Author

Lucille McNamara

Lucille McNamara is a Daily Tidings reporter with 27 years of journalism experience, covering Oregon public safety, crime and courts, plus statewide policy and community impact stories including housing, education, health, and immigration. She previously worked at The Star.
Contact: [email protected]

News

Kotek Warns of ODOT Layoffs as Oregon Faces Massive Funding Gap and 1,000 Aging Bridges

Lucille McNamara Jan 8, 2026

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek yesterday warned that hundreds of people will be laid off this spring from the state’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) if the wrong decisions are made in the coming weeks. Addressing the annual meeting of…

Education

Oregon Didn’t Hit Its 2025 Workforce Readiness Goal but Student Enrollment Is Finally Rising

Lucille McNamara Jan 7, 2026

Enrollment at Oregon public universities and community colleges increased by 1.5% last year, raising optimism that educators will reach their goal of creating a more skilled and productive workforce to bolster state tax coffers.…

News

West Coast Doctors Break From CDC, Urge Oregon Parents to Follow Full Vaccine Schedule

Lucille McNamara Jan 7, 2026

The West Coast Health Alliance (WCHA) has criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) decision to significantly reduce the number of vaccinations that all American children have routinely received in recent years.…

Crime & Courts

Ashland Activist Sues City After Being Removed from Council Meeting for Calling the Police Chief a…

Lucille McNamara Jan 6, 2026

ASHLAND, Ore. — A Jackson County resident who called the Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara ‘a fascist’ at a City Council meeting last September has filed a civil rights suit for violation of his First Amendment rights. Toren McKnight…

Oregon Secretary of State Gives Portland Until Month’s End to Clean Up ‘Material Weaknesses’ in Its…

Lucille McNamara Jan 5, 2026

The Oregon Secretary of State has granted the City of Portland an extension to January 31, 2026, to file a corrective Plan of Action for its 2024-25 Financial Report, after auditors uncovered “material weaknesses” in the original report.…

Crime & Courts

Portland Police Pursuit Ends With Driver Found Dead After High-Speed Crash in Beaverton

Lucille McNamara Jan 4, 2026

PORTLAND, Ore. — A driver was found dead inside a vehicle that crashed when Portland Police officers tried to stop him for reckless driving. The incident began in the Old Town during the early hours of Saturday morning when the police…

Big Pharma to Hike Prices on 350 Drugs in 2026 as Oregon’s Transparency Law Shows What’s Driving the…

Lucille McNamara Jan 4, 2026

As ‘Big Pharma’ hikes the price of hundreds of medications for 2026, Oregon has reinstated its drug transparency law, so that the reasons for big increases and high-cost drugs must be reported and fully explained. By leveraging a paper…

Oregon Bans Medical Debt From Credit Reports Starting Jan 1, Shielding Consumers From Lasting…

Lucille McNamara Jan 3, 2026

As of January 1, 2026, medical debt will no longer be reported to credit bureaus, providing Oregonians with a protective measure to shield them from the damaging repercussions of poor creditworthiness. Tidings Data Snapshot Oregon…

News

Oregon Somali Leaders Push Back After Trump’s Remarks and Targeted Immigration Crackdown

Lucille McNamara Dec 23, 2025

Somali Oregonians are not defined by the insults of President Donald Trump, says former Somali refugee and Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama (D-E Portland, Boring & Damascus). He was responding to the Trump administration’s intensive…

Crime & Courts

Oregon Drug Dealer Features in Homeland Security’s ‘Worst of the Worst’ as ICE Highlights the Case

Lucille McNamara Dec 23, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security has released a photo Gallery of 15 illegal aliens who they describe as “the worst of the worst” criminals. One of the arrests was that of Isaias Alvarado-Arellano, a Mexican who was convicted of…

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