Wasco County Commissioners unanimously renewed a state grant for transitional housing that helps reduce jail use and stabilize residents cycling through emergency services, which the board framed as a rare and increasingly critical piece of the region’s housing and behavioral health system.
Klickitat County Commissioners took a step toward increasing the supply of affordable homes at their March 31 meeting by approving a Planning Commission recommendation to change the approval process for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) from a conditional use permit to an administrative one.
THE DALLES — Confronting projections that show mounting deficits and long-deferred expenses, the Wasco County Board of Commissioners spent much of its Feb. 18 meeting examining the financial future of the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR) and weighing scenarios that range from new revenue to closing its juvenile wing.
THE DALLES — When the NORCOR Community Resources Coalition formed in February 2018, its relationship with the regional jail was openly adversarial. At the time, the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR) was the last facility in Oregon with an active contract to house detainees for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.
By Emily Harris, Ken Park and Documenter Lynda Ontiveros
Updated
Free news from Uplift Local: NORCOR has a contract with the agency, the U.S. Marshals Service, to house people in Marshals’ custody. But the jail also “formally advised” the service that “individuals facing illegal Re-Entry charges are not to be transported to NORCOR going forward."
Of the approximately 38,700 students who graduated from Oregon public schools last year, six came from Innovations Academy at NORCOR. Each graduation was a critical milestone not only in the life of that individual, but also a step toward a safer Oregon.
