2 Nigerian nationals charged in attempted $2.9 million fraud of Portland Public Schools

A state lawmaker from Portland who was stopped by police twice in three days during his commute home from the Capitol in Salem said Thursday the frequency of those incidents is a concrete example of how law enforcement disproportionately targets Black motorists. Rep. Travis Nelson, a Democrat and registered nurse,...

A Multnomah County judge on Wednesday sentenced disbarred Portland lawyer Lori E. Deveny to 14 years in prison, citing the “sheer number” of clients she fleeced of their insurance settlements, the sum of the losses and the violation of her position of trust. “And frankly,” Circuit Judge Jerry...

Tax season got off to a rocky start for the Oregon Department of Revenue, which acknowledged Thursday that it sent personal tax refund information for about 5,000 taxpayers to the wrong address. All 5,000 are intended for, and were mailed to, Portland residents, said Robin Maxey, a spokesperson for the...

Portland’s first municipal strike in more than 20 years began Thursday as hundreds of public employees who provide essential city services walked off the job. The action comes as members of Laborers’ Local 483 and city leaders remain unable to agree on a new union contract despite months of negotiations.

The murder case against Billy Lee Oatney Jr. went to a Washington County jury Wednesday afternoon after six days of testimony that managed to largely exclude Oatney’s old prison buddy who is already serving a life sentence in the killing. Oatney, now 60, didn’t take the stand in his...

A lawsuit by Portland State University professor Bruce Gilley can proceed against the University of Oregon over his temporary ban last year from the UO’s Twitter account on equity issues, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez denied the UO’s motion to dismiss Gilley’s lawsuit,...

A Portland police officer and union boss who was fired after leaking an erroneous traffic complaint targeting former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty will get his job back, an arbitrator ruled Wednesday. The ruling overturns Mayor Ted Wheeler’s pink slip last February to Officer Brian Hunzeker, who had 20 years of...

Portland leaders on Thursday condemned the apparent act of vandalism that defaced the city’s memorial to fallen police officers this week. The Portland Police Memorial in Tom McCall Waterfront Park honors officers who died in the line of duty and includes the names of 29 officers who died between 1867 and 2002. Former President George H.W. Bush dedicated the memorial in May 1993.

Gunshots broke out as police responded to a call at a home in Hood River, Oregon, prompting an hourslong lockdown of schools and businesses Thursday after authorities broadcast a warning about an “active shooter.”. The suspect was in a house surrounded by law enforcement as of 2:30 p.m., the...

A woman who Portland police spent at least three months trying to locate was arrested in Arizona this week and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Aaron H. Follstad-Martin. Portland police publicly named Janae T. Kelley, 43, as a suspect last October, saying there was probable cause...

Since 1976, the United States has celebrated Black History Month in February. This year, Oregon and southwest Washington events offer the opportunity to recognize and learn more about Black Americans’ roles in history through film, art, theater, poetry and more. Some offerings can be viewed from home but the majority of events are in-person experiences.

A local group devoted to tracking down stolen cars saw its Facebook page – the home base and mission control for more than 13,000 members – shut down this week by its founder. “PDX Stolen Cars” was formed by Portland car-lover Titan Crawford about a year and a...

A Clark County jury found Warren Forrest, 73, guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 1974 slaying of 17-year-old Martha Morrison of Portland. It took just 90 minutes for the jury to deliberate after six days of testimony, but for Michael Morrison, the victim’s half-brother, the wait lasted 49 years. As the jury filed into the courtroom around 5 p.m., he clasped hands with 63-year-old Norma Jean Lewis, who was 15 and a Ridgefield High School student when Forrest abducted and attacked her.

Portland-area school districts are bracing for budget austerity in the coming school year, after a relatively flush few years underwritten by an influx of pandemic-era federal aid and new sources of state funding. The first casualty is Portland Public Schools’ Online Learning Academy, which will cease operations in June as...

When PitchBlack, the “Shark Tank” style competition where Black entrepreneurs pitch their businesses and compete for cash prizes, returns next week, it will be at its biggest venue yet. About 70 people attended the 2015 inaugural pitch competition, held at the Village Ballroom in Northeast Portland. Seven entrepreneurs...

Portland police shot and killed a man last February when he tried to pull a handgun from his jacket pocket as they confronted him at a Southwest Portland condo complex hours after he fired shots at his roommate, according to newly released transcripts of the grand jury investigation. A Multnomah...

A man died Tuesday night in downtown Portland from what appeared to be a stab wound, police said. Officers were called just before 11 p.m. to the 1200 block of Southwest Park Avenue, near the Portland Art Museum and Oregon Historical Society.

A couple weeks ago, I published a letter from a woman who was wondering what to do about men yelling at her when she was driving. I suggested she not engage and keep herself safe and a police officer agreed with me. Several readers didn’t. Here is one example of...

A retired veterinarian accused of obsessively stalking the husband of a woman with whom he had an affair was arrested Tuesday on charges of killing the man. Steven N. Milner, 55, was already facing charges for allegedly violating a stalking order to keep away from Kenneth C. Fandrich when Fandrich was found dead last Friday in his car at Intel’s Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro, according to police and court records.

Two Portland area programs approved by voters and bankrolled mostly or exclusively by high-income households have yet to collect millions of dollars in delinquent taxes, according to local government officials. Almost a quarter of the six-figure households that owed a Metro tax to fund homeless services failed to pay it...