In The News

Warm Springs radio station KWSO gets nearly $160,000 infusion from FEMA

Central Oregon Daily A community radio station owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is getting a financial infusion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is granting $158,749 to KWSO-FM. This will be used to upgrade the station’s broadcast transmissions and warning systems, which are needed

Oregon leaders call on U.S. government for help, flexibility to help ranchers

Oregon Capital Chronicle The wildfires this season have scorched a record 1.5 million acres, forcing ranchers to move their cattle as flames approached while also fighting fires to save their homes This summer’s historic wildfires in Oregon have taken a toll on ranchers and their more than a million cows and

Merkley shoots for mandatory GMO labeling

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will introduce a bill today that would require food makers to disclose the presence of GMO ingredients on Nutrition Facts labels. The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), comes right after the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday approved Chairman Pat Roberts’

The Proposal That Could Keep Medical Debt From Trashing Your Credit Score

The 43 million Americans estimated to have medical debt on their credit reports could find some credit score relief should a new Senate bill come to pass. Five senators —Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.),  Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — introduced legislation late last week that

Boardman biorefinery gets $11 million USDA backing

With financing in place, a Minnesota-based energy company plans to build its first commercial refinery that will transform farm waste into natural gas and liquid fertilizer at the Port of Morrow. Novus Energy has received an $11 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s biorefinery assistance program. Oregon

Wyden, Merkley push to extend overtime pay for millions

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., along with Al Franken, D-Minn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led the charge Monday to extend overtime pay to millions of Americans working long hours without fair pay. Last year, the Department of Labor proposed an expansion to overtime pay

Merkley takes a stand against medical debt

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley today unveiled legislation that would ensure consumers’ credit scores aren’t permanently hurt by unpaid medical bills. Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said his Medical Debt Relief Act would “help get consumers back on their feet and restore our economy.” He noted that millions of Americans have racked up medical

Sen. Merkley Encourages EPA to Look Into Studying Moss for Pollutants

During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting, Oregon U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley pressed the top official on air quality to investigate the recent discovery of heavy metals in Portland. Merkley told Janet McCabe, with the EPA Acting Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, he can’t overstate

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