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Addressing questions of race and representation in Oregon’s political system can be fraught. That can be especially true in some Eastern Oregon communities. In Ontario, a recent discussion about the city code defining its diversity committee became a full-on debate over what the committee’s actually accomplishing.

We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Anna Griffin. We also hear from Bend Bulletin reporter Taylor Bayly about her reporting on student discipline reform efforts in Bend and throughout the state of Oregon.

Summer is a time for festivals – and celebrating the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. And one of the most fragrant celebrations takes place in Washington County: the North Plains Elephant Garlic Festival.

Radical Abundance is a new Southeast Portland thrift shop that opened July 23rd. Like many other thrift shops, volunteers take clothing donations, resell them at a low price, and use the proceeds for charitable causes. Their cause? Helping trans* and non-binary folks afford gender-affirming medical care.

There’s a growing push in Oregon to decriminalize consensual sex work – in other words, to stop charging people who engage in prostitution with crimes. But recently, it’s gotten some push back from perhaps the most influential place: The governor’s office. Earlier this month, Governor Tina Kotek quietly vetoed two attempts to use public money to study the idea.

This week’s oppressive and deadly heat wave is finally beginning to wind down in some parts of Oregon. But although some relief from the extreme heat is coming soon, climate scientists predict heat waves could happen more frequently in the Pacific Northwest.

In Central Oregon, roughly a quarter of a million people float the Deschutes River through Bend each summer, and many of them lose things along the way. But, thanks to a local diving group, some lost items are finding their way home.

Bend police data paints a complicated picture around encampment clearings

This small town in Oregon embraces green energy after fossil fuel disaster

The Oregon state agency charged with monitoring discrimination in workplaces across the state was itself a hostile work environment for the Black woman who was hired to head the civil rights division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.

Audio for QA: Tillamook Burn anniversary

New study shows terrible pay and working conditions for nonprofit service providers who work on homelessness

The recent on-the-job deaths of a Portland hospital security guard and a Gresham mental health aide have put a fresh spotlight on the violence that many working in health care experience routinely.

Oregon state leaders have agreed to let tech giant Amazon install a new trans-Pacific cable stretching from the Tillamook County coastline to Asia. But in the process, they also said they want tighter restrictions on undersea cables off the Oregon coast.

Portland’s Old Town has become a microcosm of the many challenges the city is facing now: homelessness, the opioid crisis and public safety. But despite this, entrepreneurs and social services are continuing to invest in the neighborhood.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch struck a deal this week to sell Bend’s 10-Barrel Brewing Company and Portland’s Widmer Brothers Brewing and Square Mile Cider Company as part of a 8 brand acquisition by Tilray Brands.

Oregon lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session earlier this summer with a flurry of bills and some compromises. The final days of session were a blur. One topic never came up: Why a project to renovate parts of the Capitol was nearly $100 million over budget.

Last month, members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off from Oregon on an annual intertribal canoe journey to Seattle. It's especially poignant this year after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.

An unconfirmed ‘person of interest’ in the deaths had an earlier sentence commuted by former Gov. Kate Brown, but would have been out of prison at the time of the deaths, regardless

Delayed closure of Baker City birthing center keeps families uncertain

July 31st marked the final deadline for all Oregon businesses to enroll in the state's mandated retirement plan, OregonSaves. However, a significant number of businesses remain unaware of the deadline.

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On July 22nd and 23rd, HONK! PDX brings a brass and street band musical festival that’s been celebrated in cities around the world to Portland for the first time. The two-day festival is focused on reclaiming public space, providing free access to music, and encouraging Portlanders to participate themselves.