Maxine Bernstein

1 week ago | oregonlive.com | Maxine Bernstein

The U.S. Forest Service in the predawn hours Thursday closed the gate leading to the Cabin Butte area of Deschutes National Forest, and four forest service vehicles remained stationed beside it, as about a dozen campers’ vehicles and trailers parked along the road just outside the forest. Advocates for the homeless passed out breakfast burritos to groggy campers who had left the forest either just before or after the Forest Service’s announced midnight closure but before the gate was locked.

1 week ago | oregonlive.com | Maxine Bernstein

With less than 24 hours until the U.S. Forest Service locks the gate to their sprawling home in the Deschutes National Forest southeast of Bend, longtime campers scrambled Wednesday to move their trucks, cars and at least one old bus to avoid an eviction years in the making. More than 60 people remained out of about 200 who have lived among the high desert ponderosa and juniper in the area known as the Cabin Butte project.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Maxine Bernstein

Two Portland cannabis businesses Tuesday urged a judge to halt enforcement of Measure 119, which requires them to set up labor agreements for their workers as a condition of licensing or their license renewal. Measure 119, approved by voters in November, went into effect Dec. 5. The measure requires cannabis retailers and processors to remain neutral regarding a labor organization’s communications with their employees yet would punish the business owners if an agreement isn’t executed.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Maxine Bernstein

Two men indicted in a racketeering case targeting current and former members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were arrested in Portland, accused in a sex, drug and gun trafficking conspiracy. The indictment allegesJohan Carlos Mujica Urpin, 27, and Jose David Valencia De La Rosa, 27, are members of an offshoot gang called anti-Tren, made up of associates and former members of Tren de Aragua who operatemainly in New York and New Jersey.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Maxine Bernstein

Several churches, an interfaith council and a nonprofit Latino group are suing the Trump administration in federal court in Oregon, arguing that churches, schools and clinics are “protected” havens and the president’s move to give immigration enforcement “unfettered discretion” to the spaces violates the Constitution and has incited extreme anxiety.