In The News

Feds provide $1 million to rehab farmworker housing

News-Register McMinnville nonprofit Community Home Builders has been awarded nearly $1 million in federal grant funds to rehabilitate 24 units of agricultural worker housing at Villa del Sol apartments in east McMinnville. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas announced the award of $956,333 from the

OREGON AND FOUR TRIBES EARN OVER $12 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS-GRID RESILIENCE

KQEN On Wednesday, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as well as Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Val Hoyle announced that Oregon’s Energy Department has secured $10.9 million and four Tribes with members in Oregon have earned a combined $1.16 million in federal investment. A joint release said this is to

Americans bet $100 million on Trump v. Harris, but at what cost?

NPRAn election betting advertisement flashed on screen during coverage of former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden this weekend on the Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative media company. “Bet on the US election,” the ad for Kalshi said as Trump spoke on stage. “Bet $100 on Trump,

Merkley moves to end workplace discrimination against gays

WASHINGTON — Reprising yet another battle fought as a member of the Oregon Legislature, Sen. Jeff Merkley is offering legislation that would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act seeks to realize a long and so-far unsuccessful goal by gay rights advocates to

U.S. Senate bill allows energy savings to pay for upgrades

WASHINGTON — Making a house more energy efficient saves money and the environment in the long-run — as long as the homeowner can afford the upfront costs. That’s been a major barrier to things like solar panels on homes, new water heaters and other upgrades that make financial sense, U.S.

Merkley seeks Medicare change

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., made his own mark on the health care debate this week, gathering 21 signatures on a letter asking for a major reform of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, as part of any health care overhaul bill. Merkley, joined by a bevy of mostly

Democratic Senators Propose Medicare Drug Rebates

WASHINGTON — Freshman Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and 21 other Democrats have asked Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to require pharmaceutical companies to pay the government rebates on certain drugs provided under Medicare, as a way of helping fund a health-care overhaul. Under the proposed rebates, drug makers would

Opinion: Hermiston turns out for Jeff Merkley

Earlier this month U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, attracted a large, vocal crowd in Hermiston for a town hall meeting. By my count, more than 130 people took the time to listen and talk their senator at the event. It was an impressive turnout by Umatilla County residents Health care

New senator immersed in big issues

Salem, Ore. — When Jeff Merkley moved his family from Oregon to Washington, D.C., as a new U.S. senator, he transported his belongings himself — driving a big U-Haul across the country with his son in the passenger seat. “It was fun, because you sit up so high,” Merkley said,

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