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Gov. Kotek signs six bills aimed at addressing Oregon's mental health, addiction issues
Gov. Kotek signed bills that will address Oregon’s mental health. Learn more here.
KGW8, SALEM, Ore. — Gov. Tina Kotek vowed to make meaningful strides for behavioral health in Oregon on Tuesday. She signed into law six bills that aim to strengthen the state’s response to mental health and substance abuse issues.
“The bills I am signing mark progress towards building a behavioral health continuum of care that incorporates harm reduction, suicide prevention, stronger tools against substance abuse among youth and adults, and improvements to the implementation of Measure 110,” Kotek said to a group of lawmakers and advocates.
Among the bills signed into law, two focus on preventing overdose deaths. House Bill 2395expands the access of short-acting opioid overdose reversal medications like Narcan and naloxone, making them more readily available in public buildings, stores, police departments and schools.
The second bill, Senate Bill 1043, requires hospitals, sobering and detox facilities to provide two doses of opioid overdose reversal medication to patients when they’re discharged.
“The goal is to help people be healthy and stay alive,” Kotek said.
Then there’s the bill to fix issues with Measure 110, or HB 2513. The governor’s office said it will strengthen Measure 110 by increasing staffing and improving application processes to speed up approval and get funds out the door, centralizing the support hotline to get people connected to services more efficiently, and improving program data collection and accuracy.
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Archaeologists find new evidence in Southern Oregon that suggests human habitation 18,000 years ago
New evidence suggests humans were in Oregon more than 18,000 years ago.
Photo Courtesy of Becky Raines / University of Oregon
By Ella Hutcherson (Jefferson Public Radio)
Archaeologists have new evidence suggesting that humans occupied Oregon more than 18,000 years ago. This makes it one of the oldest known sites of human occupation in North America.
A 2023 radiocarbon dating analysis was made based on findings at the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter near Burns, Oregon. The University of Oregon Archaeological Field School has been excavating at the site, which features a shallow overhang in an otherwise open environment. The field school has been working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management since 2011.
UO staff archaeologist Patrick O’Grady said in 2012 the team found telling objects — camel tooth enamel fragments and a human-made tool — deep in the rock shelter, buried underneath the ash of a Mt. St. Helens eruption from over 15,000 years ago.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE ON OPB HERE
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Minimum wage changes in Oregon on July 1
The minimum wage is set to increase July 1st. Learn more here.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Anyone who works a minimum wage job in Oregon will get a raise starting July 1.
In all parts of the state, the minimum wage will increase. However, in Oregon, the minimum wage is not equal across the state.
Oregon’s minimum wage is divided into three areas: the Portland metro area, the “standard” area, and the non-urban area.
In the Portland metro area, minimum wage will top $15 per hour for the first time. On July 1, 2023 it will jump from $14.75 to $15.45 per hour.
The standard minimum wage will increase from $13.50 to $14.20.
The non-urban minimum wage will increase from $12.50 to $13.20.
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