Oregon’s minimum wage will see an increase July 1st. Learn more here.

By OPB staff (OPB)

Oregon’s minimum wage will increase by 70 cents per hour on July 1, but the new rate workers get paid depends on where they live in the state.

Oregon’s baseline minimum wage will climb from $13.50 per hour to $14.20, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries announced Friday afternoon.

In the Portland metro area, where state law sets the local minimum wage at $1.25 per hour more than the baseline, the new hourly minimum will climb to $15.45.

And in rural counties,…

“Space, Hope and Charity” is a new documentary about a young woman from rural Oregon who wants to study astrophysics. Find out more here.

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The new documentary film “Space, Hope and Charity” tells the remarkable journey of Charity Woodrum, a young woman from rural Oregon who overcomes tragedy as she pursues a career in astrophysics.

Woodrum grew up in poverty in Canyonville, where she had dreamed of working for NASA one day, but had never met a scientist. At the age of 28, married and nine months pregnant, Woodrum decided to follow her passion and returned to school to study physics.

Woodrum was thriving at the University of Oregon. By her junior year, she had…

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…

The USDA allocated $7 million in funding for high-speed internet in rural Oregon communities. Learn more here.

OREGON CITY, Ore. — A major investment in bringing high-speed reliable internet to rural communities in Oregon was announced Tuesday.

Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Jewel Bronaugh joined U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, in Oregon City where they announced $7 million in funding for Clear Creek Communications, a century-old provider in that area.

They say the money will help make broadband more accessible and more affordable for hundreds of people in that community.

“You can’t have big league quality of life in rural Oregon with little league transportation and communications systems,” Wyden said.

The announcement comes on the heels…