Chris Lehman

Oregon political campaigns will continue to have access to unlimited campaign contributions. That's the upshot of a ruling Thursday from the Oregon Supreme Court.

A 130-year-old mental institution might seem like an odd place for a museum. But historians and mental health advocates have fought to preserve and tell the Oregon State Hospital's long and sordid history.

Across the Northwest, Latinos make up nearly 12 percent of the population, but only two percent of the region’s elected officials.

Just as Washington environmental regulators finish up a series of meetings on oil spill readiness, a half-mile sheen appeared on the Columbia River near Longview. Contractors quickly contained the diesel spill this week. It's one of about 1,800 spills in Oregon and Washington each year.

Toastmasters International is a public speaking club. But one of the most active Northwest chapters is in a place where its members can’t actually go out in public. We’re talking about the chapter based at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. The inmates who participate get the chance to practice their communications skills with a university debate team. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman went behind the walls of the maximum security prison for this report.

This November, voters in Oregon and Washington will decide whether to legalize marijuana. The Washington effort is backed by some deep-pocketed national donors. But Oregon's campaign is struggling to raise even a bare minimum of cash.

Oregon and Washington are contemplating a dramatic shift in drug policy this November. But the initiatives to legalize marijuana are getting little attention from state lawmakers on the campaign trail.

The Chinese government is playing the role of art critic in Corvallis. A giant mural there depicts a Tibetan monk setting himself on fire.

Latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, but only 5 percent of all Hispanics attend a mainline Protestant church. The vast majority are Roman Catholic.

For the Episcopal Church, those numbers are an opportunity.

The denomination is seeing fast-growing pockets of new Latino congregants. Episcopal churches in Nevada and Washington, D.C., are seeing considerably higher attendance from Latinos. In Oregon, there were only 150 Latino Episcopalians 20 years ago. Now, there are more than 800.