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

Oregon’s Energy Prices Rose Far Less Than Most States but Data Centers Could Change That

Lucille McNamara Aug 10, 2025

While energy costs rose by 19.4% in Oregon over an eight-year period, residents of Maine experienced a staggering increase of 75.7% during the same time-period, the highest of any state in the nation. Oregonians can breathe a sigh of…

Crime & Courts

Coos Bay Mother Files Wrongful Death Suit Over Son’s Death in Back of Police Car

Lucille McNamara Aug 9, 2025

COOS COUNTY, Ore. — Jennifer Smith, the mother of Nathan Bradford Smith (33), has filed a wrongful death civil rights lawsuit against the City of Coos Bay, claiming her son died in the back of a patrol car while a Coos Bay Police officer…

News

Oregon Ordered to Pay $500 a Day for Each Mentally Ill Defendant Left Waiting in Jail

Lucille McNamara Aug 9, 2025

Oregon must pay up for failing to admit mentally ill criminal defendants to the state hospital while it appeals a contempt ruling, a federal judge said on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson denied the state’s request to delay…

News

Oregon Tightens Care Home Rules After Woman Wanders Out and Dies on Christmas Day

Lucille McNamara Aug 9, 2025

Following the tragic death last year of an elderly woman who wandered away from a care center and was found dead a day later, has resulted in legislation by Oregon lawmakers that tightens control of dementia facilities. The new…

Crime & Courts

Las Vegas Man With Oregon Drug Convictions Gets Six Years for Firearms Heist in Nevada

Lucille McNamara Aug 8, 2025

A convicted felon, who previously committed drug trafficking crimes in the Oregon counties of Douglas, Clackamas, and Coos, has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of theft of firearms from a licensee…

Oregonians Could Pay More at the Pump and DMV as Kotek Tries to Save State Transportation Jobs

Lucille McNamara Aug 8, 2025

The Governor of Oregon yesterday announced a funding proposal to save hundreds of Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) jobs in jeopardy, following the federal government’s cutback on financing that is crippling maintenance and project…

Crime & Courts

Oregon Man Fakes EV Project and Walks Away With $1.8 Million in Carbon Credit Cash

Lucille McNamara Aug 7, 2025

A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge has ruled that Merlin K. Thompson of Tillamook must repay $1.8 million in monthly installments of $50 to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that he admitted defrauding. He…

News

Oregon Launches $65 Million Overhaul of Mental Health and Addiction Treatment

Lucille McNamara Aug 7, 2025

Drug addiction care and mental health will be improved and expanded throughout Oregon following Governor Tina Kotek’s signature on four new bills this week. The Governor worked with lawmakers during the last legislative session to…

News

Federal Court Finds Oregon Violated Voter Law Amid Inactive Registration Surge

Lucille McNamara Aug 7, 2025

Judicial Watch has won a lawsuit to force Oregon to update its voter rolls, asserting that the voter rolls contain a large number of inactive and old registrations. The non-partisan educational foundation, Judicial Watch, announced…

Crime & Courts

Honduran Fentanyl Dealer Caught With 6,000 Pills in Downtown Portland Gets 70 Months in Prison

Lucille McNamara Aug 6, 2025

PORTLAND, Ore. — As part of a crackdown on fentanyl trafficking in downtown Portland, police officers arrested a Honduran national living illegally in Oregon who was this week sentenced to 70 months in a federal prison. Ermin…

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