💰 Oregon’s cannabis black market may still be growing

Cannabis Black Market May Still Be Growing

State officials don’t know if the $46 million spent to address Oregon's cannabis black market has been effective. The money isn’t being focused on investigating cartels and other criminal networks as originally promised: In 2024, only 15% of the incidents investigated involved larger criminal groups. [Investigate West]

Gas Tax Increases and Other Fees

A 20-cent per-gallon gas tax increase over the next six years and a user fee for electric and fuel-efficient vehicles are among the proposals in a new transportation funding proposal released last week. The Oregon Department of Transportation is facing a budget shortfall, in part because the state is pulling in less money from the gas tax as vehicles become more fuel-efficient. [Oregon Capital Chronicle]

Tariffs Hit Oregon Companies

A Wall Street firm has labeled President Trump’s policy a “tariff tantrum.” And Oregon companies' stock prices were hit particularly hard, including Nike and Columbia Sportswear. [Oregonian]

Some already threatened cold-water fish species in the Northwest will not only face shrinking habitat from climate change but will face growing pressure from invasive fish species fleeing their own warming and dwindling waters, according to modeling from researchers at Oregon State University.

The findings were part of a study published in the journal Global Change Biology by fisheries professor Guillermo Giannico, associate fisheries professor Ivan Arismendi and graduate student Arif Jan. The three found that climate change is likely to compel all kinds of species migration that could lead to increased predation, competition and some localized extinctions of once native species in the Northwest and globally.

Giannico said their models can be run on most species in the world. But for their recent study, the three zeroed in on the northern migration of non-native smallmouth bass and northern pike into threatened and endangered native redband and bull trout habitat in the Northwest. All four of the species are likely to lose habitat as climate change accelerates and are likely to seek homes in colder water at higher elevations.

Of great concern is the migration of aggressive and predatory northern pike into redband and bull trout territory, and the increasing likelihood the two will overlap more frequently.

You can read a longer version of this article here: Climate change coupled with migration of non-native species pose threat to Northwest fish.

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.