Legislation to allow minors younger than 15 to get abortions without parental approval, expand state coverage of medical services for transgender individuals and make several other changes to state laws regulating reproductive and gender-affirming care has passed the Oregon House of Representatives, despite Republicans’ repeated attempts to block House Bill 2002.

It now needs approval from the state Senate before going to Gov. Tina Kotek for her consideration.

House members spent nearly 10 hours on the floor Monday, primarily on the 46-page bill’s third reading…

Three Oregon chefs were finalists in the James Beard Awards. Learn more about them here.

Author: Sabinna Pierre, KGW8

Among the finalists is Portland’s newest restaurant Kann, Southern Oregon chef Joshua Dorcak and The Burgerville Workers Union.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for its 2023 James Beard Awards in various categories on Wednesday. With many finalists brewing all across the country, several Oregon restaurants and chefs made the list.

The foundation will be announcing the winners at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in June.

Three chefs from Oregon were finalists in the “Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific” category. Two of the chefs are Portland-based while another chef is based…

Just over a dozen Oregon cities, towns and unincorporated areas had their status changed from urban to rural, the result of a new definition the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2020 census.

Those places — including Mount Hood Village, Boardman and Irrigon — joined more than 1,100 nationwide, with a combined 4.2 million residents, that are now rural areas according to the bureau.

Under the old criteria, an urbanized area needed to have at…