Kate Brown

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Everyone on Oregon's Death Row Gets Sentence Commuted

Gov. Kate Brown says action was taken because death penalty is 'immoral'

(Newser) - Oregon's death row will soon be empty. Gov. Kate Brown is commuting the death sentences of all 17 people on it to sentences of life without the possibility of parole, she announced Tuesday. Declaring that the death penalty "cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,...

47K People Just Got Weed Offenses Wiped

Ore. Gov. Kate Brown's pardon applies to simple possession convictions from before 2016

(Newser) - More than 47,000 Oregonians will have prior offenses pardoned in a move Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday. Brown said she will pardon simple marijuana possession offenses in certain cases, a move that will also see the $14 million in fines and fees associated with those offenses forgiven, KATU reports....

Governor Kristof? Times Columnist Explores a Run
Kristof Leaving Times,
Prepares Run for Office
UPDATED
Oct 14, 2021 9:45 AM CDT

Kristof Leaving Times, Prepares Run for Office

2-time Pulitzer winner is gearing up for governor's race in Oregon

(Newser) - Update: Nicholas Kristof is shifting from columnist to politician. The longtime New York Times opinion writer is leaving the newspaper as he considers a run for governor in Oregon, per the Times . "This has been my dream job, even with malaria, a plane crash in Congo and periodic arrests...

Oregon to Mask-Dissing Doc: Your License, Please

'None of us—once—wore a mask in my clinic'

(Newser) - Licensed members of the medical community who stand on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol and make statements that contradict the Centers for Disease Control may soon find themselves unlicensed. Such is the case of Dr. Steven LaTulippe, reports the Salem Statesman Journal , who publicly dismissed COVID-19 as a...

Portland Mayor, Trump Go At It in Real Time

Ted Wheeler says president should either 'support us or ... stay the hell out of the way'

(Newser) - As Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was giving a press conference Sunday, during which he criticized President Trump for quite some time, the POTUS was apparently watching. "Ted Wheeler, the wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor of Portland, who has watched great death and destruction of his City during...

Governor Says Feds Are Withdrawing From Portland

Not so fast, says acting DHS secretary

(Newser) - Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says she has reached a deal with administration officials that will see the "occupying force" of federal agents removed from downtown Portland. Brown said Wednesday that agents from the US Marshals Service and US Customs and Border Protection will begin a phased withdrawal Thursday and...

As Virus Cases Rise, Oregon Gets a 'Yellow Light'

Governor pauses all reopening for a week

(Newser) - After a jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is putting a seven-day hold on any further reopenings in the state. "This is essentially a statewide ‘yellow light,'" said the governor. Oregon recorded 178 new cases Thursday, its high mark, and two deaths, reports...

It Was a Whiplash Day for Oregon on Virus Restrictions

After judge tosses the restrictions, state's top court halts that decision

(Newser) - The Oregon Supreme Court late Monday halted a rural judge's order earlier in the day that had tossed out statewide coronavirus restrictions imposed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff had ruled that Brown erred by not seeking the Legislature’s approval to extend the...

Girl, 14, Got Oregon to Pass a Holocaust Bill

Along with her dear friend, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor

(Newser) - When Claire Sarnowski, as a fourth grader, met Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener at one of his talks, no one could have predicted that their friendship would end up changing the law in Oregon. But it looks like that's exactly what's about to happen: Thanks to work done by...

Oregon Gov: Time for Feds to End Occupation

Occupiers say gov't will never get wildlife refuge back

(Newser) - Oregon's governor says she's frustrated with the way federal authorities are handling an armed group's continued occupation of a national wildlife refuge and that it's time to end it. Exasperated by a tense situation that has caused fear among some southeastern Oregon residents since it began...

Oregon Takes Bold Voter Registration Step

Anyone who has interacted with DMV since 2013 will be automatically registered

(Newser) - Seventeen years after Oregon decided to become the first state to hold all elections with mail-in ballots, it took another pioneering step yesterday to broaden participation by automatically registering people to vote. Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill that puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters:...

US About to Get First Bisexual Governor

Kate Brown to take over for John Kitzhaber in Oregon

(Newser) - When John Kitzhaber steps down as Oregon's governor on Wednesday, a little history will be made. He will be replaced by Secretary of State Kate Brown, who will become the nation's first openly bisexual governor, reports the Washington Post . Brown is married to Dan Little, but she began...

12 Stories