The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a nearly 50-year-old right to abortion has little immediate impact in Oregon, where the state Constitution guarantees reproductive rights, including free abortions, that aren’t touched by the ruling. Still, the landmark decision issued Friday in Washington, D.C., will affect Oregon. Reproductive health care[Read More…]
Government
Banks Fire District Board position opens
With the recall of former Board Chair Mark Schmidlin, the Banks Fire District Board must appoint a new board member to fill the empty spot. Interested applicants in the district—Banks, Timber, Buxton, Manning, Hayward and vicinity—have until June 24 at 5 p.m.to put in an application. If the board doesn’t[Read More…]
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden raises concerns over shortage of firefighters, federal spending on fire prevention
Oregon faces a shortage of wildland firefighters that could be “a recipe for trouble,” according to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. Wyden wrote to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently with concerns that their agencies weren’t prepared to handle another catastrophic fire season such[Read More…]
City, Banks Fire, school district, businesses plan for natural disasters
The city of Banks, the Banks Fire District, the Banks School District, and private industry in town have come together to create an emergency preparedness plan for the city.
Oregon still collecting more tax revenue than economists anticipated
Oregon tax collections continue to surge, with Oregonians paying $1.2 billion more in income taxes this spring than last year. The increasing state revenues aren’t due to higher taxes. Instead, according to Oregon’s quarterly economic forecast, many people cashed in assets in late 2021, causing a short-term income boost. Most of[Read More…]
Key 2022 primary election results for governor and for BOLI commissioner
This story originally appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle and is republished here under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Read more stories at oregoncapitalchronicle.com.
Vote by 8 p.m. today in Oregon’s Primary Election
Have you voted? There are races and measures to vote for on the ballot, even for those not registered with one of Oregon’s political parties. Ranging from decisions on who will chair the Washington County board of commissioners to who will head the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries, registered[Read More…]
Oregon Gov. Brown, fire officials warn of challenging 2022 wildfire season
A rainy late spring is delaying the start of fire season in Oregon, but state officials said Monday they still anticipate a challenging summer and fall. Large fires are already blazing in New Mexico, and fire risk in the Northwest is expected to worsen as summer continues. During a press[Read More…]
Watch Banks Mayor Stephanie Jones’ May 5 ‘State of the City’ address online
The annual State of the City address by Banks Mayor Stephanie Jones was held Thursday, May 5 at Banks Fire District 13 headquarters. There, Jones acknowledged the volunteers and staff that make the city tick and highlighted some of the work that happened in the last 12 months in the[Read More…]
City seeks applicants to fill vacant Banks City Council seat
The city of Banks announced it is accepting applications for citizens interested in becoming a city councilor.
