WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Strategic Initiatives has issued a public comment letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation expressing strong objections to the agency's interim final rule revising the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures. The organization raised concerns that the rule undermines public participation and transparency, calling for the department to initiate a complete notice-and-comment rulemaking process. In the letter, Strategic Initiatives highlighted its objection  more ST

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Rep. Gabe Amo, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * Amo Joins Local Importer Hurt by Trump's Tariff Chaos and Looming SNAP Impacts on School Meals * WOONSOCKET, RI - TODAY, Congressman Gabe Amo (D-RI) joined Ace Endico New England, a local food importer and supplier of school lunch programs, to highlight how President Donald Trump's tariff chaos and the Big, Ugly Law are impacting Rhode Islanders. "Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs are making it  more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The Attorneys General of Washington, California, New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, D.C., and Harris County, Texas, have submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, expressing their staunch opposition to the agency's recent Interim Final Rules, which rescind vital regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act  more ST

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following news release on Aug. 4, 2025: * * * CBO Tells Merkley: When Including Interest and Assuming Temporary Tax Provisions Are Made Permanent, "One Big, Beautiful Bill" Adds $5 Trillion to Debt Today, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) told U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, that when accounting for interest costs and ass more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service issued the following article: * * * U.S. Obesity Rate Changes Differ for Rural and Urban Areas, as Well as Across Regions By Mariah Ehmke and Brandon J. Restrepo Highlights * Despite a slight decline in the U.S. overall obesity rate from March 2022-2023 to March 2023-2024, rural obesity rates rose 0.5 percentage points during the same time. * The U.S. obesity rates in rural areas were higher than urban rat more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSFR) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service has declared its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. The agency is moving forward with a full revision of the land management plans for these forests, which have been in place since 1990. The effort aims to address evolving ecological, social and economic conditions, as well as incorporate up-to-date scientific information. This ac more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Hoyle and Top Democrats Condemn Trump's Federal Workforce Purge, Back Bills to Block Mass Firings at Interior, Forest Service * : August 5, 2025 EUGENE, OR - Yesterday, Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) joined Natural Resources Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Vice Ranking Member Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Federal Lands Subcommittee Ra more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release: * * * Justice Department Publishes List of Sanctuary Jurisdictions * WASHINGTON - Today, the Justice Department published a list of states, cities, and counties identified as having policies, laws, or regulations that impede enforcement of federal immigration laws. "Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "The Department more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Report and Order allowing KPTV, a Portland, Oregon television station, to remain on its current channel. The decision, part of a docket titled "Amendment of Section 73.622(j), Table of Allotments, Television Broadcast Stations (Portland, Oregon)" (MB Docket No. 25-132), resolves an issue regarding the station's facility plans. The station's licensee, Gray Television Licensee, LLC, had previously been granted a permit to mo more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued the following news release: * * * Martinez Animal Hospital to Pay $20,000 to Settle EEOC Retaliation Charge * Hospital conciliates allegations that it fired employee for objecting to religious concepts in mandatory training MARTINEZ, Calif. - Martinez Animal Hospital agreed to provide $20,000 to a former employee following an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency  more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2025: * * * Merkley Statement on GAO Determination That Trump Administration Violated the Impoundment Control Act by Withholding NIH Grant Funding Merkley Has Called on GAO to Investigate the Trump Administration's Violations of the Impoundment Control Act * Today, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) published additional findings t more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Merkley, Wyden Announce $22 Million to Support Working Forestland and Tribal Access in Eastern Oregon * Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is awarding $22 million to the Qapqapa Wildlife Area project in Northeast Oregon's Union County, which will be co-managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation  more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Merkley, Wyden Announce $22 Million to Support Working Forestland and Tribal Access in Eastern Oregon * Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is awarding $22 million to the Qapqapa Wildlife Area project in Northeast Oregon's Union County, which will be co-managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CT more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Merkley, Wyden Announce Senate Passage of Critical Community-Initiated Projects * Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced essential investments for Oregon families and rural and underserved communities passed the Senate, including five community-initiated projects for communities across the state championed by the Senators. These investments were included in more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Merkley: Trump's Nuclear Posturing Aids Kremlin Playbook, Wasteful Weapons Spending Must Be Reined In * Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley--co-chair of the Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--released the following statement in response to public reports that President Trump ordered the repositio more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has published a final report detailing significant enhancements to its "Lab-on-a-Fish" technology. The report, PNNL-37398, titled 'Enhancements to Lab-on-a-Fish Technology Final Report for I3T Project 81245', was prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830 and published in March 2025. The authors are Daniel Deng, Jun Lu, Wonseop Hwang, Brett D. Pflugrath, and Huidong Li. The project  more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2025: * * * The Republican Budget Bill Puts Your Social Security At Risk New Analysis from Social Security Chief Actuary Confirms Republican Budget Bill Brings Social Security Trust Funds One Year Closer to Insolvency * Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued a statement after the Office of the Chief Actuary (OACT) at th more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), High Desert Partnership, and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, has published a report on a new tool designed to assist with water management at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The report, "Managing Water for Birds--A Tool for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Southeastern Oregon," was written by Cassandra D. Smith and is Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5024. more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Top Democrats Condemn Trump's Federal Workforce Purge, Back Bills to Block Mass Firings at Interior, Forest Service * Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Vice Ranking Member Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Federal Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Oversight and Investi more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSFR) -- The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History has finalized an inventory of human remains and funerary objects, a necessary step before their repatriation to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Coquille Indian Tribe. This determination, made under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), establishes a clear cultural affiliation between the items and these two tribes. The collection, which includes the rema more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSFR) -- The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History has finalized an inventory of human remains and burial items, a step required under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The inventory identified the physical remains of five individuals and 13 funerary objects and established a cultural affiliation with the Burns Paiute Tribe; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation; and the Klamath Tribes. This determination more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: * * * Wyden, Cortez Masto Blast Billion Dollar Bailout for Big Pharma in Republican Budget Bill As the Dust Settles from the Rushed and Reckless Passage of Republican Reconciliation Bill, Some of the Costliest Prescription Drugs, Including Cancer Treatments, Have Been Exempted from Medicare Negotiation for Years Trump and RFK Jr.'s Hypocrisy Is on Full Display as more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Wyden, Merkley Announce $2.2 Million for Rural Broadband Technical Assistance in Oregon * Washington D.C.-- U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., today announced more than $2.2 million in funding to help expand high-speed internet in communities across rural Oregon. "It is more important now than ever to have reliable access to the internet, especially for rural Oregonians who depen more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Wyden, Merkley Announce $2.2 Million for Rural Broadband Technical Assistance in Oregon * Washington D.C.-- U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., today announced more than $2.2 million in funding to help expand high-speed internet in communities across rural Oregon. "It is more important now than ever to have reliable access to the internet, especially for rural Oregonians who depend o more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release on Aug. 4, 2025: * * * Wyden, Senate Democrats Introduce Legislation to Reverse Devastating Health Care Cuts in Trumpcare After Republicans Passed the Largest Health Care Cut in History, and on the 60th Anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare, Democrats Propose Rolling Back Cuts and Extending Middle Class Tax Credits for Health Care * U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., more PR