The State Senator for Oregon Senate District 1 and Oregon Republican Party Chairman, Dallas Heard (R-Roseburg) was removed from the floor of the Oregon State Legislature during a Special Session floor meeting, declining to wear a facial mask in civil protest.

He told Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) that he would not comply with the order to wear a mask, and he would also not leave the voting floor, as he was elected to represent the people of his district in the matter.

The Senate President then ordered the Senate Sergeant of Arms to escort Heard from the voting floor. Heard accompanied the Sergeant of Arms without incident.

"Simply put I am just exercising the rights of the free people of Oregon," Senator Heard said.

Heard continued,"I think it's very interesting that our very own Governor who has put our children and the people of Oregon under these mandates and was recently photographed many time in fact, not wearing a mask at a crowded indoor event. This has gone on far enough!"



"You know you don't have a mask on, you're supposed to have a mask on," said a visibly shaken Senator Courtney. "So why don't you get up and tell us what you want, then I'm going to ask you to leave the floor."


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-12-13 20:26:01

Last Update: 2021-12-13 21:32:45

The Northwest Observer doesn't cover national news, such as the race crime hoax the likes of which actor Jussie Smolett was recently convicted of. There are plenty of national media sources and a quick internet search will get one up to date if they haven't heard the story. As one pundit describes it the left's demand for racism exceeds the supply.

It took an FBI investigation to confirm that the "noose" used as a door pull on the garage occupied by NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was not a hate crime. But for a while, noose season was in full swing.

Over here in Oregon where we have a one-party government, they seem to have solved every other problem that it seems that they have to turn to fake problems to keep themselves busy.

Speaking of nooses, SB 398, introduced by Senator James Manning, Jr. and passed into law during the 2021 regular session created the crime of intimidation by display of a noose. The law goes into effect in a couple of weeks on January 1, 2022.

It will be interesting to see if any new "noose" crimes are prosecuted and -- as ugly and insensitive as trying to intimidate someone by displaying a noose would be -- to see if the courts would actually uphold this law in the face of the First Amendment and Article 1, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution.

In the meantime, we can all be proud of the fact that soon, the state of Oregon will be a noose free zone.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-13 20:12:15

Last Update: 2021-12-13 21:33:22

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and Local Program Administrators (LPAs) still continue to process applications for the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP).

As of Dec. 8, OHCS and LPAs have paid $170.2 million in federal emergency rental assistance to 24,705 applicants, up from $157.5 million and 23,155 applicants from the previous week. OERAP is ranked 6th in the nation nation for housing assistance, in the percentage of ERA funds paid out and obligated, as tracked by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

OHCS is partnered with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) on the project. Currently, 150 PPL staff are processing applications with a focus on applications outside the 60-/90-day safe harbor period. In the past week, PPL processed close to 850 applications, exceeding their 500-application target. This is in addition to the applications paid out by Community Action Agencies working across the state to finish paying out ERA 1 funds. To date, OHCS and LPAs have:

• Paid $170,274,579 to landlords and tenants to help 24,705 Oregon households
• Processed and obligated an additional $21.1 million in funds for 2,465 households
• Received more than 58,849 completed applications

About 22,470 applications are in the review process. The 60-/90-day window of protection begins when a tenant shows proof they applied for the program. However, this data is not currently available.

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As proxy, OHCS is tracking when a tenant completes an OERAP application and the number of applicants who have not been paid outside of the 60-day window (90 days in Multnomah County and unincorporated areas of Washington County). Applications outside the 60-/90-day window are being moved from the LPA in their county to PPL.

Multnomah County is not included in this as a comparison because they have a 90-day window. Their average processing time is 75 days. On average, PPL processed applications within an estimated 57 days from when they received the application.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-12-13 14:46:11

Last Update: 2021-12-13 21:11:15

Last week Commissioners from Marion, Yamhill and Washington Counties selected Jessica George to represent House District 25. On Monday, she was sworn in as a member of the Legislature.

“The House Republican Caucus welcomes Jessica George to the Legislature and looks forward to the contributions she will bring, starting with this week’s special session,” said House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville).

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“There were some fantastic candidates running for this position and I am extremely honored to be selected as the new State Representative for House District 25,” said Representative Jessica George (R-St. Paul). “A big thank you to former Representative Bill Post for representing this district for the past seven years. I’m very excited to step into this roll and serve my communities.”

Representative George is a former legislative staff member for former senators Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day) and Larry George (R-Sherwood). She now works as a project manager for the George Packing Company located in Newberg.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-12-13 11:00:44

Last Update: 2021-12-13 15:10:59

It has been over a year since Governor Kate Brown announced her pick of Oregon doctors to serve on the Western States’ Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. The group was formed to do an “independent review on the safety and efficacy of any vaccine approved by the FDA for distribution.” Governor Brown said, “The independent review conducted by this panel of doctors, scientists, and health experts will ensure that a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone...[and] to guide the review of any vaccine approved by the FDA.”

The panel of Democrat western states governors and the driving force behind its formation is political. They didn't trust President Trump administration's FDA to perform an expert review for approval of the vaccine. Even though the FDA is staffed with experts, the western states governors made it a political showing to protest President Trump. The Workgroup doesn’t do anything more than read the FDA filing from pharmaceuticals to determine if they are believable. They do not test, examine or investigate content of the vaccines. They have no data to make a judgement, so how scientific is their review? it's a show that is cheated out of an ending.

Governor Brown writes, “these top health experts will review any vaccine that receives federal approval and verify its safety before California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada will make the vaccine available to the public.” “The workgroup will conduct a review of available data to ensure safety and effectiveness.” What is the available data? How is the effectiveness determined without outside testing?

Even though the workgroup is completely unnecessary to have another layer of approval on top of the FDA approval, the western states seem to have created the workgroup to support each other in rolling out mandates that are unconstitutional. The more they test the constitution, they create a precedent in people’s minds that convinces them they are legal.

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In addition to the Western States’ Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, the Oregon Health Authority formed a Vaccine Advisory Committee––a decision-making group that worked with OHA to co-created a vaccine distribution plan that prioritizes communities most affected by COVID-19 and those impacted by past and current health inequities. It guides community engagement strategies to build trust and increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. However, transparency hasn’t been forthcoming.

It's only recently that CDC has posted the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccines that the manufactures reported. The statistics on possible side effects is still hidden from the public. CDC does list possible side effects including myocarditis and pericarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and outer lining, in adolescents and young adults as being higher after getting the second dose.

OHA filed, December 11, 2021, a hearing on January 24, 2022, for two proposed rules. One exempts health care staff from vaccine mandates if they have had COVID-19 or for religious reasons. The second proposed rule requires wearing face coverings in health care settings. Instructions on how to participate are on the filing.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-13 10:02:45

Last Update: 2021-12-12 10:18:02

While attention is being drawn to Oregon Health Authority rulemaking to make masking permanent under the direction of Oregon Governor Kate Brown, in a sly move, OHA has launched amendments to a more controversial rule effectively mandating the COVID vaccines for school and daycare children. With little to no transparency, no media coverage, only one virtual public meeting held in November that was buried from the public, their unethical maneuvering is being exposed.

OHA is trying to hide their lack of authority by tying a COVID vaccine mandate to a school and childcare exclusion. OAR 333-019-0010 and OAR 333-019-1005 effectively grants unelected members of OHA the authority to “determine” if a vaccine, such as the 5-11-year-old COVID-19 immunization, should be added to the list of vaccine requirements, and it allows OHA to set an arbitrary “School Exclusion” date pressuring all students to meet or be “Excluded” from in-person attendance at school if they do not comply. However, the required list of immunizations is approved by the legislature with one exclusion date established, and, by law, Oregon has medical and non-medical exemptions for children.

The Stand For Health Freedom lists the damage they have “unearthed,” so far. The proposed rule changes:

• do not require that OHA offer Exemptions, as is currently required by law for all other immunizations.
• adjusts or removes definitions for natural immunity, attempting to create a new definition for immunity to effectively be vaccine-induced-only with the requirement to show proof.
• lays the groundwork to exclude anyone who already has established natural immunity or individuals who wish to exercise the right to decline a medical treatment.
• prevents any methodology from testing to use the “Test to Stay” option outlined by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE).

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These rules are attempting to do what SB 442 (2015), HB 3063 (2019), and SB 254 (2021) have all failed to do, which is to mandate immunization as a prerequisite to attend school in Oregon and openly discriminate against students and families who exercise their right to decline. Out of all the issues that have been protested against at the state capitol, medical freedom tops the list. These bills drew hundreds of furious families out to protect their children.

The Stand For Health Freedom organization says there is no epidemiological reason to force vaccinate 5-11-year-old children as the risks from Covid are lower than the risk of vaccine injury. Pfizer’s own research verifies this fact, but executives and CDC officials moved forward with the mass vaccination of children anyway. Now the Pfizer wants 75 years to release their data burying trial results.

CDC does list possible side effects for the COVID vaccines including myocarditis and pericarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and outer lining, in adolescents and young adults as being higher after getting the second dose. This isn’t as rare as they’d like you to believe. Even CDC’s website says 1-10 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 persons occurs among young people in the United States adjusted for the 7-day risk period – meaning it is higher during the first 7 days after vaccination, which is when most cases occur. Why would government mandate an experimental practice?

Stand For Health Freedom has made available easy messaging to OHA, Governor and legislators. The deadline for public comment if 5pm December 14, 2021.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-12 17:19:29

The Joint Interim Committee met December 11 in preparation for the second Special Session in 2021. The primary reason for the session was a push by Tina Kotek to help renters who face eviction. She is waging for an opportunity to put her leadership skills upfront and center to boost her visibility as a governor candidate.

However, the meeting Saturday only proved what Representative David Brock Smith said, “to get resources to Oregonians that need them and condemns the purely political fanfare of a Special Session as their hail mary attempt to cover up their disasters in leadership.”

As the meeting neared the two-hour mark on LC 9 related to emergency rental assistance, testimony was halted to the end of the hearing, but it was clear that Kotek’s reasons for her push was blowing up. Testimony after testimony spoke of the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department failure to process the applications that were already submitted.

It was stated that only four percent of the applications had been processed. Testimony from both rental owners and tenants were of unprocessed applications waiting for payment.

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Department and their failure to get needed checks to workers that lost their jobs due to her closing businesses and industries in Oregon. “Businesses continue to be crippled by a lack of workforce and data from other states clearly shows that an end to their eviction moratoriums had evictions lower than pre-pandemic numbers.

An extension will only increase existing fraud within the system, hasten inflation, perpetuate a lack of workforce and add to the looming recession facing Oregon. What we need is Oregonians to have the ability to get back to work, not this political posturing by the Governor and her Democrats. The Speaker’s Gubernatorial campaign doesn’t need another headline of broken promises,” said Rep. Brock Smith.

There may be other more important reasons for a second special session. Potential legislative concepts that were discussed are:

• Drought Relief Policy
• Illegal Cannabis Grows Policy
• Emergency Rental Assistance Policy
• Related Appropriations

Monday’s session will tell whether any of the testimony impacted the proposed bills.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-12 10:38:37

Last Update: 2021-12-12 10:52:18

According to the New York Times Oregon is one of five states that has a statewide mask mandate. Nine states have banned local mask mandates. Why does Oregon, who prides itself as a policy leader on so many issues, lag on this one?

According to Representative David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford), “Contrary to the Governor’s recent maskless escapades back east, she’s currently directing the Oregon Health Authority to draft permanent mask rules. Oregon’s current mask rules do not allow any number of unmasked individuals in indoor spaces while not actively eating or drinking. Oregonians are ready to move forward, get back to work and grow our economies, they are not fans of the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ mentality.”

Promises broken is not new for Governor Brown. What Oregonians thought was a clear roadmap to reopening the economy and discarding those infecting masks once 70 percent of adults were vaccinated was achieved in late June. But, here we are facing permanent masking rules without any real correlation between the vaccinated and new COVID cases.

At Thanksgiving OHA said new cases were down and infection were down too. Pat Allen, director, said “a steady drop in new infections during the past month allowed for a lifting of Oregon’s order mandating masks in large public gatherings outdoors.” Now that they are claiming success due to high vaccination rates, why not give Oregonians the option.

The Blaze conducted a study of cases over 229-days found that mask mandates are actually counterproductive. Even though conducted on the original COVID-19, variants have had smaller particles making the study more valid. The difference on a daily average was 10 cases more in states with mask mandates.

OHA established a Rules Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from faith-based organizations and the hospitality sector they claim covers stakeholders. The discussion was to get agreement on implementing the “indefinitely permanent” proposed rule. The “permanent” nature of the rule is because the law doesn’t allow for a temporary rule to go beyond 180 days. Their response is that it can be repeal at any time.

The public is skeptical that the rule is legal, and tends not to believe OHA’s assurance that the rule will be terminated when no longer needed. It does seem that reduced cases over the past month warrants a termination of masks now, especially since the Omicron variant has light flu-like symptoms. So, if not now, when?




--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-12 09:07:02

Last Update: 2021-12-12 10:02:45

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) and Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) met to work together on a roster of bills:

• Board and Superintendent Professional Learning Bill
• Racial Equity and Justice Student Collaborative Bill
• Superintendent Contract Protections Bill
• Funding for Wildfire Impacted Districts Bill

These bills include what was SB 334 in the 2021 session. The planned difference is to give unelected superintendents more power than the elected school board and limits the authority of the school board from firing the superintendent without cause. This will protect superintendents to follow the framework that ODE suggestions including what is put forth in SB 334 regardless of the school board and community positions.

Senator Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) and Representative Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro) sponsored SB 334 in 2021 to require minimum professional learning and training for leadership positions that is under the control of ODE.

Their control suggests training in controversial areas of equity, diversity and sexual identity to be decided at ODE outside of local input as the law requires.

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The bill listed training to include the basics for critical race theory:

• Prohibitions against discrimination, including requirements for compliance with ORS 659.850
• Methods for promoting inclusion and for eliminating racism and bias in the classroom and the workplace
• Methods for achieving equitable academic outcomes for all students
• Failure to provide specified training causes the school district to be nonstandard and in jeopardy of losing funding under ORS 327.103

The Coalition of Oregon School Administrators and the Oregon School Board Association provided an amendment to SB 334.that eliminated the CRT content and focused on collaboration to strengthen the partnership between boards and superintendents to enhance student success. They eliminated the threat and replaced it with a self- assessment of the adopted plan every two years that gives each board the flexibility for local decision making. It remains to be seen whether the proposed legislation will include these amendments.

The amendment may have had good intentions, but it still allowed ODE to control the training and framework to include CRT elements. How much input are parents really allowed? This framework eliminates feedback from parents when it is dictated by ODE. When parents object in numbers, it made the news when the National Association of School Boards proposed making parents that demonstrate domestic terrorists. ODE wants to not just silence parents’ voices, but handicap school boards from disciplining administration when not following the board directives. As of November, Oregon school districts filed 29 openings for school superintendents this year. Recently there were three superintendents removed from their positions.

• Adrian School District Superintendent Kevin Purnell for mandating masks
• Newberg Superintendent Joe Morelock for not enforcing a ban on political flags in classrooms
• Greater Albany Public Schools District fired Superintendent Melissa Goff to resolve a polarizing situation

Dr. Sue Reike-Smith, Superintendent of Tigard Tualatin School District, made national news when students forced her hand to address racial slurs at Tigard High School by walking out. The video that instigated the walkout was racist and needs addressing. However, Suzanne Gallagher, Executive Director of Parents’ Rights in Education, says “Dr. Sue” is telling students if someone says anything offensive to you, the one saying it should be punished. Those remarks have inspired students to ask for those responsible be expelled for what they do on their own time. That is unlawful, and goes against the First Amendment and Discrimination statutes. Since the video was made on school break, the superintendent is not responsible for speech outside her domain and giving students the wrong guidance puts her leadership into question.

It may be poor ODE leadership that is ultimately causing teachers to withdraw their membership from unions including Oregon Education Association (OEA). More then 1,100 have terminated their membership as a result of Freedom Foundation efforts informing employees of political and social stances the unions have taken that seems to be carrying out the agenda of ODE.

Teachers see the cry of parents that OEA, OSBA, COSA and ODE seem to ignore for the political agenda of state leaders.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-11 16:36:35

Last Update: 2021-12-11 21:14:06

Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division has announced a new funding opportunity for community-based organizations.

OHA has released a request for grant applications from community-based organizations that will create partnerships with communities of color, Tribal communities, disability communities, immigrant and refugee communities, undocumented communities, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, LGBTQ2SIA+ communities, faith communities, older adults, houseless communities and others.

The funding will supposedly support community-based organizations as an important part of Oregon’s public health system working toward equity.

OHA says their strategic goal is to eliminate health inequities by 2030.

OHA has available more than $31 million in funding provided by eight Public Health Division programs, including:

• Adolescent and School Health, $2 million
• Commercial Tobacco Prevention, $20 million
• Public Health Modernization (Environmental Public Health and Climate Change, Climate Change Health Impacts, Communicable Disease Prevention and Emergency Preparedness), $8.6 million
• HIV, STD, TB Prevention and Treatment, $225,000
• Overdose Prevention, $140,000
• ScreenWise (breast and cervical cancer detection and services), Patient Navigation and Barrier Reduction, $100,000

On the website, the public can view program activities eligible for funding. Community-based organizations can apply online using the website. Paper applications are also available and can be downloaded from the website.

Grant applications can be submitted now through Jan. 31, 2022. OHA welcomes applications from organizations of all sizes and perspectives, especially those that are new and have not received funding from OHA before.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-12-11 12:57:58

Last Update: 2021-12-11 14:30:36

Representative David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) calls out the failures of the Governor and her Democrat Supermajority to get resources to Oregonians that need them and condemns the purely political fanfare of a Special Session as their hail mary attempt to cover up their disasters in leadership.

“Republicans have solved this issue more than once for Oregonians, with nearly $360 million dollars allocated that includes over $70 million to administration costs for dollars to get to tenants and landlords” said Rep. Brock Smith. “The failure of the Governor’s Oregon Housing and Community Services Department to get these resources out the door is reminiscent of her disastrous Employment Department and their failure to get needed checks to workers that lost their jobs due to her closing businesses and industries in Oregon.”

There are a number of budgetary items on the list for a Special Meeting tomorrow (Saturday) to be heard by a Special Committee appointed by the Speaker and Senate President, to then come to a Monday Special Session. The ONLY piece that needs legislation is the extension of the Eviction Moratorium.

“Extending the eviction moratorium is unnecessary and disruptive”, said Rep. Brock Smith. “Contrary to the Governor’s recent maskless escapades back east, she’s currently directing her agencies to draft permanent mask rules. Oregonians are ready to move forward, get back to work and grow our economies, they are not fans of the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ mentality. There is no need for a special session and legislation to extend the moratorium as everyone to date that has applied for relief are in the que and if eligible for rental assistance, are covered. The other needed resources for drought relief, illegal cannabis enforcement and additional rent assistance dollars can be allocated through the Legislative Emergency Board that can meet at any time.”

“Businesses continue to be crippled by a lack of workforce and data from other states clearly shows that an end to their eviction moratoriums had evictions lower than pre-pandemic numbers. An extension will only increase existing fraud within the system, hasten inflation, perpetuate a lack of workforce and add to the looming recession facing Oregon. What we need is Oregonians to have the ability to get back to work, not this political posturing by the Governor and her Democrats. The Speaker’s Gubernatorial campaign doesn’t need another headline of broken promises. In fact, if the Legislature is going to allocate more resources to help renters and landlords, they should give them to Gubernatorial Candidate, State Treasurer Read. He would definitely get them out to Oregonians with the proper information and he could surely use a headline.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-11 06:20:47

Former Oregon National Guard soldier and U.S. Congressional Candidate for Oregon’s 4th Congressional Candidate Alek Skarlatos released the following statement regarding record-high inflation.

“President Joe Biden and the Democrats who run Washington, have been on a spending binge that has created the highest inflation surge since 1982,” said Alek Skarlatos. “Throughout Oregon, gas prices are near $4.00 a gallon, the cost to heat our homes and buy groceries continue to rise and it’s clear Joe Biden’s tax-and-spend agenda is not working. If elected, I will hold Joe Biden accountable and offer real solutions to lower the cost of consumer goods and energy bills.”

Inflation surged 6.8% in November, even more than expected, to the fastest rate since 1982. “Inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since 1982 in November, the Labor Department said Friday, putting pressure on the economic recovery and raising the stakes for the Federal Reserve. The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, rose 0.8% for the month, good for a 6.8% pace on a year over year basis and the fastest rate since June 1982. Excluding food and energy prices, so-called core CPI was up 0.5% for the month and 4.9% from a year ago, which itself was the sharpest pickup since mid-1991.”

Economist Larry Summers says Joe Biden’s White House misread inflation. “Larry Summers, a former top economic adviser to President Obama, said Wednesday that President Biden's White House has been ‘behind the curve’ in their predictions about rising prices during the coronavirus pandemic. ‘I think that the policymakers in Washington unfortunately have almost every month been behind the curve,’ Summers said on CNN. ‘They said it was transitory; it doesn’t look so transitory. They said it was due to a few specific factors; doesn’t look to be a few specific factors. They said when September came and people went back to school, that the labor force would grow, and it didn’t happen.’”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-11 06:09:43

Last Update: 2021-12-10 16:20:47