OPB Audio

It’s been three years since Oregon legislators passed a law requiring employers pay overtime to farmworkers. But as OPB’s Alejandro Figueroa reports, some farmworkers say they’re making less money, not more. And growers say they can’t afford to pay the overtime.

OPB emailed every Republican state lawmaker in Oregon on Monday to ask whether they support the deployment of National Guard members to the Rose City. Two responded.

We vote for directors of soil and water conservation districts every couple years, but not everyone knows what they do. Kristian Foden-Vencil talked to one director, and a farming family in Troutdale, for a better understanding.

Former colleagues describe Judge Karin Immergut as exceptionally qualified and not influenced by politics.

Washington County Cooperative Library Services wants to change the way money is distributed to libraries and not everyone is pleased.

The Cascade Range is known for recreation, stunning views, and – of course — volcanos. And in Central Oregon, one company hopes it can harness enough heat from deep beneath the surface of these mountains to power our homes — using technology known as “Super Hot Rocks”

As the deadline for Portland mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness by December 1st approaches - the city is scrambling to open more night-time emergency shelters.

Homelessness among seniors is rising in Oregon. Many rely on an increasingly fragile social safety net. OPB traveled to rural Polk County to learn more about the housing crisis facing aging and vulnerable people.

Portland remained in the national spotlight throughout the weekend - with dramatic developments occurring each day, including attempted efforts by the Trump administration to send National Guard troops from multiple states to Portland. But a federal judge in Oregon wanted none of it, issuing 2 restraining orders in as many days.

For OPB’s “At Work With” series, which asks Pacific Northwesterners from different professions what it’s like to do what they do, we meet Elizabeth Figueroa Alvarez, a traffic flagger for construction sites.

In 2020, the state sued Santander Consumer USA for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide.

That derelict ship may be someone's home

The proposal from Gov. Tina Kotek will hike gas taxes, registration fees and more.

JAMO showcases a half-year exhibit on Japanese American photographer Frank Matsura starting Sept. 27, and Vancouver's Kiggins Theatre will hold a screening of documentary Our Mr. Matsura on Matsura on Sept. 28.

A nonprofit is offering low-cost apartments to students, even if they have no credit score or co-signer. This story comes to OPB from the education journalism nonprofit, Hechinger Report.

Energized candidates aim to change Clark County government

The Oregon State Police forensic lab agreed to pay millions as part of a settlement after failing to disclose DNA evidence in the decades-old homicide of Leah Freeman.

The aerospace company that calls Tillamook home

The Beaver State has long prided itself on its two political parties finding common ground, but it is now lamenting the loss of centrist lawmakers.

How one nonprofit is reclaiming Indigenous land and embracing ancestral foods.

The four-state group, which includes Oregon, Washington, California and Hawaii, formed a vaccine policy alliance after concerns about partisanship at the CDC.

The owner of Hillsdale thrift shop Shirtzenpantz, Owen Gail, goes viral kicking a piece of granite named “Christosphere.”

Most Oregon hospitals have been bleeding cash for years, and at least two are already set to close their obstetrics units.

The deadline for Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s big campaign promise to end unsheltered homelessness is quickly approaching. He’s not just opening shelters, he’s changing city policies to try and meet his goal. Starting next month Portland will handle so-called derelict recreational vehicles differently.

Fans of scary stories can dig their teeth into Coffin Moon, a book set in Portland right after the Vietnam War and full of surprising twists on the vampire genre.