Salem's hyperlocal news and statehouse watch.
Salem's hyperlocal news and statehouse watch.
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
A peer-reviewed study finds Oregon's Measure 114 triggered a 157% surge in background checks after voters passed it in 2022, adding roughly 63,000 purchases that wouldn't have otherwise occurred. The law has never taken effect, and its fate now rests with the Oregon Supreme Court and a 2028 implementation deadline set by Salem lawmakers.
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
A peer-reviewed study finds Oregon's Measure 114 triggered a 157% surge in background checks after voters passed it in 2022, adding roughly 63,000 purchases that wouldn't have otherwise occurred. The law has never taken effect, and its fate now rests with the Oregon Supreme Court and a 2028 implementation deadline set by Salem lawmakers.
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
A peer-reviewed study finds Oregon's Measure 114 triggered a 157% surge in background checks after voters passed it in 2022, adding roughly 63,000 purchases that wouldn't have otherwise occurred. The law has never taken effect, and its fate now rests with the Oregon Supreme Court and a 2028 implementation deadline set by Salem lawmakers.
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
Local Government
Oregon's Initiative Petition 28, which would have banned hunting, fishing and livestock farming by eliminating animal-cruelty exemptions, fell about 13,000 valid signatures short and will not appear on the November 3, 2026, ballot.
Local Government
Marion County's Public Health Division has earned national reaccreditation for the third time, joining only 420 accredited local health departments nationwide; the achievement headlines the Board of Commissioners' Wednesday, July 29 session alongside a $1.14 million ARPA sewer contract amendment and a temporary speed zone on Gates Hill Road SE.
Local Government
The Oregon Department of Human Services is urging Salem-area SNAP recipients to check whether their existing volunteer work at food pantries, parks, and nonprofits already counts toward new federal work requirements that have caused more than 25,000 Oregonians to lose benefits statewide.
Local Government
Earthquake experts meeting in Portland on Friday, July 17, said Oregon is dangerously underprepared for a Cascadia Subduction Zone quake, but Salem's retrofitted State Capitol is one of just five state-owned buildings expected to remain standing and usable afterward.
Local Government
The U.S. House voted 308-117 on Tuesday, July 14, to make daylight saving time permanent, a move that could activate Oregon's 2019 trigger law and end clock changes for Salem residents — though the bill faces an uncertain path in the Senate.
Local Government
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced Tuesday, July 14, that the state will receive $576,707 from an $18 million multistate settlement with 23andMe's bankruptcy trustee over a 2023 data breach that exposed genetic data for 6.9 million customers.
Local Government
One year after Congress passed H.R.1, Oregon faces a $421 million Medicaid funding gap and tens of thousands of residents have already lost food assistance, with Marion County families subject to new work requirements and state officials scrambling to fill budget holes.
Local Government
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read is pushing back on a July 7 DOJ letter that threatens criminal prosecution of state and local election officials over noncitizen voting, calling it baseless political intimidation ahead of the November 2026 general election.
Local Government
Marion County's three commissioners welcomed Salem's July 8 federal lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers, pointing to the county's own May lawsuit — both seeking to halt a planned deep drawdown of Detroit Lake that threatens drinking water for more than 220,000 people served by Salem's water system.
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Local Government
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday, July 7, challenging a HUD funding notice that would cap permanent housing dollars under the Continuum of Care program, threatening millions in grants for Salem-area providers that house thousands of residents.
Local Government
City Recorder Amy Johnson ruled Tuesday, July 7, that Ward 6 councilor-elect Betsy Vega meets Salem Charter and Oregon constitutional residency requirements despite a period of homelessness, ending an eligibility challenge and keeping her as the sole candidate on November's ballot.
Local Government
Salem Mayor Julie Hoy declared Thursday, July 9, 2026, Virginia Green Day, honoring the 100-year-old historian behind the SHINE on Salem digital archive and 25 years of civic service.
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©2026 Cherry City Chronicle
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