Was Gov. Brown’s COVID-19 State of Emergency Constitutional?

By Richard Emmons Gov. Kate Brown ended her two-year long COVID-19 state of emergency on April 1. Her executive orders resulted in the closing of many businesses, job layoffs, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine mandates and more. Her actions even closed many churches on Easter Sunday in 2020. No governor in Oregon history had assumed and used such sweeping authority …

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Election Recap and Look to November

By Richard Emmons The May 17 election resulted in a November run-off for county commissioner between John West and Brian DeLaGrange, voters repealing the county code enforcement ordinance and voters saying “No” to a ballot question about moving Josephine County to the state of Idaho. Josephine County Counsel Wally Hicks ran unopposed and was reelected with 16,458 votes. Statewide voter …

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Raw political power in Salem takes down The Flying Lark

Today, The Flying Lark’s application for horse racing machines was blocked by the Oregon Racing Commission. The ORC members voted this way due to pressure by Gov. Kate Brown. Here are excerpts from the Oregonian’s report with my comments in brackets: === Oregon Racing Commission, under pressure from governor, moves to block Travis Boersma’s Grants Pass gambling center The Oregon …

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Think-Outside-the-Box: Gov. Brown is Oregon’s No. 1 Homeschooling Advocate

In 2012, the Oregon Constitution was amended to eliminate an elected Chief of Public Instruction and put that authority directly in the governor’s office. Gov. Kate Brown has been Oregon governor since 2015. Gov. Brown has taken many actions that have undermined the public’s trust in public schooling while simultaneously causing many Oregon parents to consider homeschooling. In 2016, she …

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