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CA election drama may be yet to come

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022

After months of anticipation and buildup, California’s general election came and went — and so far, things don’t look very different than they did before polls closed Tuesday night. But some of the races that could be among the most consequential for the country’s direction have yet to be decided. Early returns tabulated by CalMatters’ live results tracker show that all of the state’s incumbent Democrats were on the path to being handily reelected: Gov. Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Lanhee Chen, the state controller candidate that some thought could be the first Republican to win statewide office in California in nearly two decades, was trailing his Democratic opponent Malia Cohen by double digits in early returns — raising questions about the GOP’s future in the state. While Cohen declared victory Tuesday night, Chen’s campaign said early today, “It is way too early to concede … there are still millions of votes left to count.” When it comes to ballot measures, three easily sailed to victory: Proposition 1, to enshrine the right to abortion and contraception in the state Constitution; Prop. 28, to require the state spend more money on arts and music education in public schools; and Prop. 31, to uphold a state law banning the sale of certain flavored tobacco products. On the other hand, voters decisively rejected Props. 26 and 27, which would have legalized sports betting at Native American casinos and online, respectively; and shot down Prop. 29, the third effort in as many elections to increase regulation of kidney dialysis clinics. Proposition 30, which would levy a new tax on millionaires to fund electric vehicle programs and hire more firefighters, also was defeated. The initiative — opposed by the head-scratching combination of Newsom and the California Republican Party, and supported by the California Democratic Party and prominent labor and environmental groups — proved extremely contentious up to the last minute. “We’ve got to defeat Prop. 30, which is bad for our state,” Newsom told reporters Tuesday morning after casting his ballot at the California Museum in Sacramento. On Monday, the initiative’s supporters filed a complaint with California’s campaign finance watchdog, alleging the No on 30 campaign sent last-minute “misleading texts” to millions of voters. In brief remarks at a Sacramento victory party for Prop. 1 on Tuesday night, Newsom focused less on his gubernatorial win than on the significance of California voters overwhelmingly passing the abortion rights amendment — which he contrasted with policies in “red states” that exhibit “cruelty” and a “zest for demonization.” Newsom: “We affirmed clearly with conviction that we are a true freedom state. … That is a point of contrast with the uncertainty that we’re currently experiencing as it relates to the national mood. … In states large and small, rights that we’ve come all to enjoy are on the line. In states large and small, we have governors that won their reelection tonight in other states that are banning books, that are banning speech, that are banning abortion. And here we are in California moving in a completely different direction. That’s a deep point of pride. And it’s with that passion that I bring to this second term, a resolve to do more to advance that cause of freedom and fairness.” But while the outcomes of many races seemed clear Tuesday night, some of the most heated — and expensive — state legislative and U.S. House contests were too close to call, and could remain that way for days or even weeks. It also remains to be seen whether a Republican “red wave” will crash over California House races and if so, to what extent. Ultimately, which party ends up in control of Congress could conceivably be decided by races in the Golden State. To follow along in real time, bookmark CalMatters’ live results tracker. A message from our sponsor Other Stories You Should Know 1 An end to California’s fire season? An election worker collects ballots from voters at the Alameda County Ballot Drop Stop in Oakland on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters The bad news about the fierce storm that continued dumping rain and snow across California on Tuesday: It prompted flash food warnings across the state — including one in Orange County that closed a vote center — and forced mandatory evacuations for people living in the burn scars of recent wildfires. (It also apparently set off a tornado in Sacramento County.) Driving conditions were also dangerous in some areas due to heavy mountain snow and flooded roads. In San Bernardino County, one person was killed and two people were missing after being swept away by heavy rains, according to the Los Angeles Times. Apart from several polling places closed due to inclement weather, the impact on voting appeared to be minimal: While some county elections offices readied backup generators in case of power outages and others shoveled snow from sidewalks and parking lots, many were as peppy as the office in Fresno County, which told CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal: “We expect the incoming storm to deliver some rain but not dampen voter enthusiasm.” The good news: The storm likely signals an end to California’s fire season, which has already been significantly calmer than in recent years. As of Nov. 7, about 7,300 wildfires had sprung up in the Golden State and burned a little more than 362,000 acres, according to Cal Fire — far below the period’s five-year average of 7,400 fires charring a whopping 2.1 million acres. Still, officials cautioned that California isn’t completely out of the woods, given its ongoing historic drought, the possibility of dry Santa Ana winds sweeping Southern California and the ripple effects of a changing climate. Assistant Chief Tim Chavez, who works in wildfire forecasting and threat intelligence for Cal Fire, told the Associated Press: “Twenty years ago I would have said this was a season-ending event … but in today’s climate I really can’t say that anymore.” 2 What CA schools get from the lottery Business owner Joe Chahayed holds a $1 million check with his son, Joe Chahayed, Jr., outside his Joe’s Service Center in Altadena on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo What were the chances of winning the $2 billion Powerball, the largest jackpot in American history? About 1 in 292.2 million, according to lottery officials — and the person who bested those odds and bought the winning ticket did so at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, a gas station in unincorporated Los Angeles County, state lottery officials announced in a Tuesday tweet proclaiming, “California Lottery makes its FIRST EVER Billionaire!” The winner, who has yet to come forward, will have the option of receiving $2.04 billion paid out over 30 years or a $997.6 million cash prize, which translates to about $600 million after federal taxes. (California is one of 15 states that doesn’t tax lottery winnings.) Joe Chahayed, the owner of Joe’s Service Center, earned a $1 million bonus for selling the winning ticket; he said he plans to share the money with his family. The massive jackpot — the result of more than three months of drawings without a winner — has shined a spotlight on state-run lotteries, which were dealt a stinging rebuke in a recent New Yorker article by Kathryn Schulz. Voters legalized lotteries in states across the country based on promises that they would stabilize budgets without raising taxes and funnel more money into education, but reality has fallen far short of expectations, Schulz argues. She notes that “as of this year, according to the California Department of Education, lottery income accounts for roughly one per cent of all K-12 funding.” Indeed, the lottery alone “cannot provide for major improvements in K-12 education,” according to the state Department of Education website. The California Lottery website reads: “Remember, Lottery funds are meant to supplement public education, not replace state and local funding.” California public schools’ share of Powerball money: $156 million from tickets sold in the state, according to the New York Times. 3 Pension systems post updated losses The California Public Employees’ Retirement System headquarters in Sacramento on Feb. 14, 2017. Photo by Max Whittaker, Reuters California’s behemoth public pension systems, on the other hand, actually lost billions of dollars more than previously reported, putting state and local governments on the hook for even more money, according to adjusted figures recently published by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. The new numbers account for updated returns on private equity and real assets, a category that includes real estate, timberland and other holdings, according to the Sacramento Bee. CalPERS — which provides pensions for about 2.1 million state and local employees, retirees and other beneficiaries — posted a 7.5% loss on investments for the fiscal year ending June 30. That’s significantly higher than the preliminary 6.1% loss it announced earlier this year, its first since the Great Recession. “As with other institutional investors, our private assets were not spared from the impacts of global turmoil and domestic economic volatility,” CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost told the Bee. “While the final numbers are informative, we remain focused on long-term performance and our members can be confident that their retirement is safe and secure.” CalSTRS — which provides pensions for hundreds of thousands of public school teachers — closed out the fiscal year with a 3.3% loss on investments, up from its preliminary estimate of a 1.3% loss. The negative return was also its first since the Great Recession. CalMatters Commentary CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California’s political campaigns this year hit a low mark for relevance and a high mark for vapidity — with one exception. Newly elected Los Angeles leaders must prioritize transit-oriented housing: With a few policy changes, Los Angeles can alleviate its housing and homelessness crises and its notorious traffic. Our city’s incoming leadership should start with what works: letting builders build housing, argue Thomas Irwin and Alix Ollivier, co-leaders of the Los Angeles New Liberals. Other things worth your time Some stories may require a subscription to read The conservative California county where Prop. 1 may mean nothing for abortion. // SFGATE ‘I wish Valero had stayed out of it’: Oil giant pours thousands into City Council races in tiny Benicia. // San Francisco Chronicle Election roadtrip from Nancy Pelosi’s house to Kevin McCarthy’s. // Mercury News CalSavers penalties: California employers without retirement plans may face state fines. // Los Angeles Times Judge tells state to reconsider $1 million compensation claim from wrongfully convicted S.F. man. // San Francisco Chronicle Some Californians will have to pay for their own court reporters in L.A. County civil cases due to staffing shortages. // Los Angeles Daily News S.F. teachers take payroll battle to state as district announces ’emergency’ plan. // San Francisco Standard North Hollywood strippers’ union votes challenged by management. // Los Angeles Times As S.F.’s market-rate housing developers sit idle, nonprofits are swooping in to create affordable homes. // San Francisco Chronicle California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal. // Associated Press L.A. water use plummets during drought-plagued summer. // Los Angeles Times L.A.’s quest for water leaves costly bill: Higher rates for customers, choking air pollution. // Los Angeles Times Should California warn residents when pesticides are sprayed near homes? How to weigh in. // Fresno Bee Fire breaks out at Chevron’s El Segundo, California, refinery. // Reuters Podcast: What if California seceded from the United States? // CNN

After months of anticipation and buildup, California’s general election came and went — and so far, things don’t look very different than they did before polls closed Tuesday night. But some of the races that could be among the most consequential for the country’s direction have yet to be decided. Early returns tabulated by CalMatters’ […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the media at a Prop 1 celebration event at The Citizen Hotel in Sacramento on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

After months of anticipation and buildup, California’s general election came and went — and so far, things don’t look very different than they did before polls closed Tuesday night.

But some of the races that could be among the most consequential for the country’s direction have yet to be decided.

Early returns tabulated by CalMatters’ live results tracker show that all of the state’s incumbent Democrats were on the path to being handily reelected: Gov. Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

Lanhee Chen, the state controller candidate that some thought could be the first Republican to win statewide office in California in nearly two decades, was trailing his Democratic opponent Malia Cohen by double digits in early returns — raising questions about the GOP’s future in the state.

  • While Cohen declared victory Tuesday night, Chen’s campaign said early today, “It is way too early to concede … there are still millions of votes left to count.”

When it comes to ballot measures, three easily sailed to victory: Proposition 1, to enshrine the right to abortion and contraception in the state Constitution; Prop. 28, to require the state spend more money on arts and music education in public schools; and Prop. 31, to uphold a state law banning the sale of certain flavored tobacco products.

On the other hand, voters decisively rejected Props. 26 and 27, which would have legalized sports betting at Native American casinos and online, respectively; and shot down Prop. 29, the third effort in as many elections to increase regulation of kidney dialysis clinics.

Proposition 30, which would levy a new tax on millionaires to fund electric vehicle programs and hire more firefighters, also was defeated.

  • The initiative — opposed by the head-scratching combination of Newsom and the California Republican Party, and supported by the California Democratic Party and prominent labor and environmental groups — proved extremely contentious up to the last minute.
  • “We’ve got to defeat Prop. 30, which is bad for our state,” Newsom told reporters Tuesday morning after casting his ballot at the California Museum in Sacramento. On Monday, the initiative’s supporters filed a complaint with California’s campaign finance watchdog, alleging the No on 30 campaign sent last-minute “misleading texts” to millions of voters.

In brief remarks at a Sacramento victory party for Prop. 1 on Tuesday night, Newsom focused less on his gubernatorial win than on the significance of California voters overwhelmingly passing the abortion rights amendment — which he contrasted with policies in “red states” that exhibit “cruelty” and a “zest for demonization.”

  • Newsom: “We affirmed clearly with conviction that we are a true freedom state. … That is a point of contrast with the uncertainty that we’re currently experiencing as it relates to the national mood. … In states large and small, rights that we’ve come all to enjoy are on the line. In states large and small, we have governors that won their reelection tonight in other states that are banning books, that are banning speech, that are banning abortion. And here we are in California moving in a completely different direction. That’s a deep point of pride. And it’s with that passion that I bring to this second term, a resolve to do more to advance that cause of freedom and fairness.”

But while the outcomes of many races seemed clear Tuesday night, some of the most heated — and expensive — state legislative and U.S. House contests were too close to call, and could remain that way for days or even weeks.

It also remains to be seen whether a Republican “red wave” will crash over California House races and if so, to what extent. Ultimately, which party ends up in control of Congress could conceivably be decided by races in the Golden State.

To follow along in real time, bookmark CalMatters’ live results tracker.

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Other Stories You Should Know

1 An end to California’s fire season?

An election worker collects ballots from voters turning them in at the Alameda County Ballot Drop Stop in Oakland on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
An election worker collects ballots from voters at the Alameda County Ballot Drop Stop in Oakland on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

The bad news about the fierce storm that continued dumping rain and snow across California on Tuesday: It prompted flash food warnings across the state — including one in Orange County that closed a vote center — and forced mandatory evacuations for people living in the burn scars of recent wildfires. (It also apparently set off a tornado in Sacramento County.) Driving conditions were also dangerous in some areas due to heavy mountain snow and flooded roads. In San Bernardino County, one person was killed and two people were missing after being swept away by heavy rains, according to the Los Angeles Times.

  • Apart from several polling places closed due to inclement weather, the impact on voting appeared to be minimal: While some county elections offices readied backup generators in case of power outages and others shoveled snow from sidewalks and parking lots, many were as peppy as the office in Fresno County, which told CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal: “We expect the incoming storm to deliver some rain but not dampen voter enthusiasm.”

The good news: The storm likely signals an end to California’s fire season, which has already been significantly calmer than in recent years. As of Nov. 7, about 7,300 wildfires had sprung up in the Golden State and burned a little more than 362,000 acres, according to Cal Fire — far below the period’s five-year average of 7,400 fires charring a whopping 2.1 million acres. Still, officials cautioned that California isn’t completely out of the woods, given its ongoing historic drought, the possibility of dry Santa Ana winds sweeping Southern California and the ripple effects of a changing climate.

  • Assistant Chief Tim Chavez, who works in wildfire forecasting and threat intelligence for Cal Fire, told the Associated Press: “Twenty years ago I would have said this was a season-ending event … but in today’s climate I really can’t say that anymore.”

2 What CA schools get from the lottery

Business owner Joe Chahayed holds a check with his son, Joe Chahayed, Jr., outside his Joe's Service Center in Altadena on Nov. 8, 2022. CA Lottery officials presented a CA Lottery's retailer selling bonus check for "One Million US Dollars," for selling the lottery ticket that won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo
Business owner Joe Chahayed holds a $1 million check with his son, Joe Chahayed, Jr., outside his Joe’s Service Center in Altadena on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo

What were the chances of winning the $2 billion Powerball, the largest jackpot in American history? About 1 in 292.2 million, according to lottery officials — and the person who bested those odds and bought the winning ticket did so at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, a gas station in unincorporated Los Angeles County, state lottery officials announced in a Tuesday tweet proclaiming, “California Lottery makes its FIRST EVER Billionaire!”

The massive jackpot — the result of more than three months of drawings without a winner — has shined a spotlight on state-run lotteries, which were dealt a stinging rebuke in a recent New Yorker article by Kathryn Schulz. Voters legalized lotteries in states across the country based on promises that they would stabilize budgets without raising taxes and funnel more money into education, but reality has fallen far short of expectations, Schulz argues. She notes that “as of this year, according to the California Department of Education, lottery income accounts for roughly one per cent of all K-12 funding.”

3 Pension systems post updated losses

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) headquarters in Sacramento on February 14, 2017. Photo by Max Whittaker, REUTERS
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System headquarters in Sacramento on Feb. 14, 2017. Photo by Max Whittaker, Reuters

California’s behemoth public pension systems, on the other hand, actually lost billions of dollars more than previously reported, putting state and local governments on the hook for even more money, according to adjusted figures recently published by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. The new numbers account for updated returns on private equity and real assets, a category that includes real estate, timberland and other holdings, according to the Sacramento Bee.

  • CalPERS — which provides pensions for about 2.1 million state and local employees, retirees and other beneficiaries — posted a 7.5% loss on investments for the fiscal year ending June 30. That’s significantly higher than the preliminary 6.1% loss it announced earlier this year, its first since the Great Recession. “As with other institutional investors, our private assets were not spared from the impacts of global turmoil and domestic economic volatility,” CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost told the Bee. “While the final numbers are informative, we remain focused on long-term performance and our members can be confident that their retirement is safe and secure.”
  • CalSTRS — which provides pensions for hundreds of thousands of public school teachers — closed out the fiscal year with a 3.3% loss on investments, up from its preliminary estimate of a 1.3% loss. The negative return was also its first since the Great Recession.

CalMatters Commentary

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California’s political campaigns this year hit a low mark for relevance and a high mark for vapidity — with one exception.

Newly elected Los Angeles leaders must prioritize transit-oriented housing: With a few policy changes, Los Angeles can alleviate its housing and homelessness crises and its notorious traffic. Our city’s incoming leadership should start with what works: letting builders build housing, argue Thomas Irwin and Alix Ollivier, co-leaders of the Los Angeles New Liberals.

Other things worth your time

Some stories may require a subscription to read

The conservative California county where Prop. 1 may mean nothing for abortion. // SFGATE

‘I wish Valero had stayed out of it’: Oil giant pours thousands into City Council races in tiny Benicia. // San Francisco Chronicle

Election roadtrip from Nancy Pelosi’s house to Kevin McCarthy’s. // Mercury News

CalSavers penalties: California employers without retirement plans may face state fines. // Los Angeles Times

Judge tells state to reconsider $1 million compensation claim from wrongfully convicted S.F. man. // San Francisco Chronicle

Some Californians will have to pay for their own court reporters in L.A. County civil cases due to staffing shortages. // Los Angeles Daily News

S.F. teachers take payroll battle to state as district announces ’emergency’ plan. // San Francisco Standard

North Hollywood strippers’ union votes challenged by management. // Los Angeles Times

As S.F.’s market-rate housing developers sit idle, nonprofits are swooping in to create affordable homes. // San Francisco Chronicle

California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal. // Associated Press

L.A. water use plummets during drought-plagued summer. // Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s quest for water leaves costly bill: Higher rates for customers, choking air pollution. // Los Angeles Times

Should California warn residents when pesticides are sprayed near homes? How to weigh in. // Fresno Bee

Fire breaks out at Chevron’s El Segundo, California, refinery. // Reuters

Podcast: What if California seceded from the United States? // CNN

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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A Familiar Refrain as China and Japan, Uneasy Neighbors in East Asia, Begin 2026 at Odds Again

They’re at it again

BEIJING (AP) — They’re at it again. China and Japan — frenemies, trading partners and uneasy neighbors with a tortured, bloody history they still struggle to navigate — are freshly at each other’s rhetorical throats as 2026 begins. And it’s over the same sticking points that have kept them resentful and suspicious for many decades: Japan’s occupation of parts of China in the 20th century, the use of military power in East Asia, economics and politics — and, of course, pride.From insinuations that Chinese citizens face dangers in Japan to outright accusations of resurgent Japanese imperialism, this first week of the year in China has been marked by the communist government scorning Tokyo on multiple fronts and noticeably embracing the visiting leader of another crucial strategic neighbor: South Korea.The latest chapter in Japan-China enmity surged In November when Japan's new leader waded into choppy bilateral waters. She said, in effect, that if China moved militarily against Taiwan, she wouldn't rule out involving Japan's constitutionally defense-only military. That didn't go over well in Beijing, which has teed off on Tokyo over the years for far less.“Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s erroneous remarks concerning Taiwan infringe upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, blatantly interfere in China’s internal affairs, and send a military threat against China,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday, a week after military exercises around the island ended. “We urge Japan to face up to the root causes of the issue, reflect and correct its mistakes.”That’s hardly uncommon language. China frequently demands Japan ponder the path it has taken and correct its “erroneous” course. It's rhetoric, sure, but it goes far deeper. And sometimes it's hard to tell what's real umbrage and what's ginned up for domestic political consumption.Because when it comes to the China-Japan relationship, anger remains a powerful and enduring tool on both sides. And there's no indication that's going away anytime soon. A long history of antagonism From the time Japan colonized Taiwan in 1895 after a war with Qing Dynasty China, a deep suspicion and at times outright enmity has existed between the two countries.It worsened in the 1920s and 1930s after Japan’s brutal occupation of parts of China resulted in torture and deaths that Chinese resent to this day. At the same time, Japanese leaders have sometimes thrown incendiary political footballs like visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japanese who gave their lives in the nation’s wars — including some war criminals from the Sino-Japanese wars. China, like clockwork, responds with indignation.Japan lost World War II to the Allied powers and relinquished offensive military powers under a U.S.-drafted constitution, even as the current communist Chinese government was establishing the People’s Republic in 1949. Since then, any hint of Japanese military assertiveness has drawn great umbrage here. Disputes over territory, such as an island chain called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, spike occasionallyThe enmity, pulled out when something is perceived as aggressive or anger is required for a domestic audience, lurks barely beneath the surface, ready to pop. Even today, cartoons circulate online in China depicting Japanese as demonic, aggressive and anti-China. This week has been an illuminating case study.On Tuesday, China slapped restrictions on “dual-use exports” to Japan — anything, it said, that Japan could adapt for military use. Though it didn't specify what the ban includes, anything from drones to rare earths could be considered dual-use. The lack of specificity allows China to adjust its approach as it goes — making it more or less strict depending on where the political winds are blowing. Japan demanded the move be rescinded. “These measures, which only target Japan, deviate significantly from international practice,” its Foreign Ministry said, calling China's actions “absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable.” This came days after it protested Chinese mobile drilling rigs in the East China Sea.While the Chinese Commerce Ministry did not mention rare earths curbs, the official newspaper China Daily, seen as a government mouthpiece, quoted anonymous sources saying Beijing was considering tightening exports of certain rare earths to Japan. On Wednesday, the focus turned to a gas called dichlorosilane, used in computer chip manufacturing. The Commerce Ministry said it had launched an investigation into why the price of dichlorosilane imported from Japan had decreased 31% between 2022 and 2024. “The dumping of imported products from Japan has damaged the production and operation of our domestic industry,” it said.Finally, on Thursday, China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association, a nongovernment agency (inasmuch as any agency in China is nongovernmental) released with some fanfare a report provocatively titled “Nuclear Ambitions of Japan's Right-Wing Forces: A Serious Threat to World Peace.” It spent 29 pages outlining worries and accusations that Tokyo harbors dangerous nuclear ambitions. But it also went broader, invoking once again its stance that the nation's right-wing leaders — and, by extension, the whole country itself — have “failed to reflect on Japan's history of aggression.”“Japan has never been able to fully eliminate the scourge of militarism in the country,” the report said. “If Japan's right-wing forces are left free to develop powerful offensive weapons, or even possess nuclear weapons, it will again bring disaster to the world.”Also part of the equation this week: China's visible pivot to another regional neighbor, South Korea, whose president spent four days in Beijing. Seoul has a bumpy history of its own with Japanese aggression and also sporadic — though generally less intense — friction with Beijing, a longtime supporter and ally of its rival North Korea.Chinese media gave splashy coverage to Lee Jae Myung's visit, touting new Beijing-Seoul agreements on trade, environmental protection and transportation — and notably technology, given the dual-export ban. Also visible: Lee at two business events watching major companies pledge increased collaboration. The sides signed 24 export contracts worth a combined $44 million, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.The burst of official affection toward South Korea didn't stop with Lee. While he was here, Chinese media reported that South Korea overtook Japan as the leading destination for outbound flights from the mainland over New Year’s. That's on top of Beijing's recent efforts to discourage Chinese from traveling to Japan, citing “significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens” there.For now, Japan-China tension remains a matter of rhetoric and policy. But no one is predicting a quick resolution. With Japan's staunch ally, the United States, planning to furnish more arms to Taiwan in a single sale than ever before, there's too much at stake for both East Asian nations at this moment — and too much contentious history — for an easy and quick solution."This time ... de-escalation and a return to the status quo may not be as easily achieved," Sebastian Maslow, an East Asia specialist and associate professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo, wrote in The Conversation last month. “With diplomatic channels in short supply and domestic political agendas paramount, an off-ramp for the current dispute is not in sight.”Ted Anthony has written about China for The Associated Press since 1994. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – December 2025

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This startup helps enterprising resellers prevent nearly a million pounds of returns from ending up in landfills

Americans are likely to have spent a record $1 trillion-plus this holiday shopping season alone, and about $5.5 trillion in retail sales in all of 2025, according to estimates by the National Retail Federation. That includes many unhappy returns for retailers: And when it comes back to them, a lot of the $850 billion in returned merchandise is often cheaper to discard than to inspect, sort, and resell—adding millions of tons to landfills every year. “This is a massive ecological problem, as well as a financial problem for these companies,” says Ryan Ryker, CEO of rScan. Based in South Bend, Indiana, the startup has developed software and logistics services to help transfer these products from the beleaguered original sellers to resellers more eager to do the work of making money on a returned product. “There’s a lot of people who are looking to make side cash,” says cofounder and chief logistics officer Julian Marquez about their small-business clients. But it’s not easy. Instead of getting, say, a shipping pallet of all the same product, such as a power tool, resellers have to sort through a mishmash that can contain dozens of different items—including many one-offs. rScan’s offering for them sounds simple: a barcode-scanning app. But behind that is an entire data infrastructure to help resellers understand what they’ve got and how to sell it. Scanning the UPC barcode on a box pulls up the item’s product name and brand, images, detailed descriptions, and manuals. Resellers can first ascertain the product’s condition and whether everything that should be in the box is. If they decide it’s worth selling, rScan can pull from its database the dozens of product attributes required by online marketplaces and format complete product listings tailored to venues such as Amazon, eBay, or Shopify. The company regularly scrapes these sites to survey what products are selling for and estimate a price for the reseller’s listing. rScan charges 30 cents per month per unique item that is scanned and in their catalogue for as long as it’s listed for sale online. (So selling 10 of the same product would cost 30 cents per month, total.) The company also takes a percentage of monthly sales, from 1% to 3.9% on a sliding scale that ramps up as vendors sell more. Clients range from newbies working out of a garage to what Ryker calls, “sellers that are doing multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.” Retailers from High School For Ryker, rScan was tailored to the challenges he’d personally encountered. “Resale is something I previously dabbled in prior to the pandemic. From there, there was a lot of returns going on with COVID, the rise in e-commerce sales, things of that nature,” he says.  But his retail experience goes back to high school in the 2010s when he and Marquez established their own apparel brand, called Culture Clothing, which ran for a couple years and grossed about $45,000 in its best year. They mostly sold at concerts and show venues, but also called on another classmate, Rod Baradaran, to set up an ecommerce site. In 2021, the three reunited to cofound rScan. Baradaran reprised his tech role, coding the app and the online services, developing the price-setting algorithm, and serving as COO. (A fourth cofounder, Michael Altenburger, joined a few months later.) The company—which was bootstrapped by the founders—now has 36 employees. Taking on a Clunky System It’s not that returned goods would all go into the trash without rScan. “The real advantage of being able to get this online faster and on ecommerce [platforms] is that you have a much wider market where these products can be distributed and actually used,” says Baradaran. The three seem especially proud of helping side-hustlers make ends meet. Marquez also works in the RV manufacturing industry around South Bend—which has taken a hit in recent years, with hundreds of layoffs in 2025 alone. He helped one of his coworkers get into online resale as a safety net when his earnings dropped.  “If he didn’t have rScan at the time, he would have had to either sell something or lose a part of the lifestyle that he was already used to living with,” says Marquez. He was able to take advantage of rScan’s physical as well as virtual services. The company runs a warehouse to receive returned goods from retailers, hold them for small clients who don’t have their own storage space, and help arrange shipping to buyers. It was also a chance to test and refine the software by running their own resale business. “We kind of dogfooded our own product when we first started,” says Baradaran. In May 2025, rScan upgraded to a 53,000-square-foot warehouse in South Bend. Living Up to Values While they have eschewed outside investors so far, rScan recognizes it may need to go that route to scale up. “We want to make sure that they share the same vision as us, and as long as that’s aligned—absolutely,” says Baradaran. Helping not just sellers but the planet is a key part of that vision. By its own accounting, rScan says it has saved over 840,000 pounds of products from going into the trash. After rScan scales more, the founders plan to seek independent verification of their ecological impact in the process of becoming a Benefit Corporation. To be certified as a B Corp, a company has to pass an initial and ongoing evaluation by the nonprofit B Lab of its environmental impact, social responsibility, transparency, and accountability to all stakeholders—not just investors. “Ultimately, our goal is to democratize entrepreneurship,” Baradaran says in an email. “In doing so, we drive sustainability by extending the lifecycle of consumer goods that would otherwise end up in landfills.”

Americans are likely to have spent a record $1 trillion-plus this holiday shopping season alone, and about $5.5 trillion in retail sales in all of 2025, according to estimates by the National Retail Federation. That includes many unhappy returns for retailers: And when it comes back to them, a lot of the $850 billion in returned merchandise is often cheaper to discard than to inspect, sort, and resell—adding millions of tons to landfills every year. “This is a massive ecological problem, as well as a financial problem for these companies,” says Ryan Ryker, CEO of rScan. Based in South Bend, Indiana, the startup has developed software and logistics services to help transfer these products from the beleaguered original sellers to resellers more eager to do the work of making money on a returned product. “There’s a lot of people who are looking to make side cash,” says cofounder and chief logistics officer Julian Marquez about their small-business clients. But it’s not easy. Instead of getting, say, a shipping pallet of all the same product, such as a power tool, resellers have to sort through a mishmash that can contain dozens of different items—including many one-offs. rScan’s offering for them sounds simple: a barcode-scanning app. But behind that is an entire data infrastructure to help resellers understand what they’ve got and how to sell it. Scanning the UPC barcode on a box pulls up the item’s product name and brand, images, detailed descriptions, and manuals. Resellers can first ascertain the product’s condition and whether everything that should be in the box is. If they decide it’s worth selling, rScan can pull from its database the dozens of product attributes required by online marketplaces and format complete product listings tailored to venues such as Amazon, eBay, or Shopify. The company regularly scrapes these sites to survey what products are selling for and estimate a price for the reseller’s listing. rScan charges 30 cents per month per unique item that is scanned and in their catalogue for as long as it’s listed for sale online. (So selling 10 of the same product would cost 30 cents per month, total.) The company also takes a percentage of monthly sales, from 1% to 3.9% on a sliding scale that ramps up as vendors sell more. Clients range from newbies working out of a garage to what Ryker calls, “sellers that are doing multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.” Retailers from High School For Ryker, rScan was tailored to the challenges he’d personally encountered. “Resale is something I previously dabbled in prior to the pandemic. From there, there was a lot of returns going on with COVID, the rise in e-commerce sales, things of that nature,” he says.  But his retail experience goes back to high school in the 2010s when he and Marquez established their own apparel brand, called Culture Clothing, which ran for a couple years and grossed about $45,000 in its best year. They mostly sold at concerts and show venues, but also called on another classmate, Rod Baradaran, to set up an ecommerce site. In 2021, the three reunited to cofound rScan. Baradaran reprised his tech role, coding the app and the online services, developing the price-setting algorithm, and serving as COO. (A fourth cofounder, Michael Altenburger, joined a few months later.) The company—which was bootstrapped by the founders—now has 36 employees. Taking on a Clunky System It’s not that returned goods would all go into the trash without rScan. “The real advantage of being able to get this online faster and on ecommerce [platforms] is that you have a much wider market where these products can be distributed and actually used,” says Baradaran. The three seem especially proud of helping side-hustlers make ends meet. Marquez also works in the RV manufacturing industry around South Bend—which has taken a hit in recent years, with hundreds of layoffs in 2025 alone. He helped one of his coworkers get into online resale as a safety net when his earnings dropped.  “If he didn’t have rScan at the time, he would have had to either sell something or lose a part of the lifestyle that he was already used to living with,” says Marquez. He was able to take advantage of rScan’s physical as well as virtual services. The company runs a warehouse to receive returned goods from retailers, hold them for small clients who don’t have their own storage space, and help arrange shipping to buyers. It was also a chance to test and refine the software by running their own resale business. “We kind of dogfooded our own product when we first started,” says Baradaran. In May 2025, rScan upgraded to a 53,000-square-foot warehouse in South Bend. Living Up to Values While they have eschewed outside investors so far, rScan recognizes it may need to go that route to scale up. “We want to make sure that they share the same vision as us, and as long as that’s aligned—absolutely,” says Baradaran. Helping not just sellers but the planet is a key part of that vision. By its own accounting, rScan says it has saved over 840,000 pounds of products from going into the trash. After rScan scales more, the founders plan to seek independent verification of their ecological impact in the process of becoming a Benefit Corporation. To be certified as a B Corp, a company has to pass an initial and ongoing evaluation by the nonprofit B Lab of its environmental impact, social responsibility, transparency, and accountability to all stakeholders—not just investors. “Ultimately, our goal is to democratize entrepreneurship,” Baradaran says in an email. “In doing so, we drive sustainability by extending the lifecycle of consumer goods that would otherwise end up in landfills.”

Business
Culture
Food

Monarch butterflies could disappear. Butterfly Town USA is scrambling to save them

Pacific Grove is known as ‘Butterfly Town USA’ for its role as an overwintering spot. As the insect’s population plummets, residents are coming to its rescueIn the tiny seaside village of Pacific Grove, California, there’s no escaping the monarch butterfly.Here, butterfly murals abound: one splashes across the side of a hotel, another adorns a school. As for local businesses, there’s the Monarch Pub, the Butterfly Grove Inn, even Monarch Knitting (a local yarn shop). And every fall, the small city hosts a butterfly parade, where local elementary school children dress up in butterfly costumes. The city’s municipal code even declares it an unlawful act to “molest or interfere” with monarchs in any way, with a possible fine of $1,000. Continue reading...

In the tiny seaside village of Pacific Grove, California, there’s no escaping the monarch butterfly.Here, butterfly murals abound: one splashes across the side of a hotel, another adorns a school. As for local businesses, there’s the Monarch Pub, the Butterfly Grove Inn, even Monarch Knitting (a local yarn shop). And every fall, the small city hosts a butterfly parade, where local elementary school children dress up in butterfly costumes. The city’s municipal code even declares it an unlawful act to “molest or interfere” with monarchs in any way, with a possible fine of $1,000.After all, Pacific Grove is better known by its other, self-given nickname: “Butterfly Town, U.S.A.”But Butterfly Town, and the rest of California, has a problem. The species behind the fanfare is disappearing at an alarming rate, amid rampant pesticide use, habitat loss, extreme weather and the climate crisis. The stakes are dire; monarch populations in the western US have plummeted by more than 99% since the 1980s.If nothing changes, experts fear the western monarchs have a nearly 100% chance of extinction by 2080.“It’s important to recognize that Butterfly Town is about living creatures that need our help, not just orange-and-black merchandise,” stressed Natalie Johnston, the education manager at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, who also runs the museum’s monarch programs.Pacific Grove has long been an official “overwintering” resting site for monarch butterflies, which flock from the Pacific north-west down to the California coast every late fall and winter on their annual migration route. In years past, tens of thousands of monarchs have taken shelter in the town’s designated monarch sanctuary, amassing around the branches of trees in huge clumps and bursting through the air in giant orange clouds.One week in December 2022, volunteers counted nearly 16,000 butterflies sheltering within Pacific Grove’s sanctuary. But this year, on a similar December week, the butterfly count there was 107.In Pacific Grove, it’s unlawful to ‘molest or interfere’ with monarchs in any way. The fine for breaking that law was upped from $500 to $1,000. Photograph: Amanda UlrichFor many biologists, monarchs serve as a canary in the coal mine for environmental impacts to come, especially for other pollinators.“They are one of the best-studied butterflies,” said Emma Pelton, senior conservation biologist for the nonprofit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. “So the more we know about them, and the more we understand all the threats they face, that’s a direct correlation to the threats that these other butterflies and other insects face.”Although the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the entire monarch species, including populations in the east and west, be formally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Department of the Interior has delayed making a decision on that listing.Still, all hope is not yet lost for Butterfly Town. Johnston, from the natural history museum, and a band of other staff and volunteers are fighting for the namesake invertebrates by diligently tracking their numbers and calling for their protection.We continue to lose sites, and we continue to have a lack of meaningful legal protection for the vast majority of themOn a recent brisk December morning, Johnston and four volunteer “citizen scientists” gathered outside the city’s small monarch sanctuary, bundled up in hats and gloves, for their weekly butterfly count. Up and down the state, researchers rely on citizen scientists to collect real-time data, helping them to get a true sense of where the monarch population stands.One butterfly counter and docent for the history museum, Kat Morgan, described herself as “a data geek”. Part of the appeal of the butterfly count, she said, is to be able to contextualize current numbers within broader patterns and trends.“My job is to help people fall in love with the butterflies, or fall deeper in love, so that they’ll take action,” she said.Equipped with binoculars, clipboards and small green laser pointers (to aid in counting), the volunteer group set out into the wooded, roughly three-acre preserve.Inside the sanctuary, butterflies hung from the branches of eucalyptus trees in shadow, like a darkened chandelier, occasionally flitting into the sunlight in sudden brilliant color. The volunteers were largely quiet as they peered upwards, squinting into their binoculars. The Pacific Ocean thudded dully in the distance.When monarchs cluster in big groups, volunteers are able to count them by estimating the general density of the butterflies and how many are typically in one area. But when they’re more scattered, like this December morning, the volunteers count each flattened set of wings they see.Signs celebrating the monarch butterfly are everywhere in Pacific Grove. Photograph: Amanda UlrichThe monarchs’ presence here at all, year after year, has a somewhat mysterious quality to it; because migrating monarchs have a lifespan of just nine months or less, each wave of butterflies that arrives to Pacific Grove has never been there before. Scientists still don’t understand how, exactly, they know which tiny plot of land and specific tree to fly to, hundreds of miles south from where they started their journey.Near the top of one eucalyptus, the volunteer group spied a solid bunch of nestling monarchs. One person counted 27 butterflies, another 28. Johnston checked the butterfly tally on her clipboard.“If we do in fact have 28, that makes this our highest count of the year,” she reported.After another beat of counting, another volunteer agreed with the higher number: “28!”“Yay!” Johnston cheered, encouraging them along.The volunteers’ final tally of the morning was 226 butterflies: A very far cry from the huge counts of years past, but better than every other week of the 2025 season in Pacific Grove. It’s anyone’s guess, the volunteers said, why this particular weekly count may have been different. The numbers fluctuate, and there could always be butterflies the volunteers don’t spot.On a broader scale, the reasons why monarch counts have plunged in the last 50 years are more obvious.Starting in the 80s, frenzied coastal development across the state likely sparked some of the major drop-offs, Pelton said. Even the Pacific Grove sanctuary today, she pointed out, is a “green space in a sea of houses”.“That’s the same for so many of these core overwintering sites,” she said. “We lose sites every year. We continue to lose sites, and we continue to have a lack of meaningful legal protection for the vast majority of them.”The climate crisis is also driving some of the decline. This winter may prove to be the second or third-lowest count of western monarchs on record, the Xerces Society reported in early December, partially due to a warmer summer and drought conditions across the west.“Now climate change might be like the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Pelton said. “But there are these other root causes that, thankfully, we can probably address more easily than climate change in the very near term, such as reducing our pesticide use.”There’s something about monarch butterflies that seems to resonate ... Pesticides have been a particularly glaring issue in Pacific Grove. In early 2024, Butterfly Town was the center of a monarch “mass mortality event” after hundreds of butterflies were exposed to pesticides and died.Johnston and the other volunteers still remember stumbling upon the dying butterflies on a private property just off the sanctuary grounds: seeing them convulse in clumps on the ground for days. Several volunteers still can’t bear to look at the photos and videos from those days, or read about any of the scientific findings. Witnessing the impacts of pesticides in real-time – “the convulsions, the seizures” – was horrific, Johnston said.A total of 15 different pesticides were found in the butterflies’ systems, a new study reported this year. County officials and the study’s authors, including Pelton, weren’t able to pinpoint the specific source, but determined that the toxins could have come from an unreported or untraceable residential or commercial use in Pacific Grove. Aside from pesticides used in large-scale farming operations, simple residential use of the household products can be a huge threat to monarchs – and homeowners don’t have to report using them.To many, the whole 2024 saga ended up feeling like an unsolved murder investigation.“There were dead bodies,” Pelton said, “but no weapon, no perpetrator.”Butterflies hang from a eucalyptus tree in the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary. Photograph: Amanda UlrichThe mass die-off did, however, spark a wider conversation in Pacific Grove about pesticides, including seemingly benign ones labeled as “organic”, which homeowners may not realize are harmful to monarchs as they fly across the city before landing in the sanctuary. Johnston started knocking on neighbors’ doors and handing out brochures about how to maintain their properties with butterflies in mind, like planting flowering, native plants and avoiding pesticides.“Monarch butterflies depend on you!” the brochures implored.Luckily, for now, Butterfly Town is still flush with monarch enthusiasts. People eagerly impart their own personal meanings onto butterflies, Johnston said. Visitors to the sanctuary will often tell her they love the species because of its strength – they weigh less than a paper clip, but can fly more than 100 miles in a day – or because of its transformation from lowly caterpillar to winged beauty.Whatever the reason, in Pacific Grove the butterflies carry weight.“They’re harmless and they’re beautiful,” Johnston said. “There’s something about monarch butterflies that seems to resonate with everybody.”

Business
Climate
Crisis

Feed a goat and other ways to recycle real Oregon Christmas trees

Here are ways experts suggest a post-Christmas trees can be put to good use.

Ready to remove a real Christmas tree from the living room? Consider donating it to feed a goat. The 130-acre Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island will accept trees, stripped of their holiday decorations, 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 3-4, at 17100 N.W. Sauvie Island Road in Portland.Most of the trees dropped off for free at Topaz Farm, however, will be used to make biochar to improve soil health, according to owners Kat Topaz and Jim Abeles.“Bringing the tree to the farm can be a family tradition that gets people outside and keeps trees out of landfills,” said Topaz, who serves as an elected representative for the West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District. While at the farm, visitors can also see and hear sandhill cranes and bald eagles, said Topaz, who also sits on the board of the nonprofit Bird Alliance of Oregon.The trees to be converted into biochar are burned in a kiln at high temperatures to minimize smoke. While still in a charcoal state, they’re extinguished with compost tea. The biochar is then put into fields where it acts like a sponge in the soil, holding water and nutrients in place and storing carbon underground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, Topaz added. “Combined with compost and cover crops, it helps us grow healthier, more nutrient-dense food,” Topaz said. “It’s a practical example of regenerative farming — taking a material many people consider waste and using it to rebuild the soil."The Oregon Department of Forestry encourages repurposing only Christmas trees grown in the state. Non-native Christmas trees sold at some stores can carry invasive pests.If you suspect there is a bug on an out-of-state Christmas tree, contact the forest department, cut up the tree, place the pieces in plastic bags, and seal them in your garbage can. Do not leave it in the backyard for an extended period or donate it to a group that will use it in a forest or waterway.Environmental groups are authorized to collect cut trees to strategically submerge into creeks to protect young salmon and steelhead from predators, and for wetland restoration work.Biodegradable trees cleared of ornaments, lights, tinsel, wire, nails, spikes, stands, plastic and other non-plant products can also be chipped and used as ground cover at parks.Collecting trees and wreaths after Christmas are fundraising projects for Scout troops and other nonprofits. For a small fee and on specified days, volunteers will pick up greenery set on curbs and driveways outside a home or brought to designated sites.Find Oregon Scout troops at beascout.scouting.org.Garbage collection services accept trees as recyclable yard debris if the tree fits inside the bin and is collected on the regularly scheduled pick-up day. A large tree can be cut up and the debris placed in the bin and picked up over several weeks. Some haulers charge an additional fee for the extra garbage, and some do not accept flocked trees, those sprayed to look snow-covered.Visit Metro’s Find-A-Recycler to determine the closest yard debris recycling facility or seasonal tree recycling event. Send a question, call 503-234-3000 or contact your garbage hauler.Repurpose a treeWishing Well is a family-owned business in Medford sells cut Oregon-grown fresh Christmas Trees.Janet Eastman/The Oregonian/OregonLiveOnce stripped of decorations and non-plant materials, a real Christmas tree can be used in the yard as mulch or a wildlife habitat. Here are ways experts suggest a post-Christmas trees can be put to good use:Make mulch: Cut off the boughs and place them around plants to insulate roots from the cold. Decomposing wood releases nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, improving soil quality and plant growth. Wood chips can also be used to fill in garden paths and reduce weeds.Enhance a compost pile: Bend blogger Linda Ly of Garden Betty suggests cutting the tree into smaller pieces and letting the pile sit until the pine needles have fallen off and the branches are dry and brittle. Then, use these brown materials as a carbon source for a compost bin, as needed.Benefit wildlife: Move the tree in its stand outdoors for the winter, where it can provide food and shelter for wild birds. Hang a bird feeder or suet cage from the branches. Ly wrote that her goats like eating the trees and that putting branches in a chicken run “is a good way to help chickens beat winter boredom.”A fish home: With the pond owner’s permission, sink a tree in a deep pond to become habitats for fish and aquatic insects. In shallow wetlands, trees can act as barriers to sand and soil erosion.Make a trellis: Move the tree to a corner of the yard and in the spring set it up in the garden as a trellis for peas or beans.

Business
Conservation
Food

20 stories of Oregonians who inspired us in 2025

From a 16-year-old chess grandmaster to a bus driver who thwarted a hijacking, these Oregonians made remarkable impacts in their communities this year.

Among the accomplishments of elementary and high school students, business owners, professional athletes and artists, The Oregonian/OregonLive journalists had no shortage of inspirational stories to tell in 2025. This year, we celebrated remarkable Oregonians such as Rosie Lanenga, Oregon’s Kid Governor, who championed climate change awareness, and Manny Chavez, who courageously addressed the impact of immigration enforcement on his community. We also highlighted the philanthropic efforts of athletes such as Blake Wesley, who exemplified compassion through his outreach, and artists like Aaron Nigel Smith, who brought history to life with his folk opera. These stories reflect the resilience and creativity that define Oregon, reminding us all of the potential for positive change in our communities. Here are some of the Oregonians who inspired us to be kinder, braver, determined and selfless in 2025. Woman Grandmaster Zoey Tang at the Portland Chess Club.Samantha Swindler/ The OregonianZoey TangAt just 16 years old, Zoey Tang made history as Oregon’s first woman grandmaster in chess, a prestigious title awarded by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE). During her junior year at Westview High School in Beaverton, Tang’s achievement was remarkable in a field where only about 500 players worldwide hold the woman grandmaster title, out of approximately 350,000 active FIDE-rated players, Samantha Swindler reported in January. Tang, who held a rating of 2306 and was a FIDE Master in January, aims to achieve the open grandmaster title within the next four years. She is also the Oregon state champion, competing successfully against players of all genders and ages. Beyond her competitive success, Tang founded Puddletown Chess, a nonprofit aimed at increasing participation among young players, particularly women and those from underrepresented backgrounds. Her journey reflects a commitment to not only excel in chess but also to foster a more inclusive community in the game.2025 Kid Governor Rosie Lanenga poses for a photo at the Oregon Capitol on Thursday, January 16, 2025, in Salem.Vickie Connor/The OregonianRosie LanengaOregon’s 2025 Kid Governor, Rosie Lanenga, made climate change her top priority this year when she stepped into her role. Elected by her peers from across the state as a fifth-grader last school year, the student from Portland’s Riverdale Grade School was sworn in at the Oregon State Capitol alongside her cabinet members in January, Samantha Swindler reported. Lanenga emphasized the importance of addressing climate change, stating, “I want Oregon to stay as beautiful as it is right now, and climate change is affecting that.”As part of her campaign, Lanenga introduced her A.C.T. plan, which encourages individuals to take action at home, hold discussions about reducing carbon footprints and share knowledge with others. With aspirations of becoming a lawyer and a passion for politics, Lanenga engaged with state leaders throughout her yearlong term. Her commitment to environmental advocacy highlights the potential of young leaders to influence positive change in their communities.Mike Perrault, a TriMet bus driver, faced an armed man on his bus in January of this year.SubmittedMike PerraultTriMet bus driver Mike Perrault displayed extraordinary bravery during a harrowing 12-minute hijacking of his Line 4 bus in Portland on Jan. 29. With nearly a decade of experience, Perrault faced an armed man who forced him to drive through the streets of Old Town. Despite the life-threatening situation, he remained calm and focused on de-escalating the tension, assuring the hijacker that he would be safe on the bus.“I told him that while he was on my bus, he’d be safe. He could give me the gun or he could put it down, but while he was on the bus, I wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Perrault told reporter Zane Sparling.Perrault successfully persuaded the gunman to surrender his weapon, allowing Perrault to toss it out the window and escape the bus unharmed. Perrault’s quick thinking and composure under pressure garnered widespread praise, highlighting the resilience and dedication of public transit workers in the face of danger. Anthony and Marlie Love on their trip to Coos Bay. Photo courtesy of Traveling While Black.Traveling While BlackAnthony and Marlie LoveAnthony and Marlie Love, a Seattle-based couple originally from Missouri, are making waves in the travel community as advocates for Black travelers in the Pacific Northwest. Through their YouTube channel, “Traveling While Black,” they provide essential resources and insights, including a unique Black comfortability rating system for various destinations. Earlier this year, the Loves appeared on the Peak Northwest podcast in February to discuss their Oregon coast trip, where they highlighted local Black history and the importance of safe travel experiences. Although they are from Washington, their mission extends beyond state lines, aiming to foster inclusivity and understanding in travel. With over 170 episodes under their belt, the Loves are inspiring a new generation of travelers to explore the region while acknowledging its historical context and promoting a welcoming environment for all.Jenn LockwoodJenn Lockwood, training supervisor at the Mt. Hood Meadows Learning Center, is the face of Mt. Hood Meadows’ She Shreds program, which empowers women in the skiing and snowboarding communities. Featured on a March episode of Peak Northwest, Lockwood discussed how the program offers both camps and clinics designed to create a supportive environment for women to learn and develop their snowsport skills together.The She Shreds initiative encourages participants to leave their egos behind, fostering a sense of camaraderie and community among skiers and snowboarders. Many women who join the program go on to form lasting connections, continuing to shred together long after the clinics conclude. Lockwood’s insights highlight the transformative power of community and empowerment in sports, making She Shreds a vital resource for aspiring female skiers and snowboarders.Sprague High's constitution team team of two, Matthew Meyers, in red sweater, and Colin Williams, in black shirt, hold hands with each other and members of the Lincoln High School constitution team while they wait to find out if both teams made it into the final rounds of the national civics education competition We the People.Courtesy of the Lincoln High constitution team​​Matthew Meyers and Colin WilliamsA two-student civics team from Salem’s Sprague High School, with no history of national wins and far fewer resources than their competitors, delivered one of Oregon’s most improbable academic victories this year, Julia Silverman reported in April. Seniors Matthew Meyers and Colin Williams stunned judges and peers alike at the national We the People Constitution competition, mastering the same exhaustive constitutional law, history and casework typically divided among teams of 20 to 30 students. Working largely on their own — supported by their social studies teacher and fueled by marathon research sessions — the pair advanced from regionals to state, then shocked the field by reaching the national finals. They initially emerged as sole national champions before a scoring correction elevated Portland’s powerhouse Lincoln High School into a shared title. The result: an unexpected, “can’t-make-this-up” co-championship that returned the trophy to Oregon.In Venezuela, Nava Ulacio planned to be a civil engineer. Moving to the United States allowed her the opportunity to pursue her music dreams.Allison Barr/The OregonianSofia Nava UlacioSofia Nava Ulacio, a 21-year-old Venezuelan immigrant, graduated from Portland Community College with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a full scholarship to Lewis & Clark College, Eddy Binford-Ross reported in June. In 2022, Nava Ulacio arrived in Oregon unable to speak English, having fled political unrest in Venezuela. To overcome language barriers, she immersed herself in school activities, using Google Translate for her coursework and joining the jazz band, theater and choir. At PCC, she excelled in her music studies, founded a choir club, and now teaches music at Backbeat Music Academy. Nava Ulacio leads the Sofi Nava Trio, performing Latin and contemporary music. She aims to inspire other female Latin musicians and views her music as a connection to her roots, honoring her family’s sacrifices and her cultural heritage.Jamie Breunig leads a one-woman community paramedic program in Clackamas County focused on providing medical care to people living outside.Beth NakamuraJamie BreunigAs Clackamas County’s sole community paramedic, Jamie Breunig delivers medical care, treating patients where they live, even if that means beside a tent or in a motel room. Since the county launched its community paramedic program in October, Breunig has provided medical care or case management to more than 110 unhoused residents, aiming to improve health outcomes while reducing costly 9-1-1 calls, ambulance transports and emergency room visits.Funded by the regional homeless services tax, the $200,000 program reflects a growing recognition that unsheltered people cannot be ignored and that emergency rooms are often the wrong place for basic care, reported Lillian Mongeau Hughes in June. A veteran paramedic and former foster youth, Breunig builds trust with patients who are often deeply distrustful of institutions, helping manage chronic illness, prevent medical crises and, at times, reconnect people to housing, family and hope.Instructors Anna Schneider and Karen Ceballos demonstrate moves for attendees to follow.Allison Barr/The OregonianQueer Baile leadersThroughout the year, the leaders of Queer Baile broke gender norms and fostered community through free Latin dance lessons. Founded by Lydia Greene in 2019, Queer Baile offers inclusive, nongendered classes that celebrate the joy of dance while creating a welcoming space for all. “The space feels way less intimidating than a lot of dance scenes can feel,” Karen Ceballos, a bachata instructor, told me in June.With a focus on cumbia and bachata, the group has seen attendance soar, transforming from a small gathering at a local bar to a vibrant community event at the White Owl Social Club. Volunteer instructors, including Sarah Arias and Kylie Davis, emphasize the importance of consent-based dancing, allowing anyone to lead or follow, regardless of gender.Oregon Representative Thủy Trần has created a new play, “Belonging: A Memoir,” based on the events of her life. Jamie Hale/The OregonianThủy TrầnIn August, state Rep. Thủy Trần shared her journey as a Vietnamese refugee in a one-night theatrical performance titled “Belonging: A Memoir,” which marked the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. The show at the Winningstad Theatre recounted Trần’s escape from Vietnam at age 9 and her path to becoming an Oregon legislator. Co-created with actor Libby Cozza, the production featured a nearly all-Vietnamese cast and three actresses portraying Trần at different life stages. Funded by a $10,000 grant, the project aimed to benefit local organizations, including Portland Public Schools’ Vietnamese Dual Language program, Megan Robertson reported in July. Trần described the experience as a challenge to be vulnerable and authentic, showcasing her remarkable journey from refugee to state representative.Tim Cook, the president of Clackamas Community College, poses at Portland Community College's Sylvania campus on Aug. 1, 2025. He ran more than 1,400 miles around Oregon to raise money for students' basic needs.Allison Barr/The OregonianTim CookClackamas Community College President Tim Cook achieved an extraordinary feat by running 1,400 miles across the state, raising over $127,000 to support students facing basic needs. On this 52-day journey, Cook visited all 17 of Oregon’s community colleges while highlighting food insecurity and homelessness among students, wrote reporter Maddie Khaw in August.Running roughly a marathon each day and wearing through six pairs of shoes, Cook’s determination shone through. He said witnessing students living in cars and struggling to access food sparked the fundraising campaign to provide essential resources to help students stay in school. Cook’s journey not only raised over $177,000 for community college student basic needs but also drew attention to the urgent need for systemic solutions to support students in crisis across Oregon.Marcus Lattimore poses for a photo on the steps outside the Portland Playhouse, a performing arts theater in Northeast Portland. Sean Meagher/The OregonianMarcus LattimoreMarcus Lattimore, a former football star and standout running back at the University of South Carolina, has reinvented himself as a poet in Portland, finding new purpose and identity through spoken word. After a knee injury cut his football career short, Lattimore turned to poetry as a means of expression, exploring complex themes of race, culture and personal growth.Now performing at open mic nights and engaging with the local theater community, Lattimore is making waves in Portland’s arts scene. He has since published a book of verse and continues to expand his work through teaching and performance, marking a significant shift from the career that once defined him, Bill Oram reported in September.Shantae Johnson and Arthur Shavers announce the official reopening of Multnomah County's CROPS farm Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025.Austin De Dios / The OregonianShantae Johnson and Arthur ShaversShantae Johnson and Arthur Shavers, a Portland couple with deep roots in the Black farming community, have transformed Multnomah County’s CROPS Farm into a vital food hub for East Portland, wrote Austin De Dios in September. Their journey began with a small garden at their condo, which ignited their passion for horticulture and led them to leave their careers to pursue farming full-time. Officially reopened on Aug. 27 after five years of development, the 3-acre farm now distributes fresh produce to around 200 families weekly and offers training and support for Black, Indigenous and people of color who are farmers. With a commitment to community, Johnson and Shavers aim to expand their services and create a local food hub in Gresham, where they recently acquired a 5-acre property. Oregon Army National Guard Physician Assistant Maj. Tommy Vu looks up during his world record attempt for most chest-to-ground push-ups at West Coast Strength gym in West Salem on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025.U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. W. Chris ClyneTommy VuMajor Tommy Vu of the Oregon Army National Guard set a remarkable new world record for the most chest-to-ground pushups in September, completing an impressive 1,721 repetitions in one hour at West Coast Strength gym in West Salem. Vu’s achievement, which surpasses the previous record of 1,530 pushups, marks his sixth world record, Sean Meagher reported.The 38-year-old Vu maintained a steady pace using a metronome set to 2.1 seconds per repetition during the grueling hour. Vu donated $1 to the Oregon Humane Society for every pushup completed, totaling $1,721, in memory of his in-law’s beloved dog. Looking ahead, Vu is already preparing to reclaim the chest-to-ground burpee record, previously held by him."York the Explorer‘s" book and music were composed by Grammy-nominated producer Aaron Nigel Smith.Image courtesy of The ReserAaron Nigel SmithAaron Nigel Smith, a Portland-based composer and producer, made waves through his folk opera, “York the Explorer.” The show premiered in late October as part of the inaugural York Fest, honoring the legacy of York, the only Black member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Smith was inspired to create the opera after a bust of York in Mount Tabor Park sparked renewed interest in his remarkable story, which has often been overlooked in history.“It’s just a story of hope, perseverance and courage,” Smith told me in September. “I think not only Black and brown people around the world, but all people can really benefit and learn and grow from knowing this story.”With a commitment to amplifying York’s contributions, Smith has dedicated two years to researching and composing this significant work. The opera not only aims to educate audiences about York’s historical impact but also serves as a platform for fostering community engagement and awareness of Black history in Oregon. Through his artistic vision, Smith is helping to ensure that York’s legacy is celebrated and remembered for generations to come.Mary E. Brunkow poses for a portrait after winning a Nobel Prize in medicine for part of her work on peripheral immune tolerance, in Seattle, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)APMary E. BrunkowMary E. Brunkow, a molecular biologist and graduate of St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, in October was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for her groundbreaking research on peripheral immune tolerance. This prestigious award recognizes her significant contributions to understanding how the immune system distinguishes between harmful pathogens and the body’s own cells, a discovery crucial for developing treatments for autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and lupus. Brunkow, now a senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, shares this honor with fellow researchers Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi. Their collaborative work has unveiled critical pathways that regulate immune responses. Emily Purry surfing in Costa Rice during a Surf Bikini Retreat. Photo courtesy of Emily Purry and Surf Bikini Retreat.Surf Bikini RetreatEmily PurryEmily Purry, a blind surfer from Oregon, entered the world of adaptive surfing at the age of 40, transforming her life and advocating for inclusivity in outdoor sports. After being encouraged to compete, Purry quickly made waves, earning a spot on Team USA Para Surfing just weeks after her first competition in Japan. Despite the challenges of navigating international travel alone and adapting to her sight loss from Stargardt’s macular degeneration, Purry’s resilience shines through. Surfing has not only restored her confidence but also helped her reconnect with her identity, she told Peak Northwest podcast listeners in November, when she discussed her participation in the ISA World Competition in Oceanside, California. Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Chavez, a teenager from Hillsboro, offers an emotional testimony on the toll of immigration enforcement at a city council meeting on November 4, 2025.The OregonianEmmanuel ChavezEmmanuel “Manny” Chavez, a 16-year-old from Hillsboro, captured national attention with his November testimony about the impact of immigration enforcement on his family and community. Speaking at a Hillsboro City Council meeting, Chavez expressed his fears for his parents’ safety amid escalating ICE detentions, stating, “I shouldn’t be scared. I should be focusing on school.” His heartfelt remarks resonated with many, leading to over 3.4 million views after a local newspaper shared the video on social media.Chavez, a junior at Hillsboro High School, was inspired to speak out after witnessing the detention of friends’ family members, wrote Gosia Wozniacka in November. In the wake of a sharp increase in ICE arrests in Oregon, he has taken action by launching an online fundraiser to support families affected by these enforcement actions, raising over $8,000 in just two days. Community members and leaders have praised his courage, with his soccer coach highlighting his admirable leadership and solidarity.The 15th annual Tatas for Toys raised over $60,000 for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.Allison Barr/The OregonianTatas for Toys performersIn December, exotic dancers and burlesque performers in Portland became unlikely champions for children in need through the annual Tatas for Toys fundraiser. Over the past 14 years, the event has raised $183,000 worth of toys for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Samantha Swindler reported in December. The 15th annual event added another $60,000 to that total. Founded by Aaron Ross, the event evolved from a small toy drive at Dante’s nightclub into a theatrical extravaganza featuring dance, magic, and live auctions. The performers not only entertained but also actively engaged the audience, encouraging donations to support the hospital’s Child Life Therapy Program, which helps children cope with hospitalization through play and creative activities. Portland Trail Blazers guard Blake Wesley poses for photos during the NBA basketball team's media day in Portland, Ore., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)APBlake WesleyBlake Wesley, a player for the Portland Trail Blazers, displayed his commitment to philanthropy during a recent Christmas Eve encounter with a homeless man named Dave. After finding his favorite sneaker store closed, Wesley spontaneously invited Dave to share a meal, treating him to gyros and donuts from Voodoo Doughnut, wrote Joe Freeman in December. Wesley said the encounter reflected his deep-rooted belief in helping those in need, a value instilled in him by his parents.Wesley is not only known for his generosity on the streets but also through his nonprofit, The Wesley Legacy Foundation. The foundation focuses on empowering youth and their families, offering free basketball camps and community support initiatives. Recently, it hosted the “Warm a Heart for the Holidays” event in South Bend, where hundreds of children received new coats. Faith and cultural connectionsThe Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content.

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