On this day, April 19, 2010, Jorge Ortiz-Oliva, the kingpin of one of the biggest drug organizations in Oregon history, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Celebrated on the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in the wake of the American Civil War, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.
Governor Kate Brown has announced that she will appoint Michele Rini to the Washington County Circuit Court to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jim Fun. Rini’s appointment is effective October 1, 2021.
“Michele Rini has deep roots in Washington County, and has long served her community as a juvenile hearings referee on this court,†Governor Brown said. “Her experience, compassion, and work ethic will enable her to hit the ground running.â€
Rini grew up in Washington County and attended Beaverton High School. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University and a law degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College. From there, Rini entered private practice, focusing on juvenile, criminal, and family law cases. She is a registered Democrat.
In 2005, Rini began serving as a part-time Pro Tem judge in Washington County, and in 2006, she was hired by the Washington County Court as a full time Juvenile Hearings Referee, where she has served ever since. In that role, she has presided over a juvenile docket, including juvenile dependency and delinquency hearings, termination of parental rights cases, and emancipation. She has also presided over other matters, including support enforcement cases, small claims motions, and landlord tenant first appearances.
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Rini has served for ten years as a participant in Washington County’s model court team, served on the Oregon Judicial Department’s implementation workgroup for SB 1008, a juvenile justice reform bill which provided for criminal sentence reduction. Rini is a past president of the Washington County Bar Association and a former member of the juvenile law section committee of the Oregon State Bar.
Speaker Kotek plus a COVID exposure means Secretary Fagan could draw the lines
Editor's note: A previous article indicated that it was probable that redistricting would not be completed by the Legislature. This is not conclusive and this article has been edited to reflect that. We apologize for the error
Sources inside the Oregon Capitol have confirmed that the House Republican caucus are considering not supplying the necessary members for a quorum to complete the special session and enact a redistricting plan. The Legislature must complete the plan by Monday or it falls to Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D-Portland) to create maps for the Congressional, State Senate and State House districts.
The upset is over a broken deal that was made in the 2021 regular session between the Republican caucus and House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland). The agreement was that the Republicans would get an even number of seats and chairs as their Democratic colleagues on the House Special Committee On Congressional Redistricting in exchange for not forcing the constitutional requirement that each bill be read in its entirety before passage and that Republicans would not walk out on the session.
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Surprisingly, Speaker Kotek restacked the House Redistricting Committee so that it has one Republican and two Democrats, depriving Republicans of their veto leverage on the committee.
Additionally, House Republican insiders have revealed that there has been a COVID-19 exposure to many of the House Republican Members, who, by Legislature COVID-19 personnel rules, are required to quarantine -- regardless of vaccine status or natural immunity from having survived the disease. The quarantine requirement would make it impossible for members to attend the session prior to the Monday deadline.
Speaker Kotek's actions are seen as very risky by most political observers, as she has announced that she will run for Governor in 2022 and has a larger -- and more politically diverse -- constituency than her North Portland District who may take a dim view of this breach of integrity.
5th consecutive session with restricted public access
Oregon Senate Democrats rammed through partisan gerrymandered redistricting plans that will rig elections for the next decade. The Congressional Plan, by far the most egregious, creates 5 solidly Democratic districts. This would give Democrats control of 86% of Oregon’s congressional delegation, despite Oregonians never giving Democrats 86% of the vote in contested elections.
“I believe the plan that was passed violated the law by not following the criteria,†said Senator Tim Knopp (R-Bend), vice-chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee. “They must do logical and legal gymnastics to justify pairing the rural and urban communities that they lumped together. No matter how Democrats try to spin it, the only reason to spread downtown Portland into three districts is to silence the voices of rural communities.â€
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Senate Republicans spoke about the problems with the Democrats’ proposed redistricting plan on the Senate floor, referencing hours of public testimony in opposition to gerrymandering.
“As written, this plan will rig the next 10 years of election to favor Democrats,†Senator Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Lyons) said. “Fifty percent of Oregon’s congressional representatives will serve the City of Portland, but only 15% of Oregon’s population live in Portland. The urban-rural divide will continue to grow wider under this plan. Today the Democratic politicians decided it was more important that they pick their voters than voters pick their representatives. This partisan process proves that the legislature cannot be trusted to draw these lines in the future. The majority party will always look out for themselves. Oregonians deserve better than that.â€
The redistricting plans will now be considered by the House.
Congressional map will be gerrymandered for Democrat advantage
House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) has broken the deal made with the minority party earlier this year which allowed the Republicans to have equal representation on the Redistricting Committee.
On Monday, September 20, as it became clear that the House Democrats would not get the redistricting plan approved that would give them an advantage over the Republicans, the Speaker decided at that point to form a new committee that would be willing to do just that.
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House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) released the following statement in response to House Democrats’ creation of a new partisan committee to force through a gerrymandered congressional map:
“The Speaker has created a new partisan committee to force through the Democrats’ illegal congressional redistricting map. She lied and broke her promise not just to us but to Oregonians. She just sold the soul of our state for Democrats’ political gain. She’s determined to gerrymander Oregon’s congressional maps. Republicans have been at the table extending a hand so we can work together on fair maps. We wanted to be responsive to public testimony. This map doesn’t do that.â€
Representative Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany) released the following statement regarding her attendance at the newly created partisan committee to pass the Democrats’ gerrymandered congressional redistricting map:
“The redistricting process in Oregon is in tatters because of actions from House Democrats today. Agreements were broken, a partisan committee has been created. Not a single line in this congressional map proposal was changed to be responsive to public testimony.
They have abandoned bipartisanship and collaboration in order to increase Democrats’ political gain. This brand-new committee was created to pass these maps that have been scrutinized and defined as partisan gerrymandering. This was the predetermined outcome for political interests. Not fair representation for Oregonians.
I won’t contribute to an illegal partisan map by participating in this committee.â€
The White House must expedite the visa approval process and lift refugee caps
As thousands of Afghan refugees pour into the United States -- with possibly many more on the way -- Oregon is bracing itself to do its part in the resettlement effort.
Refugees are individuals or groups of people in grave danger because their home government is either unwilling or unable to protect them, or may be actively persecuting them. They are from all over the world, from large urban areas to rural refugee camps. The U.S. Refugee Program​ and the 1951 Refugee Convention spells out that a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."
Kate Brown has issued a statement saying the state is ready to help resettle “any and all Afghans who would make our state their home,†adding that Oregon has welcomed more than 75,000 refugees since 1975. Brown said the White House must also expedite the visa approval process and lift refugee caps.
"As we watch the current situation unfold in Afghanistan, Oregon stands ready to help the federal government resettle Afghan refugee families.
Refugee Resettlement Agencies are contracted by the Department of State to do the initial resettlement. The Resettlement Agencies perform such essential tasks as picking up the refugees at the airport, finding them a place to live and helping to furnish their home with basic necessities. This initial RRA period lasts up to 90 days.
The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement provides up to eight months of cash and medical assistance to newly arriving refugees. These federal funds are administered through the states. Refugees may be able to receive any other assistance that is offered to U.S. citizens, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and food assistance in the form of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Governor Brown's statement continued,
"Over the last two decades, thousands of Afghans have worked alongside U.S. military service members, as interpreters and translators and in other roles, risking their lives as they contributed to our efforts in their country. The lives of Afghan women and girls are at risk simply because they had the audacity to learn in school and pursue careers. Equal rights advocates are being targeted for seeking a more just future with equal rights for all. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community in Afghanistan are in danger because of who they are and who they love. Oregon is ready to welcome any and all Afghans who would make our state their home.
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"Oregon is ready to welcome our refugee sisters and brothers from Afghanistan, and the rest of the world. I am hopeful the Biden-Harris administration, along with Congress, will lift refugee admission caps and take other emergency humanitarian actions to save lives. It’s critical that the United States take steps to evacuate as many people in danger from Afghanistan as quickly as possible, including expediting the visa approval process, particularly for those Afghans and their families who have risked their lives in service of this country.
"Oregon will continue to be a welcoming and inclusive place for all who call our state home – including and especially our immigrant and refugee communities."
Students and their parents are increasingly unsatisfied customers
The recall efforts to remove Kate Brown from office nearly succeeded. What they didn’t expose was the power behind the throne. Kate Brown wants to work inside the Wash. D.C. beltway so bad she will do anything. The more tyrannical and brazen, the more likely that she’ll get noticed. The lockdowns, mandates and sanctioned attacks on the country’s founding principles go on unabated to further her political career. Teachers got cuts in line for vaccines. That’s the visible part. The less visible part is the organization that finances and drives enforcement of this destruction. The power behind the throne is the teachers union.
When did teachers colleges began progressive indoctrinating? When did continuing education for Oregon teachers and administrators alike stress progressive indoctrination? John Dewey is credited with creating Progressive Education in the early 20th century. That’s 100 years ago. In that time many Universities born of Christian teachings have come under the control of government grants. The ideals of their founders, people like John Harvard, are in total contradiction to the grievance Marxism that dominates curriculums today. Faculty comply, or are forced out as we have seen over many decades and in just the last two weeks in the case of PSU professor Peter Boghossian.
At the local level we now have a fight to the death involving the majority of the Newberg School Board and their detractors. A 4-3 vote of the Board called for the removal of political signs and banners from the classrooms. Imagine that, a school that teaches the basics and allows, even encourages students to think for themselves. The vote gained an overnight appearance by socialist icon New York Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez in Newberg to call for protests. Employers of the four board members have been asked to fire them. One employer already gave in to the pressure and terminated the employment of a conservative board member. Another has had art work removed from display at two locations. Convinced it is their duty to indoctrinate, administrators and teachers cooperate with activity threatening the livelihood of School Board members who won’t aid their quest for power. The ACLU, a union appendage, has been called in to sue the board.
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Conflicts between school staff and parents over the education of students is a daily occurrence. Parents are increasingly concerned that public schools will never again be a place of learning. The Governor and her union masters apparently share that belief. Testing and grade standards have been removed as necessary measures for earning a diploma. In most commercial interactions the customer comes first or they take their business elsewhere. With public education the customer comes first only in providing revenue. The customer comes last otherwise. Students and their parents are increasingly unsatisfied customers.
School Board suggests white kids not impacted by racism
At a recent Salem-Keizer School Board meeting, a resolution was brought forth by Vice-Chair Ashley Carson Cottingham that some Board members are claiming is a Commitment to Equity and Anti-Racism, however skeptics are pointing out that the resolution seems to be filled with discrimination against white students solely based on the color of their skin.
Leftist members of the school board seem willing to dismiss any such concerns, justifying the discrimination by claiming that white children are not subjected to racism at all, and that only BIPOC, non-white students are victims of racism.
As Chairman Osvaldo Avila explains, "What we're trying to do here is make sure there is no power and privilege over, just because of the color of your skin, this is because historically, white supremacists have enslaved people, used power and privilege, using racism and divisive and hateful signs, language, flags now, and that's not what we want in this school district," said Board Chairman Osvaldo Avila.
Director Marty Heyen explains to the rest of the board how she believes that the term "white supremacist" is used incorrectly, and the that word is "like a tennis ball in a tennis match, it's thrown around so loosely to insult people, that it's thrown around to shut people down, and used when you want to end a conversation." She explains that the overuse and misuse of the term will only make problems worse.
"I've been voting for the equity policy every year", said Heyen. "I believe the first year was 2015-2016, my first year on the board. And, it doesn't seem like this policy has made a difference. It seems like there is more anger, and more divisiveness, than less.
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The board seems to dismiss her concerns, with Zone 5 Director Karina Guzmán Ortiz quickly moving on and stating that "I would like to include the Asian community into paragraph 5, the Asian community and our Asian brothers and sisters are also impacted by racism and white supremacy and a lot of other racism..." She then gaslights Director Heyen and suggests that anyone offended at being called a white supremacist is probably a white supremacist, in her estimation.
The Resolution will be voted on in the October 12th Salem-Keizer School Board meeting.
You can watch the entire Salem-Keizer School Board meeting from September 14th here.
Homeless will not be prevented from returning once the site is cleaned
Following a risk assessment by Washington County staff, a determination has been made that unsafe and unhealthy conditions at a homeless encampment located in the 800 block of SW Baseline in Hillsboro required immediate action to clean the site. The assessment evaluated factors related to the presence of uncontained garbage, environmental concerns, criminal activity and the size of the encampment.
County staff have notified residents of the encampment that they have five days to remove all personal items and leave the location to allow cleanup work to begin on September 21. Outreach workers from partner agencies have also been notified and will follow up with camp residents to provide support and referrals to available resources during this difficult time.
Previously, on August 31, campers staying at the encampment were notified that unless conditions improved by September 14, the site would be posted for removal of all personal property, prior to cleaning by Washington County. Campers were also advised that if they were successful in reducing the risk situation, they would be allowed to stay -- per County policy and in compliance with U.S.
Supreme Court ruling Martin v. Boise -- until future shelter options become available. During the ensuing two-week grace period, County staff provided support and supplies for camper-led clean-up efforts which resulted in the removal of several yards of bagged garbage as well as provision of porta-potties and regular garbage service.
Although people experiencing homelessness will not be prevented from returning once the site is cleaned, activities at this and other similar encampments are now being coordinated by the County’s newly created Encampment Management Program. Under the EMP’s organizational framework, cities and special districts have been invited to join in this unique opportunity to meet the urgent needs of the homeless, as well as the livability and safety concerns of nearby residents and business owners.
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan has assumed the role of chair of the Oregon Sustainability Board at their fall quarterly meeting.
Outgoing chair, John Miller and Governor Kate Brown were also in attendance.
“I’m really looking forward to digging in with the Oregon Sustainability Board as we lead the way for state agencies and others to manage our resources. Oregonians place a tremendous value on sustainability and wise management, and this high-functioning Board takes their responsibility to Oregonians seriously,†said Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, adding, “The entire board and I are immensely grateful to outgoing chair John Miller for his visionary leadership these last six years.â€
The Oregon Sustainability Board (OSB) was created in 2001 and encourages activities that supposedly sustain, protect, and enhance the environment, economy, and community for the present and future benefit of Oregonians. Appointed by the Governor, members represent stakeholders across the State of Oregon.
“I’m delighted to see Oregon’s Secretary of State take over as chair of the Sustainability Board,†said Governor Kate Brown. “Over the last two decades, this board has done important work to elevate sustainability issues and improve state agency operations. I’m confident Secretary Fagan will bring energy and vision to this job as sustainability becomes increasingly important in the face of climate change.â€
The Board meets quarterly and is comprised of a chair directly appointed by the Governor and ten members appointed by Governor Kate Brown and approved by the State Senate, which is currently super-majority Democrat.
OHA's statement only focused on the part of the FDA's statement that the committee recommended that people age 65 and older and those considered at high risk of severe COVID-19 receive a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at least six months after the second dose.
This news is widely considered a blow to the Biden presidential administration, and Oregon's Governor Brown's relentless and exhaustive efforts to try to achieve some 100 percent compliance to the vaccination effort. This comes on the tails of recent forceful government mandates that government, healthcare, and education workers be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
The choice to only release selective information to the public by the OHA will likely continue to damage the reputability of the statewide health coordinator, according to many observers, and they are noting that the OHA would have been better off including all of the information released by the FDA to the people of Oregon.
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You can view OHA's press release on the announcment here.
She vowed to make a safe gun-storage law a top priority
Editor's note: This is the seventh of a multipart series on Tina Kotek – her past and her future – as well as where her political ambitions might take her.
Gun reform is not a new subject for Speaker Tina Kotek. In 2015 she made news when in her town hall she expressed support for a “pro-rape†gun measure that she called “closing a loophole.†That measure would have effectively ban you from loaning or selling a gun to a sister (or other female relative or friend) who was in imminent danger of a sexual assault.
Numerous violent incidents took 528 lives in Oregon in 2017, which started a series of reform attempts. The 2017 session witnessed Kotek’s democrats pull every shady trick in the book to ram through SB 719 which is referred to as the “Gun Confiscation Bill.†Dubbed as an “extreme risk protection orderâ€, it allows a family member or household member to arbitrarily report that someone is a risk to themselves or others, and grants police the authority storm one’s home and confiscate deadly weapons. This confiscation does not require substantive proof that the person in question ever did anything wrong. The accused would then have to spend thousands of dollars of their own money on attorney and court fees to prove they are worthy of their 2nd Amendment rights.
The reforms proposed in 2019 in SB 978, would have required gun owners to secure their guns, and impose regulations on “ghost†or 3-D printed guns and require gun owners to report lost and stolen guns. When the gun bill failed in 2019 by an outpouring of citizens that caused Republican Senators to walked out, it stop the passage. After the session, KOIN reported that Speaker Tina Kotek vowed to make a safe gun-storage law a top priority in the next legislative short-session in 2020.
Speaker Kotek’s comments on the 2021 session praised police reforms but said they did not go far enough, but still included serious changes to the way law enforcement officers can respond to protests and how they face discipline. As we witnessed, police were told to stand down if no one is seriously hurt while Antifa destroyed property and scared children at a religious gathering on the Waterfront in Portland. That is the face of her policy reform.
The height of the 2021 session came when Kotek’s caucus rammed through SB 554, as she had promised in 2019. The bill sets new requirements for how gun owners must securely store their weapons when not in use, bans guns in the Capitol and Portland International Airport, and paved the way for public schools and universities to pass their own gun bans. The penalty section makes gun owners liable for crimes committed if the gun is stolen. It virtually makes the gun non-accessible putting at-risk families in harm’s way.
Referendum 301 is currently collecting signatures to repeal SB 554. Deadline is September 24.
Bonamici has proven to be a reliable ‘yes man’ for the Democrat party
Oregon’s Congressional District One is a tough demographic for Republican challengers. For decades Democrats have exerted a lock on that seat. Redistricting will change the boundaries, but changes aren’t known. Past incumbents Elizabeth Furse and David Wu enjoyed the same public union support extended to current office holder Suzanne Bonamici. Those three all understand that if you deliver for the public unions you’ll get millions in campaign funds and canvassers from the ranks of government employees. The new Congressional District 6 is likely to be Yamhill and Polk Counties and just enough Portland Democrats to ensure Democrat dominance in the seat.
Undaunted courage describes 2022 Republican challenger David Russ. Currently serving as mayor of Dundee, David runs as an alternative to representatives that promise one thing during a campaign and then obey party leadership once in office. In Bonamici’s case she obeys Nancy Pelosi if she wants to maintain her standing on Congressional committees. While accomplishing little for CD1 constituents, Bonamici has proven to be a reliable ‘yes man’ for the Democrat party.
David Russ, a very approachable candidate, has done what he has promised as mayor of Dundee. Russ puts it succinctly, "My campaign is strongly driven by faith and direction from God. My tenure will be driven by the Constitution and Service to my Constituents."
Additionally, House Republican insiders have revealed that there has been a COVID-19 exposure to many of the House Republican Members, who, by Legislature COVID-19 personnel rules, are required to quarantine -- regardless of vaccine status or natural immunity from having survived the disease. The quarantine requirement would make it impossible for members to attend the session prior to the Monday deadline.
Supreme Court ruling Martin v. Boise -- until future shelter options become available. During the ensuing two-week grace period, County staff provided support and supplies for camper-led clean-up efforts which resulted in the removal of several yards of bagged garbage as well as provision of porta-potties and regular garbage service.
