Dirk VanderHart
JPR Oregon State Capitol CorrespondentDirk VanderHart covers Oregon politics and government for Oregon Public Broadcasting, a JPR news partner. His reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington. Before barging onto the radio in 2018, Dirk spent more than a decade as a newspaper reporter—much of that time reporting on city government for the Portland Mercury.
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A bill that would end the practice of allowing 17-year-olds to marry is moving forward in Salem. -
Republicans lawmakers still have a lot of questions. -
The state's latest economic and revenue forecast includes some heartening news but plenty of caution. -
Oregon construction firms say an order by Gov. Tina Kotek last year mandating union labor in many state projects amounts to an illegal power grab. Now they’re asking a judge to step in. -
Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, will lead a group looking into ODOT’s finances. -
Senate Bill 551, the so-called “beyond the bag ban” bill, would build on regulations lawmakers approved in 2019. -
Senate Bill 473 would make it a crime to make public officials fear imminent violence. -
Several people who were added to Oregon’s voter rolls because of errors by state employees could face prosecution for voting despite not being U.S. citizens. -
As state lawmakers search for billions of dollars to maintain deteriorating roads, it's one of many options under consideration. -
A directive to freeze federal aid was widely decried by Democrats, but there was little clarity on what it will actually do. -
As the Legislature prepares to meet, the governor talked of “fragile” progress on a variety of crises during her state of the state address. -
Despite billions spent and thousands of people helped, the most recent available data shows homelessness is still increasing in the state.
