Governments most commonly use the power of eminent domain when the acquisition of real property is necessary for the completion of a public project such as a road, and the owner of the required property is unwilling to negotiate a price for its sale. In many jurisdictions the power of eminent domain is tempered with [...]

We tend to focus on the language learning issues of our immigrants, but that’s only the part of the picture that we can immediately perceive. What they bring with them is often too harrowing to believe, and not readily shared. This week’s “My Turn” in Newsweek paints a much fuller picture than we are usually [...]

Sometimes the Oregonian editorial board writes something in an editorial that makes me choke on my muesli in the morning, and this a.m. just happened to be one of those mornings. The editorial focused on two Washington state initiatives on next week’s ballot that deal with medical malpractice. To be fair, they did [...]

Every two years in Oregon voters are faced with a number of ballot measures that are nine times out of ten sponsored by conservatives. Since the governorship has been held by Democrats for nearly two decades, conservatives have resorted to the initiative process to advance their agenda. This route serves a number of [...]

The Oregonian has published the names of all the Oregon soldiers who have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, a majority of them being in Iraq.
Some of them came from Portland. Others came from the other corners of Oregon such as Hermiston and Klamath Falls. Some have left family members behind [...]

Yesterday’s Oregonian had a clear-minded opinion piece by Adell Amos, assistant professor of law at the University of Oregon, that argued in favor of the recent legal decision that overturned Measure 37, which had overturned Oregon’s longstanding land-use laws. She articulates perfectly, in lay-people’s terms, the basis for the court ruling:
For the individual property [...]

I’ve met more of them than I can count. When they first arrive, they have the very best of intentions. They want to blend in, mingle, communicate with the citizenry, become as close to native as they can. Ready for a new life, they’re excited about their new home and envision their future selves as [...]

A perfect place for the next Red Robin franchise?
Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven details some Mormons’ practice of “bleeding the beast”: namely, marrying multiple wives who, with children in tow, extract money from ogrish governments via welfare.
The GOP seems to have picked up the same trick: spend, spend, spend, and when there’s [...]

While buying a burrito from a food cart in a parking lot, I got into a conversation with the proprietor, a native English-speaking North American. She mentioned her growing friendship with Maria, the Mexican woman in the next cart over. Neither speaks the other’s language, but they’re each learning a word a day – what [...]

During the ‘04 election most Oregonians were focused on who would be America’s president for the next four years and whether or not gays could legally marry in the state. It was Bush vs. Kerry and Yes vs. No on Measure 36. Oh yeah, and then there was something or another about [...]