Willamette Week

This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state. GOLD BEACH — In this windswept fishing mecca of 2,417 people, where the Rogue River rushes headlong into the Pacific Ocean, the hot-button issue is the fate of Sheriff Johnnie Lee “John” Ward, Curry County’s top lawman for the past 12 years.

With less than 90 days until the midterm election, a federal judge this week dealt another blow to Donald Trump’s effort to undermine mail-in voting in Oregon and other states. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction that upholds and expands an earlier order blocking an attempted overhaul of U.S. elections by the Trump administration.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved a term sheet that in the following months will be used to negotiate an arena renovation and long-term lease deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. In exchange for $120 million in initial city funding for an estimated $600 million renovation of the arena, the city is seeking a 20-year lease with the Blazers to ensure they remain in Portland for the foreseeable future.

Mt. Hood Meadows has shut down summer operations a month early due to the Grasshopper Fire. The ski resort has been under a Level 3 (“go now”) evacuation order since Aug. 4 and has been dealing with smoky conditions since late July. In a statement Aug. 12, the resort called it a “difficult decision:” “While the Grasshopper Fire has not made much progress towards Meadows in recent days, it is still an active and challenging wildfire—both in terms of its behavior and the terrain it is in.

Just one month into his tenure, Oregon State Hospital’s superintendent has been removed from his post, the state health authority said Wednesday, an abrupt shakeup at a vital psychiatric institution that has churned through leaders in recent years.

I’m hoping to unravel a mystery. It seems like almost no one knows what to do at the two sets of traffic lights that get you from East Burnside over to Northeast Sandy at 14th Avenue. Am I allowed to turn on the red arrow? My husband says turning on the inside lane when the light is red is OK. —Rebecca G.

Last year, the institutions that manage the health benefits for 1 in 3 Oregonians started a collective brouhaha when they said they were getting lowballed by the state. The geographically dispersed “coordinated care organizations,” as the large health insurance-style entities are known, receive a certain amount per member per month to administer and fund Oregon Health Plan benefits.

City of Portland negotiators overseeing the Moda Center deal with the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday afternoon offered their recommended starting term sheet to the Portland City Council.

A large contribution by a prominent labor group has put Gov. Tina Kotek’s reelection campaign in an awkward position as she tries to walk a fine line on the politically volatile issue of data centers. In late June, Friends of Tina Kotek received $400,000 from IBEW Local 48, the regional electrical workers union and one of the state’s most powerful lobbying groups. The Oregonian previously reported the contribution, among the largest Kotek has ever received from a union.

Three socialist city councilors up for reelection this November campaigned together over the weekend, boasting 200 volunteers who knocked doors in Districts 3 and 4 to rally support for Councilors Mitch Green, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Angelita Morillo. Those three make up half of the progressive caucus on the Portland City Council.