Latest news with #JuliaShumway
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
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
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Doing more good: why Oregon needs to rebuild its civic information infrastructure
A bill now advancing through Oregon's legislature has catalyzed a critical conversation about the future of journalism, an industry advocate says. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon stands at a pivotal moment in reimagining how we sustain local news and strengthen our civic life. Senate Bill 686, now advancing through the legislature, has catalyzed a critical conversation about the future of journalism, democracy, and public trust. Some have expressed concern about Senate Bill 686, which would require dominant tech platforms like Google and Meta to fairly compensate local news outlets for the content that helps make their platforms useful. The worry is that if the bill passes, companies like Meta could follow through on threats to block news links, potentially cutting off a significant channel for audience reach at a time when many outlets are already struggling. Rather than debate whether tech giants should be protected from public policy because they might retaliate, let's focus on what this framing overlooks: it narrows our collective vision for what Oregon's news and civic information ecosystem could become. It's not enough to avoid harm, not when communities across our nation already suffer from a lack of trusted, accessible information. This is a moment to do more good. Our 'Oregon Local News and Information Ecosystem' report lays out a vision for how we get there, through a collaborative, cross-sector model supported by what we call the 'three-legged stool:' public, private, and philanthropic sectors all working together. To do more good, we must recognize journalism not as a struggling industry, but as vital civic infrastructure. Just as roads and broadband connect people physically, journalism connects people socially and politically, helping them navigate crises, understand public policy, and participate in civic life. Oregon's civic information infrastructure is under strain. Newsroom closures, shrinking coverage in rural areas, and underinvestment in BIPOC and ethnic media have left many without access to essential information. Rebuilding it to a standard that The Civic Information Index outlines means acting across all three sectors. The public sector has a unique responsibility to rebalance the market and protect civic infrastructure, and SB 686 is Oregon's boldest attempt yet. The bill, introduced by Sen. Khanh Pham, requires dominant digital platforms like Google and Meta to compensate Oregon journalism outlets directly, intended to increase the number of journalists covering the state and contribute to an independent Oregon Civic Information Consortium, modeled after New Jersey's. That nonprofit body would then distribute grants to strengthen local news and civic information initiatives across the state, with specific provisions ensuring micro and startup publications and media projects in underserved communities, rural areas and ethnic media outlets are included. While some critics worry about unintended consequences, SB 686 is built with flexibility and equity. It has attracted national attention, spurred bipartisan dialogue, and inspired complementary ideas like consumer news tax credits. However, structural change of this kind requires bold public leadership through the lens of Oregon, where public media plays a significant role and hedge fund-owned outlets are less dominant than in other states. Inaction would let the current inequities and information gaps deepen further. The private sector, especially tech companies, has an outsized role in shaping information flows. Google and Meta heavily determine what news is seen, shared, or monetized, and have benefited from local journalism without proportionate reinvestment. When faced with legislation like SB 686, they've threatened to block news links, as Meta has already done in Canada. Yet in both Canada and California, Google has agreed to multi-million dollar settlements to support journalism through collective funding models. In Canada, it now contributes to the Canadian Journalism Collective, a consortium of 140+ outlets, under the country's Online News Act. These models show that when guided by clear policy and public pressure, even dominant platforms can participate in rebuilding civic infrastructure. While the tech giant's support of the news industry through its Google News Initiative is commendable, its growing influence on how news is distributed deserves scrutiny. AI-powered search summaries rely heavily on high-quality journalism but often bypass the original sources, reducing referral traffic and undermining publishers' sustainability. Tech companies must fairly compensate the journalists whose work powers these tools. Philanthropy forms the third leg of the stool, uniquely positioned to fund innovation, center equity, and reach places where market and policy solutions can't. At the Agora Journalism Center, we've advocated for creating a Press Forward Oregon Local Chapter, modeled after the national campaign to revitalize local news: Press Forward. A coordinated state-level initiative would offer regional foundations and grant-making bodies ways to align efforts, pool resources, and fund community-rooted solutions. Local funders already support health, education, the arts, and climate resilience, all of which depend on an informed public. The opportunity is to see civic information as part of that essential infrastructure. That means sustaining those serving local communities' information health and investing in what's possible, especially in communities long excluded from traditional coverage. Doing more good requires collective leadership. No one sector can fix Oregon's civic information crisis alone, but together, they can build something stronger, more inclusive, and more sustainable. This isn't about saving legacy institutions for nostalgia's sake. It's about rebuilding trust, re-centering local voices, and helping communities face everything from natural disasters to housing and mental health challenges with the information they need. The Agora Journalism Center and the broad and diverse supporters of SB 686 are ready to help make that vision real. The stool is ready to be built. The question is whether we will step up, not just to avoid harm, but to do more good for every Oregonian. Note: Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor Julia Shumway is board treasurer of the Greater Oregon Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which supports the bill referenced in this column. She did not participate in the editing of this item. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon bill would speed up process to rename locations with offensive titles
Whychus Creek, renamed in 2006, was previously one of several locations in Oregon named after a slur used against Indigenous women. House Bill 3532 aims to speed the process of removing offensive titles from remaining sites. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon lawmakers aim to speed up the process for renaming dozens of creeks, lakes, mountains and other sites that still hold offensive names. The Oregon Senate will soon take up House Bill 3532, which would have the Oregon Geographic Names Board — a group advised by the Oregon Historical Society — make a list of places with offensive geographic names within three years of the bill's passage and determine new names in consultation with local governments and tribes. Currently, anyone can send a suggestion to the board to rename a location. But it's a lengthy process, Oregon Historical Society Kerry Tymchuk told the Oregon Capital Chronicle. After receiving a renaming suggestion, the board must tour the area, study its history and connect with tribes, local elected officials and landowners for their feedback, he said. Name changes ultimately require federal approval, too. The Oregon Historical Society has already identified 107 locations across Oregon with offensive names that remain unchanged. Many of them include derogatory terms used to demean Black individuals, immigrants and Native American women — such as Squaw Creek in Douglas County, Chinaman Hat in Josephine County and Cannibal Mountain in Lincoln County. The Oregon House already advanced the bill in a 45-3 vote. The Senate may approve the bill in the coming days or weeks before reaching the governor's desk. Oregon is no outlier for having locations with derogatory names. In recent years, lawmakers in Texas, Maine and California have also tried passing legislation to rename places with offensive titles. These state-level efforts gained momentum after the Biden administration in 2021 created a commission to remove offensive names from federal lands and declared the word 'squaw' derogatory. It replaced 650 locations with that term with names honoring Native American history and culture. But under the Trump administration, some U.S. lawmakers have doubts as to whether the federal government would approve name changes. In February, a Democratic Maine lawmaker withdrew a bill similar to Oregon's, citing conflicting federal and local views, the Maine Morning Star reported. The Maine lawmaker's decision was based on President Donald Trump's first day in office, when he issued an executive order overriding the U.S. Board of Geographic Names' authority and called to rename the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' and revert the name of North America's tallest peak, Denali, to Mount McKinley. Denali means 'the great one' in the Koyukon language, an Alaskan Native group that lives north of the peak. The federal government's official name for it until 2015 was Mount McKinley — named after the country's 25th President William McKinley who was from Ohio and had never visited or had ties to Alaska. Oregon has taken steps to rename some of its geographic features with offensive titles. Most recently, the Oregon Geographic Names Board in September successfully led an effort to replace the names of two creeks that had racist terms used against Black individuals, the Oregonian reported. Oregon's House Bill 3532 builds on 2001 legislation led by then-Sen. Kate Brown to remove the word 'squaw' from location names. Despite that legislation, the term is still used for dozens of Oregon locations. Brown, Oregon's governor from 2015 to 2023, testified in support of the bill, saying the state has a lot more work to do to remove offensive, racist and derogatory names. Indigenous women, like Rep. Tawna Sanchez, a Portland Democrat of Shoshone-Bannock, Ute, and Carrizo descent and the bill's lead sponsor, said derogatory terms shouldn't still exist on Oregon's map. 'Renaming offensive locations in Oregon reflects our shared commitment to mutual respect, historical truth and creating a welcoming environment for all Oregonians,' Sanchez said. 'My hope is that no one has to drive in any wonderful part of the state of Oregon and feel like they don't belong there.' Sanchez told the Capital Chronicle that the federal government would still have to approve the renaming of places with offensive titles. The bill includes an amendment to uplift local control, she said, but for a name change to be approved, it would have to go through the Oregon Geographic Names Board. Then, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names makes the final call. 'Our hope is the federal government will act on the recommendation from the (Oregon board) that was made through a comprehensive process that reflects the will of Oregonians. Any result other than that would be pure politics,' Sanchez said. The three Republicans who voted against the bill— Reps. Jami Cate of Lebanon, Virgle Osborne of Roseburg and Alek Skarlatos of Winston — did not explain their votes in the House and did not respond to Capital Chronicle. Rep. Annessa Hartman, D-Gladstone, a cosponsor and member of the Snipe Clan of the Cayuga Nation, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, told her House colleagues that from a young age she's known about the derogatory terms used against her and her community. 'It was up to us to just ignore them and just ignore the pain and the suffering that those words had caused to my people and our family,' she said on the House floor. 'To see those still plastered across maps, rivers and street signs and now having my own children — I don't want to continue that legacy of having them to just accept that that term is being used.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands of Oregon, Washington children at risk if Head Start ends, lawsuit alleges
Advocates who urged the Oregon Legislature to increase child care funding in January 2024 hung onesies and other children's clothes on a tent outside the Capitol in Salem. They planned to donate the clothes after Thursday's demonstration. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) More than 25,000 children in Oregon and Washington will lose the child care and early education their families rely on if the Trump administration continues its attempts to dismantle Head Start, say northwest nonprofit organizations that signed onto a lawsuit against the administration. For the past 60 years, the federal Head Start program has provided child care and early learning opportunities to low-income children, many of whom are from non-white families or speak languages other than English. But since President Donald Trump returned to office, the U.S. Department of Health Human Services has informed Head Start agencies they can't use any federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and abruptly closed half of its regional offices, including the Seattle office that supported programs in Washington and Oregon. Earlier this month, the Associated Press obtained a memo from the federal Office of Management and Budget calling for eliminating the Head Start program, as well as programs for teen pregnancy and Lyme disease. All of that led Family Forward Oregon and the Washington State Association of Head Start and Early Childhood Assistance and Education Program to join Head Start associations from Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and a parents group from Oakland, California, in suing the Health and Human Services Department, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal officials to prevent cuts. 'Over the last three months, Donald Trump has put a bullseye on the backs of 3- and 4-year-olds,' Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington program, said during a Tuesday press call. 'He's done everything to disrupt, dismantle and eventually paralyze the Head Start program.' In Washington, that included a Head Start agency shutting down temporarily earlier this month when it didn't receive federal funding, depriving more than 400 families of child care and 70 workers of their jobs. That child care center in Sunnyside eventually reopened. More than 14,300 Washington children and more than 12,000 Oregon children receive services through Head Start. Candice Vickers, the executive director of Family Forward Oregon, is a Head Start alumna. Her nonprofit organization, with members including mothers, caregivers and child care providers, advocates for child care at the state Legislature and with the federal government. In recent months, Vickers said she has heard from a single mom of three in Portland who expects to lose her job if she loses access to Head Start because she can't afford child care on her own. From families in Corvallis who learned last week that their Early Head Start program, which serves infants, was shut down with no reopen date. And from a mother in rural Oregon who credited Head Start for helping her recover from addiction and teaching her daughter to love reading. 'Head Start is more than just a preschool program,' Vickers said. 'It's a lifeline for working parents. It provides kids with the tools they need to succeed in school. It offers meals, dental care, mental health support and resources for these important parents.' Oregon already has a severe child care shortage: A report prepared for the state's Early Learning Division in 2023 found that nearly all counties are child care deserts, with one slot for every three children who need care. Without access to regulated child care, parents may have to give up work or rely on an unstable patchwork of caregivers, and businesses have a harder time recruiting employees. Losing Head Start would have ripple effects through the rest of the economy, Vickers said. 'Once you're fired from your job for not having access to childcare, you're not going to get that job back,' she said. 'These things that are happening won't be able to be fixed by changing our mind tomorrow.' U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said cuts to Head Start threaten years of progress toward making child care more available and affordable to families. Murray, who chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee when Democrats last controlled the chamber, negotiated an additional $1 billion for child care and early education as part of a $1.2 trillion spending package last year. That included a $275 million increase for Head Start. 'A couple of billionaires with no idea about what they are doing came along and decided to take an ax to Head Start,' Murray said. 'Talk about clueless. Talk about careless. Instead of giving our kids a head start, Trump and Musk want to give billionaires another tax break and give families the cold shoulder.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposal to raise lodging tax by 1% could bring in $30 million annually for wildlife protection
The Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in April 2024. Visitors to the historic hotel pay a 1.5% lodging tax to fund Oregon's tourism commission. A proposal being considered by lawmakers would raise the tax 1% to help fund statewide conservation work. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon lawmakers are considering a proposal to increase by 1% a state tax on hotel, camping and Airbnb stays that would raise up to $30 million a year for state wildlife conservation. The proposal has garnered widespread support among hunting, fishing and conservation groups, who say the state has long underfunded species conservation programs at Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Department, leaving gamesmen, nonprofits and wealthy donors to fill the gaps. It's also received widespread opposition among local travel, tourism and restaurant associations, who say an increase in the tax will deter visitors and businesses from planning trips and hosting conferences and events in Oregon. House Bill 2977 is one of several bills being considered this session that would add to or alter the state's 22-year-old transient lodging tax, which is currently 1.5% of the amount charged for occupying a hotel, short-term rentals like Airbnbs, and tent and RV camping sites. Several other proposals in the Legislature would redirect some revenue from the tax — which generates about $40 million a year — to community infrastructure, roads, police and firefighters in tax districts that see the highest volume of tourists. House Bill 2977, sponsored by state Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, and state Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, moved out of the House Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water committee in late March and awaits a public hearing in the House Revenue Committee. Because it's a proposal to raise a tax, it will need three-fifths of the Legislature to approve it. The lodging tax currently funds statewide and local programs administered by the nine-member, governor-appointed Oregon Tourism Commission, also known as Travel Oregon, which promotes tourism across the state. At least 65% of the revenue by law must go to marketing and to statewide programs. Helm said it makes sense to direct new lodging tax dollars to species and habitat conservation given the draw wildlife and healthy nature have for visitors to Oregon. 'To my mind, there's a perfect nexus between people who want to go out and recreate, hit the river, canoe, bike ride, hike, whatever it is, and then probably before they go home, whether it's they stay a few days or just one, they're going to have a meal, they may stay overnight,' he said. Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife currently has to ask the Legislature every two years to find money from the general fund for its comprehensive wildlife strategy and habitat division, both of which are outside of the activities the agency can fund with hunting and fishing license fees and federal funds. Federal funds and licensing fees make up about 90% of the agency's budget. 'All natural resource agencies in total, all 14 of them, get about 2.7 percent, right now, of the General Fund,' Helm said. 'Break that down by agency, especially where the agency is fees-funded, like this one, and the general fund is de minimis.' House Bill 2977 would establish a separate fund to support annual payments to Fish and Wildlife's habitat division and the state's Wildlife Action Plan, or Oregon Conservation Strategy. The plan targets more than 200 species in the state that face the most urgent risk of endangerment or extinction from climate change and human pressure, and identifies key issues affecting them, key habitats they depend on, and lays out tools to begin helping them. In the next few years, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife expects to add 70 species to the list of greatest conservation need, pushing it over 300 species for the first time, Davia Palmeri, strategic advisor and federal policy director at the agency told lawmakers at a hearing on the bill in February. 'Oregon hunters and anglers have long served as the financial backbone for conservation through license sales, excise taxes on gear and so on. And we probably lead the charge in funding,' Tristan Henry, Oregon field representative of the Washington D.C.- based Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, told lawmakers at the February hearing. 'However, as our wildlife management needs have grown more complex, it's become clear that broad-based, consistent funding is necessary, particularly for implementing the statewide wildlife action plan.' More than 150 letters of testimony in support and more than 60 opposed were submitted prior to the hearing. Among those in opposition are local travel and tourism associations in Salem, Lane County and Clackamas County, where officials fear a higher lodging tax will drive tourists and businesses away from planning trips or conferences in Oregon. Andy Vobora, vice president of Travel Lane County, wrote in testimony that Eugene's reputation as 'Track Town USA' for hosting international track and field competitions and collegiate events could be jeopardized. 'Organizers have voiced concerns about rising lodging costs, a key factor influenced by lodging taxes. Last year, Travel Lane County facilitated a meeting with local hoteliers, the NCAA, and event organizers to discuss how best to accommodate visiting teams and individuals. The message was clear — cost sensitivity is a major concern,' he said. Proponents of the bill argue that Oregon's state lodging tax is already one of the lowest in the nation — only Alaska and California have a lower lodging tax — and that healthy nature and wildlife are a big part of why tourists come to Oregon, supporting more than 200,000 jobs and billions in consumer spending. But opponents say that doesn't take into account how high lodging taxes get when local taxes are added in many parts of the state. Bill Perry, president of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, told lawmakers at the February hearing that the local and state lodging tax combined in Portland makes it closer to a 16% tax. 'Boise is three points lower, Phoenix is three points lower. So you've got all these places that we're competing with that have lower rates. And so increasing these rates are going to make us increasingly non competitive,' he said. Other proposals in the Legislature would also allow the state's lodging tax revenue to go beyond Travel Oregon programs and marketing, and be used for new purposes that support infrastructure in tourism-heavy communities. Two bills proposed by state Sen, Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook — Senate Bill 453 and Senate Bill 457 — direct the Legislature to study the permissible uses of the state lodging tax, including the possibility of allowing a larger proportion of those dollars to fund public safety programs for police and firefighters. Both bills have been sitting in the Senate Revenue and Finance committee, where they aren't subject to typical legislative decision-making deadlines. House Bill 3325 would let Oregon tax districts that see the most tourists use some of the lodging tax for essential services, such as highway maintenance, parks, police, firefighters and public bathrooms. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, R-Tillamook, and sitting in the House Revenue committee. Javadi and Weber are co-sponsoring an almost identical bill, House Bill 3556, that is also sitting in the Revenue Committee following a public hearing in March. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
