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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislative lawyers clear state Sen. Lisa Reynolds over conflict of interest
Newly appointed Oregon Sen. Lisa Reynolds at her pediatrics clinic in Portland on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Photo by Rian Dundon/Oregon Capital Chronicle) A Portland-area lawmaker facing scrutiny over a bill she wrote that could benefit her medical practice has been cleared by legislative lawyers of any potential conflict of interest. Oregon Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, told the Capital Chronicle in an email Tuesday that a May 16 opinion from the Office of the Legislative Counsel 'clarifies that I am a member of an exempted class, and as such, have no legal conflict of interest, nor a need to declare one' when it comes to Senate Bill 28. Reynolds is co-sponsoring the bill, which would require commercial insurers to reimburse independent primary care clinics at similar rates to hospital-owned clinics. Reynolds' position as a doctor in a Portland-based primary care clinic raised questions about whether she would improperly benefit from the legislation. A May 30 Capital Chronicle article reported that the Oregon Government Ethics Commission referred Reynolds to Legislative Counsel for further clarity on whether she was exempt from declaring a conflict of interest. Reynolds had previously told the Capital Chronicle the advice was 'reassuring,' and that she would consider seeking further counsel. But in fact, she already had. In its May 16 opinion, Legislative Counsel found Reynolds qualifies for a 'class exemption,' a rule that allows public officials to take official action that would equally impact all members of a 'class,' such as business owners or members of a particular industry. The opinion, which Reynolds shared with the Capital Chronicle on Tuesday, is signed by the Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson and staff attorney Wenzel Cummings. 'Because you are a member of the smaller class of primary care providers who would be permitted the reimbursement rate under the terms of SB 28, you are excluded from the obligations to announce a conflict of interest, whether actual or potential, prior to voting on the measure in committee or on the floor of the Senate,' the opinion reads. Reynolds apologized for 'not having this clarification ahead of your article of May 30' in her email to the Capital Chronicle. 'I have still been very open about the impacts this bill could have, and I strive to always be very open and honest with the public and with my constituents,' she wrote. 'The legislature's rules around conflicts of interest are complicated and I am learning as I go, as well, and trying my best to follow the advice I'm receiving.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Oregon Capital Chronicle wins three awards in multi-state northwest journalism contest
Senior reporter Alex Baumhardt smiles Monday, June 2, in front of some of her past awards. Baumhardt will soon be able to add more hardware to her office space after winning three awards in the annual five-state Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon Capital Chronicle senior reporter Alex Baumhardt swept the investigative category of the 2024 Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. The Capital Chronicle and Baumhardt won three total awards in the contest, which covered the best journalism of 2024 in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. The Greater Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which co-runs the contest with the Western Washington chapter, announced winners Tuesday. Baumhardt took first place in investigative reporting for small newsrooms with her January 2024 report 'Timber industry tied to proposal shifting wildfire protection costs from landowners to public.' For that article, Baumhardt drew on public records and interviews to detail the extensive role timber companies played in an ultimately unsuccessful proposal from then-state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, now Oregon's treasurer, that would have shifted costs for fighting fires from the timber industry to all Oregon property owners. She took second place in the investigative reporting category with 'Behind schedule, over budget, state-backed rail projects costing $70 million sit idle,' also published in January 2024. In that article, she spelled out how lawmakers spent tens of millions on two rail shipping centers that were intended to reduce truck emissions Baumhardt also placed second in the feature (hard news) category for her February 2024 article 'Oregon homeowners face soaring premiums, few property insurance options over wildfires.' She chronicled how homeowners in central, southern and eastern Oregon have seen their home insurance costs skyrocket or be canceled altogether since the 2020 Labor Day fires. The judge for that category praised the article as 'a very solid, timely look at the cost of securing homeowners insurance in a world beset by fires, risks and ever-higher premiums. It explores a cautionary tale for people in and beyond Oregon.' Kelcie Moseley-Morris, a national States Newsroom reproductive rights reporter whose work often appears in the Capital Chronicle, also placed second in health reporting for her series of articles on Idaho's emergency abortion care lawsuits. The judge for that category wrote that Moseley-Morris took 'a legally complex situation and explains the critical consequences for panicked pregnant patients and their doctors juggling medical and legal mandates,' bringing a national debate home to the Northwest. The Capital Chronicle has won awards in the highly competitive multi-state contest every year since launching in October 2021. Find all of our past awards here. The Capital Chronicle depends entirely on donations. If you appreciate this kind of award-winning work that shows how policies impact people's lives, please consider making a donation. Note: Capital Chronicle editor Julia Shumway serves as treasurer of the Oregon SPJ board. The board trades award entries with other states, and no Oregon journalists were involved in judging this contest.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
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Oregon Capital Chronicle adds Spanish-language articles with ‘Noticias en Español' feature
Cherry blossoms frame the Oregon capitol. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Para leer esta historia en español, haga clic aquí. The Capital Chronicle is launching a new feature this week: Noticias en Español, or Spanish translations of selected articles. It's all thanks to reporter Mia Maldonado, a fluent Spanish speaker who for the past three years has translated stories she and colleagues wrote for the Idaho Capital Sun as part of its Sol-Capital Idaho section. Maldonado holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish and international political economy and was recognized for her Spanish-language translations by the Idaho Press Club last year. Spanish is the most widely spoken language in Oregon after English, with more than 360,000 of Oregon's more than 4 million residents reporting they spoke Spanish at home on the most recent American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 150,000 Spanish-speaking households in Oregon reported speaking English less than very well. And with immigration stories at the forefront of local and national news cycles, translating articles about state government into Spanish is one way to reach those neighbors where they are, because all Oregonians deserve to know what their government is doing with their tax dollars and how decisions made in the state Capitol affect their lives. These translated articles fit with work already being done by the Legislature and state agencies, which in recent years have pushed to make government more accessible to Oregonians regardless of the language they speak. Legislative committees now feature sign language interpretation and translators who help people who testify in languages other than English. Our state-issued voters' pamphlet is also translated into 18 different languages. We don't have the ability to translate all news articles. Instead, Maldonado is picking ones that are especially relevant to Spanish-speaking communities or of great importance statewide. Her first two translated articles are about child care providers asking the Oregon Legislature to continue subsidizing child care costs and about non-medical vaccine exemptions reaching record levels among kindergarten students. Noticias en Español can be found in the bottom left corner of our homepage, and links to read stories in Spanish or English will be available at the top of articles. We'll continue adding more Spanish-language coverage as Maldonado and other Capital Chronicle reporters report relevant pieces. If you have ideas for ways to make our reporting more relevant to Oregonians, please don't hesitate to reach out by emailing info@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meet the men who cleaned 240,000 pounds of trash off Oregon's highways
Interstate Business Solutions is an Indiana-based company that contracts with transportation departments across the U.S., including Oregon's, to provide highway cleanup services. About 50% of its staff consists of formerly incarcerated individuals, alongside others with resume gaps. (Courtesy of Interstate Business Solutions) May 31 marks one year since Fernando Rodriguez was released from prison. Now 25, he spent seven years in an Idaho prison for a drug possession conviction from when he was a teenager. After his release, he moved to Oregon and secured a full-time job cleaning litter from Oregon's highways — a job that gives him financial stability and helps provide for his family. However, it's unclear whether he'll still have this job after June 2025. With no long-term funding plan yet approved by the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon Department of Transportation is facing significant budget shortfalls driven by declining tax revenue, inflation and spending restrictions. The department estimates it needs $1.8 billion more each year to pay for road maintenance and repairs. Without new ways of adding revenue, the department could scale back essential services like road maintenance, snow removal, customer support and highway and graffiti cleanup. Rodriguez works at Interstate Business Solutions, an Indiana-based company that primarily hires formerly incarcerated individuals, veterans and people facing homelessness for jobs cleaning highway litter. The company has contracts with state departments in several states — including Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Kansas — and began contracting with the Oregon Department of Transportation in April 2024. Since then, workers like Rodriguez have cleaned nearly 240,000 pounds of litter off sections of Interstates 5, 84 and 205 and U.S Highway 26. Most of the litter comes from homeless encampments on the highway, Rodriguez said. 'For years, those encampments have been neglected and trash has developed from people living on the side of the highway. The daily garbage you'd find in the garbage can in your house is all over the highways in piles,' Rodriguez told the Capital Chronicle, adding that his supervisor has to pick up used needles they regularly find. Interstate Business Solutions has received $4 million from the Oregon Department of Transportation to clean state highways. Using a contractor to clean litter off the highways allows the Oregon Department of Transportation to increase litter service removal without adding more tasks for maintenance employees, department spokesperson Katherine Benenati told the Capital Chronicle. The Oregon Department of Transportation spends about $250,000 each month in all of Clackamas, Multnomah and Hood River Counties and eastern Washington County, Benenati said. Highway litter causes environmental degradation and motor vehicle accidents and negatively impacts tourism and a business' decision to move to a city, Interstate Business Solutions spokesperson Morgan Johnston told the Capital Chronicle. However, the company sees its work as more than just cleaning up highways. 'Our mission is to not only keep Oregon clean and beautiful but to change the lives of our employees for the better,' Johnston said. Formerly incarcerated individuals make up 50% of the company's workforce. Without the company's services, the Portland metro area would see a significant increase in litter on the more than 500 miles its staff regularly cleans, Johnston said. The job helps employee Eric Gamble provide for his daughter and granddaughter. Gamble was released from an Oregon prison in 2020 for a gun offense, and he worked at gas stations before joining the cleanup crew. Dante Patton, another crew member, has achieved sobriety, steady income and job security since joining the highway cleanup crew. 'People used to love to come to Oregon, and they would say how beautiful it was,' Interstate Business Solutions Field Supervisor Dale Schultz told the Capital Chronicle. 'You don't get that much anymore because of the way the highway was looking, but now people are starting to look again and say 'Wow, they're cleaning it up.'' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon bill would implement protections for Uber, Lyft drivers
Ahmed Alshamanie holds a printed article about the karaoke he ran in his car during a rally on April 28, 2025. Despite glowing reviews and positive coverage, Uber deactivated his driver account. (Photo by Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) In 2017, Ahmed Alshamanie went viral for offering karaoke in his car while working for Uber, earning him special recognition from the company. Originally from Iraq, Alshamanie moved to the U.S. in 2013 after working as a taxi driver. He eventually learned English by working for Uber full-time throughout Portland. However, his relationship with the company took a turn when Uber deactivated his account in 2020 without explanation, leaving him without that income for two years during the COVID pandemic — a time when he needed to support himself and his family abroad. Now, Alshamanie is speaking out alongside dozens of other drivers, urging Oregon lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1166, which would require companies like Uber and Lyft to provide drivers with minimum compensation rates, paid sick leave and the ability to appeal against potential account deactivations. The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jama Kayse, D-Portland, who told the Capital Chronicle last week that he introduced the bill after meeting with Uber and Lyft drivers over the summer. Like many of the drivers, Jama is an immigrant who first moved to Portland as a refugee from Somalia more than a quarter of a century ago. 'Uber and Lyft drivers don't get enough,' Jama said. 'They don't get paid living wages. Increasing their wages will be one area that this is going to be addressing.' While he had to temporarily work as a delivery and truck driver to supplement income lost from Uber, Alshamanie said he loves his customers and working as an Uber driver. 'It's my favorite job,' he said. 'We work hard to make money for the company. I put insurance, I put tires and I work 60 hours a week sometimes. But we are slaves for this company.' Dozens of Uber and Lyft drivers rallied at Willson Park next to the Oregon State Capitol on Monday morning in support of Senate Bill 1166, which received a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee in the afternoon. The bill would prohibit transportation network companies from deactivating an account without cause and require an appeal process for drivers whose accounts have been deactivated It also would establish minimum paid sick time off and create a driver resource center through a nonprofit selected by the Bureau of Labor and Industries. Peter Kuel, president of The Drivers Union — an association of Uber and Lyft drivers based in Washington — told the Capital Chronicle that drivers face few protections and often fall into debt after investing in new cars to become an Uber. 'The company takes advantage of them,' Kuel said. 'It deactivates their accounts, it reduces the prices, and it doesn't give them any benefits. And all the money goes to the company. I hope the state of Oregon will help these drivers.' Joe Jackson, a local Uber driver who testified in favor of the bill, shared with the committee that he had to take out a personal loan from a colleague in order to pay rent to avoid missing the birth of his child. Jackson said if he had access to sick pay for the 'decades of committing' himself to Uber, he would not have had to take out a loan. The committee did not take action on the bill after the hearing on Monday. The bill is still in the early stages of the legislative process, and it must pass both chambers before becoming a law. Legislative analysts have not yet estimated how much the bill would cost the state of Oregon. If enacted, it would take effect July 1. Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor Julia Shumway contributed to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
