March 1, 2017

University of Oregon laying off 75 nontenured faculty in cost-cutting plan, union says

To save money, the University of Oregon is preparing to trim about 75 jobs from its nontenured faculty, according to United Academics, the labor union representing the faculty.

Plans call for reductions of 25 positions from the College of Arts and Sciences, 25 from the College of Education and 25 from other university units, the union said it has learned.

The 75 faculty cuts are expected to come largely from the ranks of the career nontenured faculty, which today number 934.

In addition, the UO so far this year has given layoff notices to four classified employees, and more cuts may be on the way, said Theodora Ko Thompson, president of the UO’s Service Employees International Union.

Read more: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/35314610-75/uo-laying-off-75-nontenured-faculty-in-cost-cutting-plan-union-says.html.csp

March 1, 2017

Lawmakers examine impacts of rent control, just cause eviction

SALEM — As the Legislature considers passing rent control and restrictions on no-cause evictions this year, lawmakers are trying to sift through how the differing policies are working.

"Oregon is facing a housing crisis, and the Speaker is hopeful that the Legislature will pass meaningful solutions this session," said Lindsey O'Brien, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Tina Kotek, whose constituents have experienced mass evictions in North Portland.

The bill dominating discussion, and which will receive a public hearing Thursday, March 2, would outlaw no-cause evictions and lift the statewide preemption on rent control in local jurisdictions. The legislation is more stringent than an ordinance passed last month in Portland and is missing exemptions such as those in San Francisco that are meant to prevent discouragement of new construction of residential buildings.

Legislators are deliberating these measures under increasing political pressure from tenants who have experienced skyrocketing rents. Meanwhile, landlords are pushing back on the proposed legislation, arguing it is overbearing, will have unforeseen consequences and will fail to solve the state's affordable housing shortage.

Read more: http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/347630-227387-lawmakers-examine-impacts-of-rent-control-just-cause-eviction

March 1, 2017

County's largest homeless shelter provider plans 'innovative' affordable housing project in North...

County's largest homeless shelter provider plans 'innovative' affordable housing project in North Portland

Transition Projects Inc. plans to construct 70 units on Portland Development Commission land after tiny-home pilot project in Kenton ends.

There's a lot planned for a plot of land in North Portland's Kenton neighborhood.

Transition Projects Inc. — the county's largest homeless shelter provider — has signed a letter of intent with the Portland Development Commission to develop land, which is also planned for 14 transitional tiny homes for homeless women, for a future "innovative affordable housing project."

Tyler Roppe, Kenton Neighborhood Association president, says the neighborhood received notice yesterday, Monday, Feb. 27, that the nonprofit had signed the letter after eyeing the site at 2221 N. Argyle St. for the last year. Transition Projects Inc. Executive Director George Devendorf confirmed with the Tribune that they are planning to break ground at the site by spring 2018 as long as they can secure funding.

Read more: http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/347633-227438-countys-largest-homeless-shelter-provider-plans-innovative-affordable-housing-project-in-north-portland

March 1, 2017

Bill prohibits employers from firing employees who use marijuana

SALEM — Most Oregon employers would lose the right to fire employees or deny employment to a candidate who uses marijuana during non-work hours, under a bill proposed by lawmakers on the legislative marijuana regulation committee.

The controversial legislation makes exceptions for certain industries such as truck drivers, federal contractors and jobs covered by collective bargaining agreements.

As a legal substance in the state, marijuana should be treated the same as tobacco, proponents told lawmakers during a public hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Feb. 21.

"The goal with Senate Bill 301 is to protect other substances that are legal under Oregon law from being a cause of termination or not hiring people for a particular job," said Beth Creighton, a Portland employment attorney, who has represented clients who were fired for their marijuana use. "Currently, tobacco is protected, so if you use tobacco offsite, employers are not permited to fire you because of that. With the onset of legalized marijuana, marijuana should not be treated any differently."

Read more: http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/346306-226227-bill-prohibits-employers-from-firing-employees-who-use-marijuana

March 1, 2017

Republican lawmakers introduce bill to ban late-term abortions in Oregon

Republican lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would restrict access to late-term abortions in Oregon.

In what would be a major reversal of current state law, House Bill 3017 would prevent doctors in Oregon from performing an abortion if the fetus is more than 20 weeks old, or about half-way through a typical pregnancy. Nineteen states already ban abortion past 20 weeks. None of those states is controlled by Democrats, whereas Democrats control the Oregon Legislature and governorship.

Oregon's abortion laws are generally more liberal than in other states. The state does not have common abortion restrictions, like mandatory waiting periods or parental notification and is one of the few states that allows publicly-funded abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research group.

Beyond banning abortions past 20 weeks, House Bill 3017 would also require doctors performing abortions to determine the age of the fetus by making "inquiries" of the woman seeking an abortion and performing "medical examinations and tests" on her.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/republican_lawmakers_introduce.html#incart_river_home

March 1, 2017

Company with 'baggage' proposes Wilsonville mental hospital

A chronic shortage of treatment facilities has put the mentally ill on Oregon's streets and in its jails in dismaying numbers. So you'd think mental health advocates would be doing backflips over the news of a proposed 100-bed psychiatric hospital in Wilsonville.

You'd be wrong.

Instead, activists are lukewarm to downright hostile, arguing Universal Health Systems's planned $35 million hospital is the wrong plan in the wrong place from the wrong company.

Universal, a for-profit, publicly traded operation, will not include an emergency room at its Wilsonville facility, which critics view as a clear signal the company intends to cherry pick the well-off and the insured as opposed to the impoverished and homeless.

Universal also has plenty of internal issues. "Clearly, this is a company with baggage," said Chris Bouneff, local head of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2017/02/company_with_baggage_proposes.html#incart_river_home

March 1, 2017

Kate Brown gets an early start on 2018 campaign

Gov. Kate Brown didn't waste any time after her reelection. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, she was right back on the campaign trail.

Her calendar shows she spent six hours campaigning that day. She thanked donors, gave media interviews and chatted about the election results, her campaign manager says.

But she was also getting a head start on her 2018 race, where she'll likely face stiff competition from Republicans.

Since winning the state's highest office less than four months ago, Brown has devoted an average of six hours a week to calling potential donors, meeting with supporters and other campaign activities, an Oregonian/OregonLive analysis of her calendar shows. That adds up to about 73 hours strictly campaigning.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/kate_brown_2018_early_start.html

March 1, 2017

Undocumented immigrants in United States stage rally by ICE building

PORTLAND — Openly defying President Trump’s plans to step up deportations of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, several hundred of them and their supporters staged a rally Monday right next to a building of the federal immigration agency.

“We are undocumented, and we are unafraid,” protesters chanted at the rally, held in bone-chilling rain near downtown Portland. Uniformed guards at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building kept an eye from behind windows on the peaceful protest, but they did not intervene. Some motorists driving by tooted their horns and gave thumbs-up in a show of support.

Speakers at the rally gave their names to the crowd and the media. Some said that while they are worried that this could bring them to the attention of ICE agents, they felt they had to speak out to dispel the climate of fear that has gripped the immigrant community in Oregon, where a few towns have a majority Latino population, and in much of the rest of the nation.

“I am very afraid,” Juan Avalos said in an interview. “But that’s the point today, coming out of the shadows. We will no longer be afraid, and this is the main point of the event.”

Read more: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/35325098-75/immigrants-in-united-states-illegally-stage-rally-by-ice-building.html.csp

March 1, 2017

Oregon bill would crack down on driver cellphone use

SALEM, Ore. - A bill that expands the definition of using an electronic device while driving has bi-partisan support this legislative session.

House Bill 2597 expands speaking and texting on a cellphone to include using an electronic device in any manner, KGW reports. That would include use of social media, games and the Internet while driving.

A workshop and hearing on the bill was scheduled for Monday afternoon before the House Committee on the Judiciary.

The proposed changes to the law include the following:

Read more: http://www.ktvz.com/news/oregon-bill-would-crack-down-on-driver-cellphone-use/364036502

March 1, 2017

Kate Brown to Greg Walden: Don't kill progress made under Affordable Care Act

Gov. Kate Brown met with U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., Monday afternoon at his Capitol Hill office to lobby the congressman on preserving health care benefits granted under the Affordable Care Act.

Walden told The Oregonian/OregonLive through his deputy chief of staff that his meeting with Brown was "friendly and frank" and touched on Oregon's transportation, infrastructure, rural economic development, forestry, and health care policies.

Walden is singularly important to Congressional Republicans' effort -- and President Trump's campaign promise -- to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act because he is chairman of the House committee which oversees U.S. health care policy. Walden has criticized the health care law, commonly referred to as Obamacare, and vowed to replace it with something better.

According to her press secretary, Brown, a Democrat, told Walden that she is "open to any solution" for giving better health care to Oregonians, but "is not willing to go backwards."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/kate_brown_to_greg_walden_dont.html