Tag: Oregon

Oregon Progressives Lower Academic Expectations for Minority Students in Name of ‘Equity’

Virginia Star Staff

Oregon’s high school graduation rate is on the rise. But maybe not for the right reasons.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic prompted state guidelines that essentially mandated a no-fail policy for high school seniors whose course work became remote during the latter half of the 2020 school year. Now, state graduation rates will likely remain artificially inflated, thanks to a new law that will allow Oregon students to get their diplomas without proving proficiency in core academic skills.

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Oregon Senator Ron Wyden Delays Confirming Biden’s CBP Head

Virginia Star Staff

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden will delay President Joe Biden’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) head confirmation until the federal government answers about how officials responded to civil unrest in Portland, Oregon, last year, CNN Politics reported Thursday.

Wyden said he would not advance Tucson, Arizona, Police Chief Chris Magnus‘ confirmation to CBP commissioner, according to CNN. Wyden won’t move forward with Magnus’ nomination “until DHS and DOJ give Oregonians some straight answers about what they were up to in Portland last year, and who was responsible,” the senator said in a statement.

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Up to 98 Percent of Faculty Donations from Oregon’s Largest Public Universities Went to Democrats

Virginia Star Staff

Between 96% and 98% of all political donations made by faculty members at Oregon’s three largest public universities went to Democrats, according to a new study by the Oregon Association of Scholars.

The report’s author, Portland State political science professor Bruce Gilley, told The College Fix that between 60% and 80% of college faculty donations nationwide go to Democrats, so “Oregon is way above normal.”

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Former Democratic Oregon House Speaker Arrested in Sex Trafficking Sting

Virginia Star Staff
Dave Hunt

Former Democratic Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt is facing charges after being arrested in an April sex trafficking sting, the Portland Tribune reported.
Dave Hunt and seven other men were arrested after clicking on decoy advertisements, which Portland police posted on popular human trafficking websites, the Portland Tribune reported. The men were charged with commercial sexual solicitation after contacting undercover police officers to pay for sexual acts.
Hunt voted in favor of legislation that made commercial sexual solicitation illegal in 2011, according to the Portland Tribune. He sponsored a separate bill that was designed to combat sex trafficking in 2007.

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Census Bureau Announces States in the South, Northwest Pick up Congressional Seats

Virginia Star Staff

Texas and Florida are slated to gain congressional seats during the decennial redistricting process, while California and New York are set to each lose one, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday.

The U.S. Census Bureau released the decennial state population and congressional apportionment totals Monday, outlining how many districts each state will have for the next decade. The data also determines how many Electoral College votes each state will have through 2032, and allocates how federal money is distributed to each state for schools, roads and other public projects.

The release was originally scheduled for December, but faced delays due to the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s unsuccessful effort to exclude non-citizens from the count.

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Violent Crimes Spike in Cities That Defunded Law Enforcement; Burned-Out Police Leaving in Droves

Virginia Star Staff
Group of police officers with cars stopped, one holding a gun

Crime is skyrocketing in cities where police departments have been defunded, crime statistics show.

Since career criminal George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, last summer, many liberal city councils have voted to “defund” their police departments, allocating or redirecting municipal funds away from their police bureaus to other government agencies that serve “the community.”

More than 20 major cities have slashed their police budgets in some form, though the circumstances vary, according to Fox News.

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Dr. Carol Swain: Oregon’s New Teacher Training Claiming Mathematics is Racist is ‘Lunacy of the Political Left’

Julie Carr

Dr. Carol M. Swain appeared on Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends Weekend Edition with host Pete Hegseth Sunday morning to discuss the lunacy of the Oregon Department of Education’s new teacher training claiming mathematics is racist and supports white supremacy.

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Rioters Vandalize Oregon Democratic Headquarters, Descend on Seattle

Virginia Star Staff

Riots broke out in Seattle and Portland, Oregon on Wednesday night after demonstrators clashed with police and vandalized a Democratic Party office.

People dressed in all black shattered windows and the glass door to the Oregon Democratic Party’s office in Portland, according to The New York Times, vandalizing it with spray paint and posting a video to social media, saying that their actions were in response to the inauguration of President Joe Biden. In Seattle, police said that several buildings were vandalized.

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Oregon Votes to Decriminalize Certain Amounts of Meth, Heroin, Cocaine

Virginia Star Staff

Oregon residents on Tuesday voted to decriminalize certain possession amounts of hard drugs.

Roughly 60% of Oregonian voters favored making it no longer a crime to possess a “non-commercial” amount of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, among others, according to The Hill. Those caught with the specified amount of narcotics face a $100 fine, but the penalty can be avoided by undergoing a health assessment, the Hill reported.

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‘Nothing Left in the Bucket’: Wildfire Resources Run Thin

The Associated Press

Justin Silvera came off the fire lines in Northern California after a grueling 36 straight days battling wildfires and evacuating residents ahead of the flames. Before that, he and his crew had worked for 20 days, followed by a three-day break.

Silvera, a 43-year-old battalion chief with Cal Fire, California’s state firefighting agency, said he’s lost track of the blazes he’s fought this year. He and his crew have sometimes been on duty for 64 hours at a stretch, their only rest coming in 20-minute catnaps.

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Armed Oregon Residents Set Up Roadblocks After Fire Was Ignited Intentionally, Police Say

Virginia Star Staff

Bands of armed Oregonians blocked roads and demanded identification from motorists after a small fire was ignited intentionally on Saturday, police said.

Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese said the blaze was started by an illegal firework and was put out quickly, according to a Saturday tweet from the department. Oregon has been plagued by wildfires in recent days, as 22 people on the West Coast have lost their lives and large portions of the state were covered by an orange hue.

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Dozens Missing as Firefighters Battle Two Large Oregon Fires

The Associated Press

Hundreds of firefighters battled two large wildfires Friday that threatened to merge near the most populated part of Oregon, including the suburbs of Portland, and the governor said dozens of people are missing in other parts of the state.

The state’s emergency management director, Andrew Phelps, said officials are “preparing for a mass fatality event” and that thousands of structures have been destroyed.

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Dozens Arrested as Portland Riots Continue

Virginia Star Staff

by Andrew Selsky   PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered for rallies and marches against police violence and racial injustice Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, as often violent nightly protests that have happened for 100 days since George Floyd was killed showed no signs of ceasing. Molotov cocktails…

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Oregon Coronavirus Fund May Violate Constitution by Excluding Non-Black Applicants, Experts Say

Virginia Star Staff

A COVID-19 relief fund for African-Americans operated out of Portland, Ore., with federal tax dollars may run afoul of both the Constitution and 1964 Civil Rights Act if it excludes non-black applicants, legal experts warn.

The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief + Resiliency said it seeks to offer “economic relief for the Black community, who are among Oregon’s most vulnerable groups due to systemic divestment and disparities widened and exacerbated by COVID-19.” The program is administered by two local nonprofits, the Contingent and the Black United Fund of Oregon.

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Trump Supporter Killed in Antifa-BLM Riot Clash in Portland

The Associated Press

One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed in the streets, police said.

It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as a caravan of about 600 vehicles was confronted by protesters in the city’s downtown.

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Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler Says Antifa Violence in Portland is ‘a Myth’

Virginia Star Staff

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York said antifa violence in Portland is a myth in a YouTube video published Monday.

Nadler made the comment during an interview with Austen Fletcher. Fletcher hosts Fleccas Talks, a political channel, according to the Dartmouth Review.

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‘Null and Void:’ Judge Overturns Oregon Gov. Brown’s COVID-19 Executive Orders

Virginia Star Staff

A judge granted a preliminary injunction Monday freezing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s coronavirus executive orders restricting church services and business.

Brown exceeded her authority when she restricted activities for longer than the 28 days the governor is authorized under a state law, Baker County Circuit Court Judge Matt Shirtcliff said. The judge’s ruling effectively blocks enforcement of the 10 orders Brown gave since early March when she first imposed stay-at-home orders on citizens.

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