Beat Check with The Oregonian

Schools may be closed for the holiday break, but there’s a lot ahead for Oregon’s public education system in 2025.

We asked three of the superintendents of Oregon’s largest public school districts — Kimberlee Armstrong of Portland Public Schools, Gustavo Balderas from the Beaverton School District and Andrea Castaneda from Salem-Keizer Public Schools — to join Beat Check this week for a roundtable discussion.

Listen in to get the scoop on their thoughts about how the state funds education, and how that impacts urban school districts, which serve complex, high-needs communities, including families experiencing poverty and students who don’t speak English as a first language.

We also broke down the debate over greater accountability in Oregon’s school systems, what it’s like to be negotiating with teacher unions in the wake of Portland’s impactful teacher strike and what classroom projects — from language immersion to early literacy — have them really jazzed about 2025.

Read more:

How shabby or shiny are your local schools? In Oregon, it depends on where you live.

After Portland teachers’ strike and statewide budget cuts, Kotek backs ‘significant’ changes to funding formula.

In Albany, a teacher’s strike reverberates statewide

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On the evening of Saturday, Dec. 7, a series of curious and unusual red lights illuminated the Oregon night sky. They moved around dramatically, zooming up and down at speeds so extreme, so uncharacteristic, nearby pilots were left in awe as they watched it all unfold from 30,000 feet.

“I don’t even know how to describe it,” one pilot said.

“It’s pretty crazy,” added another.

In the middle of the mystery, an air traffic controller gave permission for the pilots to “maneuver as necessary left and right to avoid the UFO out there.”

Some have suggested that the lights were merely Starlink satellites, which are routinely spotted as they orbit the planet. But others aren’t so sure. Some believe those weird red lights that dazzled the night sky are part of a curious trend of uncanny events. Some believe there’s more to the story.

On the latest episode of Beat Check, Lizzy Acker, who covers Oregon weather and writes the advice column Why Tho? for The Oregonian/OregonLive, shares details of the recent curiosities in our friendly skies.

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Last week, plans for the largest U.S. supermarket merger in history imploded in spectacular fashion.

First, an Oregon federal judge blocked the $24.6 billion bid by Kroger to take over Albertson’s, its next largest rival.

Less than 24 hours later, Albertsons, which also owns Safeway, pulled out of the deal entirely — and then filed a massive lawsuit against Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC.

The bitter breakup marks the end of a two-year saga that stood to upend grocery shopping across Oregon and centered largely right here in Portland.

On the latest Beat Check, Oregonian/OregonLive reporters Kristine de Leon and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh unpack the final twists and turns of the supermarket deal gone sour.

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For decades, The Oregonian has sponsored an annual fundraising drive, featuring local nonprofits making a difference in our community. Its part of The Oregonian/OregonLive’s mission to strengthen and empower the communities we serve.

This year, we are featuring 13 nonprofits. Once the board chooses a nonprofit, reporters and photographers find an example of how the agency has helped individuals. Each article is accompanied by a box that shows what donations, even small ones, can accomplish.

Grant Butler, a longtime editor and reporter in our newsroom, takes on the challenge of managing the project each fall. He joined Editor Therese Bottomly, who leads the board overseeing Oregonian Publishing Co. Public Benefits Inc., to talk about the importance of our campaign.

This year’s Season of Sharing fund drive continues until Dec. 31. Online donations can be made at oregonlive.com/sharing or the 2024 Season of Sharing GiveLively page. Donations can also be made by mail: Make a check out to Season of Sharing and send it to Season of Sharing, c/o Oregonians Credit Union, 336 N.E. 20th Ave., Portland, OR 97232.

In this episode of Beat Check, we talk about:

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Roger A. Pearce Jr. spent three decades as a successful attorney in the Northwest, representing prominent people and high-profile businesses in Oregon and Washington.

He dedicated his free time to nonprofit boards and planning commissions. He spent countless hours doing pro bono legal work. He was well-liked in social circles and part of a happy marriage.

By all measures, the name Roger Pearce was synonymous with success and respect. Except for one thing:

Roger Pearce was not actually Roger Pearce.

Who is the real Roger Pearce? Why did a prominent lawyer spend 50 years masquerading under a stolen identity? And how did the truth finally come to light?

On the latest episode of Beat Check, Maxine Bernstein, who covers the federal court and crime and law enforcement for The Oregonian/OregonLive, shares the gripping story of how a prominent lawyer stole the identity of a deceased baby.

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For more than a decade, Oregon forecasters have underestimated the strength of the state’s economy — and the amount of money it collects each year.

That’s led to tax rebate windfalls for Oregon residents, who receive a portion of excess revenue under the state’s unique “kicker” law.

It’s also left state lawmakers with less money to spend on schools, health care, transportation and other budget priorities.

All of this may change now that Oregon’s hired a state economist, who is reforming the model his office uses to predict the state’s finances.

On the latest Beat Check, reporters Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Mike Rogoway discuss the potential impacts of those changes.

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A new investigation published in The Oregonian/OregonLive focuses on the life of an Oregon girl who was repeatedly trafficked for sex and on how the foster care system had failed to protect her.

On the latest Beat Check, investigative reporter Hillary Borrud talked about the story, including how sex trafficking of children can happen in a city like Portland and why our state is failing those most at risk.

Read more:

Oregon teen repeatedly sex trafficked. How the foster system failed her

5 things to know about how Oregon’s foster system failed to protect teen from sex trafficking

Video: How Oregon’s foster system failed to save a teenager from sex trafficking

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We’re a few days out from Election Day 2024, and reporters at The Oregonian/OregonLive have been hard at work trying to decode all the results and what they mean for our region. Portland’s got a new mayor, and the new City Council is coming into focus too.

Voters chose two new progressive Multnomah County Commissioner candidates over their more moderate opponents, while the Clackamas County Commission is on the verge of a big power shift. Democrats remain in the driver’s seat in Salem, and are poised to win nationally watched Congressional races in the Pacific Northwest too.

This week’s podcast breaks it all down, plus we’ll get into the Election Day moments we’ll still be thinking about six months from now.

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In one of the most contentious and consequential elections in recent memory, Oregon has become ground zero for one of the most intriguing and potentially important races in the United States.

District 5, a wide swath of Oregon that stretches from SE Portland to Albany to Bend, is home to a heated and hotly-contested political showdown between Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Democratic challenger Janelle Bynum, who are vying for a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The winner of the race, which is one of only a handful of battleground matchups this election cycle, could shift the balance of power in congress.

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The Oregonian/OregonLive's Maxine Bernstein reported on the two-week trial in federal court that brought to light a pattern of crimes by defendant Negasi Zuberi. A final twist as the case was headed to the jury threatened to hold up the final verdict.

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