Oregon

Growers in the Pacific Northwest are anticipating a strong crop this year, with a higher yield than last year’s harvest. But what they weren’t anticipating was a workforce shortage that’s being driven by the fear of immigration enforcement raids.
...
the fear of potential enforcement activity led to a 50% reduction in available workers for most cherry farmers in the region at the start of harvest

Oregon's legislature just passed Bill HB 2138:

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/06/oregon-middle-housing-bill-passes-legislature-expands-2019-reforms.html

In recent years, Oregon did 2 things to make housing more affordable :

Oregon reformed zoning.

Most american cities require single individual homes, the most expensive form of housing. You want to build something else? Good luck. They will try to stop you. Oregon changed zoning rules to make it easier to build duplexes, triplexes and condos.

Oregon banned parking requirements

Most american cities ban new buildings that don't add parking. If you want to build housing without parking, it's illegal. Basically, buyers and renters are forced to pay for parking spots, whether they like it or not. Even if they don't have a car. Even if they are blind. Oregon ended mandatory parking requirements. Eliminating parking requirements doesn't mean 0 parking. It just means it's up to buyers and sellers now.

These 2 reforms delivered some good results:

https://www.streetroots.org/news/2023/04/12/parking-reform-secret-new-oregon-housing

https://www.sightline.org/2025/06/04/oregons-zoning-reforms-are-working-but-they-need-some-upgrades/

But unfortunately, they didn't go far enough.

This new bill makes it significantly easier to build housing.

For the first time in my life, I can say Oregon has a realistic chance to fix the housing crisis.

Let's hope Bill HB 2138 is signed. This was long overdue. 🎉🥳🎊

https://xcancel.com/NickKristof/status/1934368862818161135#m

More news about it https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/12/newberg-business-owner-arrested-ice/

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/32328151

Major components of the surveillance network include the use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, and monitoring of social media through “sock puppet” accounts. Meanwhile, Jackson County is using a third-party lease to make its publicly owned building available to ICE for its Southern Oregon field office, creating another “backdoor” for local government resources to be utilized by ICE despite Oregon’s status as a “sanctuary state.”

Our latest trove of public records total 313 pages. Below is an overview of the records, which were obtained through public records requests to the city of Medford, the city of Grants Pass, and Jackson County. We provide a downloadable copy of the records at the bottom of this blog post.

Before Los Angeles, there was Portland, Oregon.

For more than 170 days in 2020, thousands of Portlanders gathered to protest police violence. They lay peacefully in the middle of the city’s most iconic bridge and marched with a local NBA star — but also tore down statues and looted shops. Police launched tear gas canisters into crowds, while the 750 Department of Homeland Security agents President Donald Trump dispatched to the city without the approval of local or state officials grabbed protesters at night and loaded them into unmarked vehicles.

As anti-Trump protests ramp up — with major rallies taking place across the country on Saturday — Portland officials are anxious to avoid a repeat of 2020.

A federal judge on Friday found the Oregon State Hospital in contempt of a court order governing the timely admissions of criminal defendants and will issue hefty daily fines starting Saturday to force the hospital to comply.

U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson said the state has not taken “all reasonable steps” to admit jailed criminal defendants to the psychiatric hospital within seven days for treatment when they are found unable to assist in their defense.

Nelson said the state’s crisis is largely the result of its “lack of foresight.”

Nazi's gonna nazi, and this one is home grown!