Category Archives: Office of the Governor

Meet the Five High-Level Staffers Who Left Gov. Tina Kotek’s Office

Lindsey Burrows, deputy general counsel: Burrows previously worked as a criminal defense lawyer. In 2018, she became one of the few lawyers ever to win two cases in the same day before the Oregon Supreme Court. Insiders say Burrows grew disillusioned over Gov. Tina Kotek’s unwillingness to place structure around first lady Aimee Kotek Wilson’s […]
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Aimee Kotek Wilson Is Her Wife’s Closest Adviser And Highest Priority

When Tina Kotek ran for governor in 2022, she’d already been speaker of the Oregon House for nearly a decade, the longest tenure in the state’s history. Decisive, focused and transactional to the point of ruthlessness, Kotek was a known commodity. Her partner of nearly 20 years, not so much. That all changed March 22, […]
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No criminal charges for OLCC managers who set aside rare bourbon for themselves, state says

The Oregon Department of Justice on Monday said it would not pursue criminal charges against the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission director and other managers who used their positions to access prized Kentucky bourbon. The Justice Department’s 18-page report on its investigation underscored challenges state investigators encountered: Investigators weren’t able to locate anyone who could […]
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No criminal charges in Oregon liquor diversion scandal

The Oregon Department of Justice says it doesn’t have enough evidence to prosecute managers who steered rare liquors to themselves. Top managers at the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission who used their inside knowledge to buy hard-to-find whiskeys won’t face criminal charges, the state Department of Justice said Monday. After a 15-month investigation that spanned […]
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Editorial: Central Oregon prepares for earthquakes | Opinion |

Redmond will be the base for responding to a range of state calamities — earthquakes, wildfires and more. A home for the response and training is planned to be CORE3, a facility near Redmond. The “3” is there in the name to stand for the three “Rs” in Central Oregon Ready Responsive Resilient. Source: Editorial: […]
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Oregon utility regulator, renominated by Kotek, on rising rates, wildfire risk

Gov. Tina Kotek has nominated Letha Tawney for another four-year term on the state panel that sets rules and rates — fraught subjects recently — for investor-owned gas and electric utilities. Tawney has served on the Oregon Public Utility Commission since 2018, giving the three-person PUC an extended core with Chair Megan Decker, whose tenure […]
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Ballot fight over North Plains expansion will resonate statewide

With time running out in this year’s brief, busy legislative session, a tiny Portland suburb suddenly leapt to the top of Oregon’s political agenda. The Legislature took the extraordinary step of moving to stop the people of North Plains from voting in the May 21 election on whether their community should grow. Request full-text (for […]
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Opinion: End of 90-day fentanyl crisis reveals a mission left unaccomplished

During Multnomah County’s official 90-day fentanyl emergency, one might have thought that the full force of our state and local government would finally have been brought to bear on the fentanyl crisis devastating our area. One would be wrong. Instead, at their recent press conference, the governor, Multnomah County chair and Portland’s mayor struggled to […]
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Gov. Tina Kotek abandons nominations to Oregon forestry board after pushback

Nominations to the board that sets state timber policy are often fought over by logging and environmental interests. Gov. Tina Kotek abruptly pulled back this week on a pair of nominations to the board that oversees Oregon forest policy, after blowback from environmental groups over one of her picks. Kotek had planned to tap two […]
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Oregon insiders: Who’s who in and around state government

Scott Moore is on his way in and Jenn Baker is on her way out as chief of staff for new House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene. Baker is still chief of staff on an interim basis during the transition. And Moore, who was Fahey’s chief of staff in the House Majority Office, also is handling […]
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