Oregon News

Insurtech Joyn Adds Business Coverages in Five Western States

Insurance technology company Joyn Insurance Services Inc. announced that it will offer coverage in an additional five states for effective dates beginning June 1. The company is adding property, general liability, and excess lines of coverage in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, …

5th Oregon County Declares Drought Emergency

Low water storage and snowpack levels in southern Oregon have prompted a fifth Oregon county to declare a drought emergency. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports Jackson County commissioners made the drought declaration, which follows declarations by Klamath, Jefferson, Morrow and Crook …

Oregon Rolling Out Hospital Crisis Care Standards as COVID Surges

Oregon hospitals have new interim guidelines to help them determine which patients should get lifesaving care if the current COVID-19 surge forces them to choose between people because of a lack of beds, staff or critical medical equipment. The guidelines …

Oregon Fire Damaged More Than 20 Businesses

Authorities say a fire early Sunday in Hillsboro, Oregon, impacted about 20 to 25 businesses. Shortly after 3 a.m., Hillsboro firefighters responded to a commercial blaze inside the Weil Arcade building on East Main Street. Within half an hour, Hillsboro …

Oregon Agency Inadvertently Releases Employees Vaccine Status

Oregon’s central administrative agency inadvertently released the COVID-19 vaccination status of more than 40,000 state employees to two media outlets. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported a spreadsheet sent to them and the Statesman Journal was supposed to contain the latest vaccination rates …

Firefighter Dies While Working Oregon Wildfire, Officials Say

A firefighter died this week while battling a wildfire southeast of Eugene, Oregon, officials said. Bryan Cutchen, Oakridge city administrator and acting fire chief, said the death is suspected to have been caused by a tree falling on the firefighter, …

Fire Crews Making Progress on Massive Oregon Blaze

The nation’s largest wildfire is still raging through southern Oregon but crews were scaling back some night operations as hard work and weaker winds helped reduce the spread of flames even as wildfires continued to threaten homes in neighboring California. …

Severe Water Crisis on Oregon-California Border to Impact Agriculture

The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or …

Former Employee in Oregon City Intends to Sue Following Firing

A former Coquille city, Ore., employee has informed the city she plans to sue for whistleblower retaliation and a failure to provide due process during the course of her firing. Former city recorder Jennifer Rose filed a notice with the …

Earthquake Early Warning System Launches in Oregon

People in Oregon will be better prepared for earthquakes – particularly important in the Pacific Northwest because experts say “the big one” is coming – as an early warning system launched Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a devastating quake and …