientists and forecasters say, and the hazy and gunk-filled skies might stick around for...

Oregon Employers Urged to Protect Workers by Avoiding Outdoor Work

Sep 14 2020 // Oregon workplace and public health officials are urging employers to stop or delay outdoor work activity where they can and take other reasonable steps to protect workers when air quality reaches the...

Wildfires Grow in Oregon as 500K Evacuated, Death Toll Rises

Sep 11 2020 // Around half a million people in Oregon evacuated as dozens of extreme, wind-driven wildfires scorched U.S. West Coast states on Friday, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 16 people, state and local...

Oregon Workers’ Comp Costs Dropping for 8th Straight Year

Sep 9 2020 // Oregon employers on average will pay less for workers’ compensation coverage in 2021, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced today.The decline in costs marks eight years of average...

Computer Breach at Oregon University Exposes Personal Info of 1,700

Sep 8 2020 // The personal information of some Oregon State University students and faculty members may have been compromised during a computer security breach, officials said.A hacker accessed a computer server for the...

Lawsuit: Oregon School District Failed to Investigate Teacher

Sep 2 2020 // A former student from Aloha High School is suing the Beaverton School District after a teacher was convicted of sending her sexually explicit photos and videos of himself.The suit, which asks for more than $2 million in...

Former Oregon School District Student Sues, Says Principal Molested Him

Aug 25 2020 // A former student of the Gresham-Barlow School District in Oregon has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the district and former Deep Creek Elementary School principal Jeff Hays, saying he was sexually abused by Hays.The...

Federal Judge Upholds $925M Damages Verdict in Oregon Robocall Case

Aug 20 2020 // A federal judge has upheld a $925 million damages award in a class-action case against a Michigan-based marketing company that a jury in Portland, Oregon, found had conducted unlawful telemarketing practices.ViSalus Inc....

Oregon Wildfire in Mop-up Phase, 36 Structures Destroyed and 660 Threatened

Aug 18 2020 // A wildfire burning in the scenic Columbia River Gorge that has destroyed dozens of structures is 65% contained, according to authorities.Some evacuation orders were downgraded as of Monday because of the containment...

Judge Limits Wrongful Death Lawsuit to Oregon Police

Jul 30 2020 // A federal judge says a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the fatal shooting of a man who helped lead the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge can proceed against Oregon State Police, but allegations against...

Oregon Extends Emergency Orders for Most Common Lines of Insurance

Jul 23 2020 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Division of Financial Regulation extended its emergency orders for property/casualty, long-term care and life and disability insurance.The department made a...

Protest Damage Cited by Oregon Authorities Skewed by Mall, Report Shows

Jul 13 2020 // The Portland, Ore. police said earlier this week that ongoing protests had cost businesses in the downtown area $23 million in property damage and lost revenue, but those figures are skewed by just one business, a mall...

Oregon High Court Rules State’s Pain And Suffering Cap Unconstitutional

Jul 13 2020 // The Oregon Supreme Court ruled a law limiting noneconomic damages in personal injury cases to $500,000 is unconstitutional because it violates the legal remedy clause of the Oregon constitution.Capping noneconomic damages,...