BY JACOB SZETO A Secretary of State Audits Division audit report questions if $1.46 million used by the Oregon Commission for the Blind was spent prudently or lawfully. This audit was not random. It was initiated in March 2007 after the Secretary of State received allegations of mismanaged operations and misused funds. After substantiating several [...]

BY JACOB SZETO PORTLAND- Flyers distributed by the Oregon Student Association (OSA) to students on university campuses contained incorrect information about Oregon ballot Measures 66 and 67. The flyer in question was intended to educate students about the impacts of Measures 66 and 67. It was passed out to students in classrooms during presentations and [...]

BY JACOB SZETO TIGARD- In a 4-1 vote the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) board changed how employer contribution rates will adjust for the next scheduled change in July 2011. To fund public employee pensions, employers (schools, state agencies and local governments) are required to contribute to a trust fund that is used to pay [...]

BY JACOB SZETO In an effort to meet requirements for a transparency website created by House Bill 2500, the Department of Administrative Services has compiled and made available state workers’ salaries. The data provided includes approximately 32,620 state workers’ salaries. Not included are employees of the Oregon University System, Oregon State Treasurer, and semi-independent agencies, [...]

BY JACOB SZETO A recent report by the Oregon Secretary of State Audit Division questions the efficiency of state cell phone use. Of $3.1 million charged to the state for cell phones, the report found $588,000 of waste during a one-year period for unused and overused cell phones. According to the report, “Charges did not [...]

BY JACOB SZETO The White House recently claimed that about 640,000 jobs have been saved or created as a result of the $787 billion stimulus package. Many have questioned the accuracy of this number, and for good reason. Faulty reporting appears to be pervasive in the data used to make the claim. Jim Scarantino, of [...]

BY JACOB SZETO According to Recovery.gov, the U.S. government’s official website for data related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Oregon has a total of nine new congressional districts. That’s eight more than Oregon is projected to have after the 2010 census. These nine phantom Congressional districts include: 00, 14th, 8th, 16th, 60th, 21st, [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- During Friday’s State of the Courts address at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Chief Justice Paul De Muniz addressed the extreme budgetary crisis his court system has endured and will continue to endure in the coming year. De Muniz pointed out that even though the judicial branch comprises less than [...]

BY SARAH ROSS OREGON CITY- Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) drew major criticism and little praise from constituents Thursday night at the Willamette Falls Medical Center for his health care vote last summer. During the ninety-minute town hall gathering, almost every question Schrader fielded was about the subject of health care. While there were a few [...]

BY SARAH ROSS MOLALLA- Despite the passage of health care legislation in the Senate over a week ago, controversy on the matter took center stage at Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) town hall in Molalla on Tuesday. Numerous questions about the bill were presented to the Senator, including how the legislation would affect Veteran’s benefits, how [...]