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The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan to foreclose on so-called "zombie homes" for the first time in 50 years as the city grapples with a swelling population and skyrocketing home costs that are locking new homeowners out of the market. Commissioners and the mayor voted 4-0 in favor of the plan, with one member absent. The vote targets five of the city's worst abandoned properties, the first part of a long-term plan to free up housing in an overheated market while clearing out squatters who have plagued developing neighborhoods outside the city's hip core...

Making the rounds right now is an exchange that I certainly hope is authentic, between the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and ranchers Larry and Amanda Anderson. It seems the Oregon bureaucrats want permission to survey the AndersonsÂ’ ranch land for purposes of tracking species decline.... ....here is the AndersonsÂ’ splendid reply... Thank you for your inquiry regarding accessing our property to survey for the yellow-legged frog. We may be able to help you out with this matter. We have divided our 2.26 acres into 75 equal survey units with a draw tag for each unit. Application fees are...

When Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a minimum wage bill into law in March, it was the highest statewide wage floor in the U.S. It was also the most convoluted, setting three different wages and raise schedules depending on the area's population. ‎ Wages will rise to $12.50 in rural Oregon, $13.50 in mid-size regions and $14.75 in greater Portland, all by the year 2022. But before the ink was even dry, Democrats, who control the state House, Senate and governor's office, announced they wanted to change the bill that was rammed through in a five-week legislative session despite fierce...

Oregon resident Jamie Shupe, who identifies as neither male nor female, can legally be considered nonbinary, a judge ruled.

Oregon resident Jamie Shupe, who identifies as neither male nor female, can legally be considered nonbinary, a judge ruled. In what legal experts believe is the state's first such ruling, Judge Amy Holmes Hehn ruled Friday that Shupe's sex has been changed from female to nonbinary. "It feels amazing to be free from a binary sex classification system that inadequately addressed who I really am, a system in which I felt confined," the Portland resident said. The Army veteran was assigned the gender of male at birth, but Shupe started transitioning to a female in 2013, more than a decade...

The Ninth Circuit Court has upheld the ruling of the lower court in the Edward Peruta v. County of San Diego case and affirmed the Second Amendment does not include a right to conceal a firearm. The Peruta case challenged the legality of denying permits to conceal and carry a firearm unless the applicant for a permit has "good reason" to do so. A three-judge panel initially ruled that the San Diego County Sheriff's Department did not have the right to deny the permit. The case was subsequently heard by the entire Ninth Circuit Court and their decision was...

Editor's note: This column was co-authored by David Wojick, head of DEWA, a cognitive science and policy analysis consultancy. In an outrageous fit of activism the Portland School Board has banned the teaching of climate science. Of course they have not banned climate science by name, but their new order effectively bans teaching much of what we know about climate, especially the potential role of natural variability in global warming and climate change. In fact they appear to have ruled out the teaching of climate science that is specifically required by the State of Oregon. This is bad news for...

A forestry company filed a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against Greenpeace Tuesday for misrepresenting the company’s environmental record to raise funds and promote its agenda. Greenpeace knowingly and deliberately made false claims about the company while fundraising, and fabricated evidence of Resolute’s alleged environmental malfeasance, according to the forestry and paper company Resolute Forest Products. RICO is an anti-mafia law designed to combat organized crime. Greenpeace’ is a global fraud,” states the 124-page legal complaint. “For years, this international network of environmental groups collectively calling themselves ‘Greenpeace’ has fraudulently induced people throughout the United States and...

Donald Trump announced this weekend he puts 15 states potentially into play in the general election this year. The states include: — Ohio — Florida — Virginia — Minnesota — Michigan — Pennsylvania — Wisconsin — New York — Maine — California ** Plus Donald Trump is beating Hillary Clinton in the latest Oregon poll and is essentially tied with Hillary in New Hampshire -two more traditional blue states. And Hillary Clinton hasn’t even been indicted yet!

Last year the UK TV personality Ursula Presgrave generated controversy by her Facebook posting: “Anyone born with down syndrome should be put down, it’s just cruel to let them lead a pointless life of a vegetable.” Aside from the remarkable ignorance she displays about people with Down Syndrome, I’m troubled by the dehumanizing rhetoric. She thinks we should “put down” some of our fellow human beings, as though they are nothing but animals. It may seem at first glance that her comments have no real connection to the assisted suicide debate, because she is calling for murder, not suicide. However,...

While it’s a statistical dead heat, that is not supposed to happen to her in the Beaver State. In addition, she is getting walloped by Trump in independent voters according to that survey... It looks as if the Democratic Party’s freakout will be here to stay. If she can’t win Oregon…

Donald Trump’s crossover appeal, long ignored by the majority of the Mainstream Media, is front and center once again in the liberal bastion that is Oregon State. (Dominated by urban center Portland) And look at that lead among independent voters – a nearly +30 advantage!

Oh my. A recent Clout Research poll from the State of Oregon (full pdf below), not exactly well known as a bastion of all things republican, shows candidate Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton 44 to 42%. However, with Independent Voters, Donald Trump is CRUSHING Hillary Clinton by 27 points 53% to 26%. The Monster Vote effect:

The survey of Oregon voters statewide showed that, in a prospective General Election match-up between presumptive Republican Party nominee Donald Trump and likely Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump leads by a small margin, 44% to 42%, with 13% yet undecided.

An Oregon woman touched another woman’s breasts and genitals without her consent on a flight to Portland Sunday night, police said. Heidi McKinney, 26, was arrested on third-degree sex abuse charges when Alaska Airlines Flight 621 from Las Vegas landed at Portland International Airport, according to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun. Port of Portland police said McKinney fondled the woman as the aircraft traveled over Oregon. The other passenger told investigators McKinney touched her without her approval. N.J. WOMAN TESTIFIES AGAINST AIRPLANE PERV WHO GROPED HER Multnomah County Sheriff’s detention officers released her on bail Monday in...

Seven state legislators from Arizona have called upon the attorneys general of the states of Arizona, Nevada “and any other states with standing,” to bring legal action against Oregon law-enforcement officials and prosecutors, as well as against the FBI, over the shooting death this past January of Arizona rancher Robert Lavoy Finicum. In a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt, the Arizona lawmakers contrast the extreme treatment accorded Finicum, the Bundy ranching family, and their supporters versus the kid-glove treatment given to the violent and destructive leftist demonstrators of the various “Occupy”...

A “transmasculine” teacher at an Oregon elementary school has been awarded $60,000 by her school district as compensation for harassment she claims to have suffered on the job, including being referred to by the wrong pronoun. The school conducted an internal investigation after Soell complained, but found no proof of harassment. The state’s labor commissioner, Brad Avakian, forced a bakery to pay $135,000 to a lesbian couple they wouldn’t bake a cake for, and he has also compelled a bar owner to pay a whopping $400,000 to a group of transgender customers he tried to ban from his bar. Eager...

Deep in the heart of a vast U.S. military training ground, surrounded by spent shotgun shells and juniper trees blasted to shreds, the Central Oregon Constitutional Guard was conducting its weekly firearms training. “The intent is to be able to work together and defend ourselves if we need to,” said Soper, 40, a building contractor who is an emerging leader in a growing national movement rooted in distrust of the federal government, one that increasingly finds itself in armed conflicts with authorities. Those in the movement call themselves patriots, demanding that the federal government adhere to the Constitution and stop...

including a 'hand-shaped bruise' on his face - because 'he is too young to tell them what happened' One-year-old Jacob's parents left him with the babysitter in March They claim they returned to find him screaming and the babysitter asleep The next day, they claim they found Jacob was covered in bruises and went to police They want criminal charges filed against the babysitter but authorities have decided not to pursue the case Jacob's father took to Facebook to vent about the lack of action The DA was unavailable for comment on the case An Oregon couple claim their...