NEW: In 2025 ICE obtained DNA from nearly one million people and funneled it into an FBI criminal database. The collection likely included DNA from young children and was backed by the threat of criminal prosecution. The raw genetic material is stored indefinitely. Free to read:

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children

Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime are in an FBI criminal database forever.

wired.com

Breaking from colleague Bill Poehler: Woodburn is considering a moratorium on data center developments after learning that developer Verrus, the company that proposed to build a data center in Salem, is exploring developing a data center in or near Woodburn. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/money/...

Woodburn wants to consider moratorium on new data centers

Woodburn filed notice on July 30 that it intends to consider a moratorium on new data centers after developer Verrus showed interest in the city.

statesmanjournal.com

Thousands of unaccompanied migrant minors are at risk of losing access to attorneys after a federal contract expires today, July 31. Oregon's provider has gone months without reimbursement. @wyden.senate.gov slammed the administration in a statement today. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Oregon lawmakers slam end of legal aid for migrant children

Unaccompanied minors are at risk of losing representation after a federal contract expires. Oregon's provider has gone months without reimbursement.

statesmanjournal.com

Breaking with @whitneywoodworth.bsky.social Gov. Kotek has directed DAS to terminate the state's contract to sell ~32 acres at the Mill Creek Corporate Center in southeast Salem for the proposed data center that drew hundreds to Monday's City Council mtg. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/l...

Gov. Tina Kotek orders state to kill land sale for Salem data center

Gov. Tina Kotek directed the the state to terminate its contract for the sale of 32 acres in southeast Salem for a proposed data center project.

statesmanjournal.com

Good morning (afternoon, I know). In case you missed it, here's my thread from last night's Salem City Council meeting, which stretched past midnight and drew hundreds, largely in strong opposition to a proposed data center. More information: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/l...

Testimony fiercely against proposed Salem data center at council meeting

Salem Public Library reached capacity as hundreds gathered for a meeting that stretched past midnight on a proposed data center in Salem.

statesmanjournal.com

Dianne Lugo@diannelugo.bsky.social · last wk.

The line of people outside of the Salem Public Library before tonight’s City Council meeting. Already at capacity inside. They’re here for public comment on a proposed data center in southeast Salem. Background from @whitneywoodworth.bsky.social www.statesmanjournal.com/story/money/...

The line of people outside of the Salem Public Library before tonight’s City Council meeting. Already at capacity inside. They’re here for public comment on a proposed data center in southeast Salem. Background from @whitneywoodworth.bsky.social www.statesmanjournal.com/story/money/...

The contract providing representation to thousands of unaccompanied migrant children is set to expire on July 31. The organizations providing services have already gone unpaid for months, including Oregon's Immigration Counseling Service, which currently represents more than 100 children.

The Oregon State Police and FBI are investigating an assault in Clackamas County east of Woodburn by men impersonating ICE agents. The assault occurred on July 17 along Highway 211 near South Barlow Road. Officials are asking for the public's assistance. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/c...

Officials investigating assault by fake ICE officer near Woodburn

Officials are investigating a report of men impersonating immigration enforcement agents and tossing a person from their vehicle in Clackamas County.

statesmanjournal.com

ICE just published updated detention statistics for the first time since early April. As of July 11, ICE was detaining 65,765 people. www.ice.gov/detain/deten...

BREAKING: A man running from an encounter with U.S. immigration agents in Florida is struck and killed by a tractor trailer, police say.

Man fleeing immigration officers in Florida is struck and killed by tractor trailer, police say

A man running from an encounter with immigration and other federal agents at a gas station in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Tuesday, authorities said.

bit.ly

The boards of Willamette and Pacific University have unanimously approved and signed a formal merger agreement, advancing their plans to create Oregon's largest private university. More information about what they're calling the University of the Northwest: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/e...

Willamette, Pacific merger to create Oregon's largest private university

The boards of Willamette University and Pacific University recently unanimously approved a merger to create the largest private university in Oregon.

statesmanjournal.com

From @whitneywoodworth.bsky.social: A California-based tech company, Verrus, is proposing to construct a data center in southeast Salem. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/tech/2...

Data center pitched for southeast Salem's Mill Creek Corporate Center

Verrus corporate and Salem officials confirmed July 13 that a data center is proposed at southeast Salem's Mill Creek Corporate Center.

statesmanjournal.com

A person was killed in an ICE-involved shooting in Maine, state official says. It comes days after a man was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Texas. https://cnn.it/4wKTLTH

All 3 men inside of the van with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo “‘reiterated that there were never any ICE agents in front of the van…They came in and started shooting from the sides.’” www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers

Three men who were in the vehicle alongside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo are contesting the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting.

washingtonpost.com

An unnamed ICE spokesperson responded to my request and said: "ICE is indeed pursuing all available options to expand bedspace capacity. This process does include partnering with states and local governments, and private sector partners to house detainees at existing facilities."

Dianne Lugo@diannelugo.bsky.social · 4w ago

New: Three federal agencies are being sued by @innovationlawlab.bsky.social over delayed FOIA responses concerning plans for an overnight detention center in Oregon. More details: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

New: Three federal agencies are being sued by @innovationlawlab.bsky.social over delayed FOIA responses concerning plans for an overnight detention center in Oregon. More details: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Immigration advocates sue feds, demand documents about Oregon ICE facility

Innovation Law Lab is asking a court to order federal agencies produce records about plans to build an overnight detention center in Oregon.

statesmanjournal.com

New: Three federal agencies are being sued by @innovationlawlab.bsky.social over delayed FOIA responses concerning plans for an overnight detention center in Oregon. More details: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Immigration advocates sue feds, demand documents about Oregon ICE facility

Innovation Law Lab is asking a court to order federal agencies produce records about plans to build an overnight detention center in Oregon.

statesmanjournal.com

Breaking news: An ICE officer fatally shot a Mexican immigrant in Houston during an attempted traffic stop arrest, authorities said. ICE identified the man as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and said he was in the U.S. illegally and refused to comply with officers.

ICE officer fatally shoots man in Houston during attempted immigration arrest

The incident appears to mark the first deadly shooting by federal immigration officers since Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed in Minneapolis in January.

washingtonpost.com

ICYMI: Oregon's Court of Appeals heard arguments challenging the Oregon Department of Justice's authority to operate the TITAN Fusion Center. The lawsuit was filed by activists who ODOJ has acknowledged were targeted by a TITAN agent while they protested the Jordan Cove pipeline.

The Supreme Court rejected President Trump's attempt to redefine who is an American, striking down a centerpiece of his hardline approach to immigration. bit.ly/4v1niHr 📸: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

Woodburn officials confirmed to me yesterday that it had terminated its contract with Flock Safety and removed the 23 Flock cameras that it installed last year. The City Council paused the use of Flock cameras in November. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/l...

Woodburn confirms removal of Flock license plate reader cameras

Woodburn officials have confirmed to the Statesman Journal that the city's use of the Flock system has ended and cameras have been removed.

statesmanjournal.com

His colleagues, family, friends and sources remember Zane Sparling as a talented reporter with a flair for language and an offbeat sense of humor that kept the job light even on days the work — and his health — were bleak. Read more at theoregonian.visitlink.me/QxR5KI

I'm really glad that this loving tribute to Zane Sparling mentioned his video reporting on the Lake Oswego court order, which was incredible, as was all of his reporting. Just a tremendous loss. My condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues.

sarah jeong@sarahjeong.bsky.social · last mo.

Awful news this morning — one of Oregon's best reporters has passed away, all too young. His absence will be felt by the media and by the public at large. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

Awful news this morning — one of Oregon's best reporters has passed away, all too young. His absence will be felt by the media and by the public at large. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

Zane Sparling, reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, dies of cancer at 33

“He wanted his identity to be a reporter, and that’s what it was,” his father said.

oregonlive.com

The federal government has moved to strip U.S. citizenship from dozens of immigrants across the country. This week, officials announced a lawsuit to revoke the citizenship of an Oregonian. He's a local Keizer resident and Salem business owner. What we know: www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Exclusive: Salem business owner faces denaturalization by US DOJ

Officials are seeking to revoke the citizenship of a Keizer resident and Salem business owner, the first such case in Oregon in Trump's second term.

statesmanjournal.com

Oregon's 2026 legislative session ended 91 days ago, which means dozens of new laws went into effect today. Here's a roundup of some of them and what they will do. #orpol #orleg www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Dozens of new Oregon laws go into effect today. What they will do

Dozens of laws go into effect on June 5, three months after lawmakers ended the legislative session and sent more than 100 bills to Gov. Tina Kotek.

statesmanjournal.com

NEW: WIRED analyzed Meta's AI app and found NameTag — a hidden facial recognition system designed to identify people via the wearer's smart glasses — has already shipped to over 50 million phones.

Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones

Code reviewed by WIRED uncovered an unreleased face-recognition system embedded in Meta’s smart glasses platform. It’s designed to identify people via biometric data stored on users’ phones.

wired.com

The referendum effort around the Oregon tax disconnect bill, Senate Bill 1507, has failed. Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Scio, told me he informed volunteers today that they would not gather enough signatures by the June 4 deadline, but he vowed to "regroup." www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Effort to refer federal tax code disconnect to Oregon voters fails

An effort to refer a bill partially disconnecting the state from tax breaks in President Donald Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill to voters has failed.

statesmanjournal.com

Dudley watches results come in showing opponents Drazan and Diehl ahead. “It's 2nd quarter and you're down, so you're not happy about being down. But it’s only the 2nd quarter. So we'll see,” he said. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Alex Baumhardt@alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 3mo ago

No escaping the basketball puns for former NBA player and Oregon Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Dudley at his Portland watch party for tonight’s primary. I’ll be here covering for @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair has declared victory in the Republican primary for Oregon's 5th Congressional District. She'll face incumbent U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum in November. www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/p...

Patti Adair declares victory in GOP primary in Oregon's 5th Congressional District

Two Republicans are vying for the nomination in Oregon's Fifth Congressional District to face U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum.

statesmanjournal.com