PORTLAND- A room full of impassioned arguments and frustrated people was the scene at Tuesday night’s town hall at the St. John’s Community Center.

Focusing on the foreclosure crisis, the town hall was hosted by State Representative Tina Kotek, D-North Portland, and included a guest appearance by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland.

PORTLAND – TriMet and its employee union presented their final offers to each other on Wednesday after previous negotiations failed.

According to Jonathon Hunt, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), division 757, President-Business Representative, contract negotiations have stalled because of disagreements on healthcare and pensions. Under the final offer proposed by TriMet, new employees hired after April 1, 2012 and all employees who retire after April 1, 2012 would have significantly reduced benefits.

SALEM- Attorney General John Kroger joined with 12 other states Wednesday in an attempt to intervene to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

“The science is clear. Global climate change harms public health, and the EPA is taking the right approach by focusing on the big sources of pollution,” Kroger said in a press release.

FOREST GROVE- State Senators Rick Metsger, D-Hood River, and Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, met at the Forest Grove Town Hall to discuss business development in Oregon and what the State is doing to better the economy.

Both Metsger and Starr, who were leaders on the Senate Economic Development and Transportation Committee last session, stressed the importance of transportation on business development in Oregon.

WILSONVILLE – “I pledge to no longer buy bottled water for personal use. I pledge to tell my friends and family why I am making this choice and encouraging them to join me.”

These are just two of the six pledges that students, staff and community members had to make to get one of 500 new stainless steel water bottles, at a cost to taxpayers of $5,595.

PORTLAND- An internal poll released Wednesday brings into question the electoral safety of long time Senator Ron Wyden.

Portland based polling firm, Moore Information, made public their survey results paid for by the Huffman campaign which showed that 37% of Oregonians support a GOP candidate for Sen. Wyden’s seat while 36% favored the incumbent Democratic Party. Twenty-eight percent of respondents remained undecided, as of when the survey was performed on July 10th.

PORTLAND – TriMet approved an $858 million budget for their 2011 fiscal year Wednesday morning.

The budget includes $417 million for operations and debt service and $114 million for rail construction. The total budget was reduced by $20 million from previous projections due to drops in anticipated revenue.

TriMet had a $27 million budget gap. Federal stimulus money filled $7.25 million of the gap and the rest came from administrative cuts, salary and hiring freezes with a reduction of 120 staff, service reductions and fair increases.

SALEM- The Committee on Performance Excellence hopes to help the Oregon government do more with less. The committee was created by Senate Bill 1099, which passed with strong support from both sides of the aisle.

“We’re looking at the new normal, and the new normal is we expect to have less, certainly not more, revenue in the future,” said Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany.

SALEM- The Oregon State Supreme Court released an opinion Thursday on a case involving Philip Morris Inc., a large tobacco company, and the estate of a woman who died from complications with lung cancer.

Michelle Schwartz died after smoking cigarettes for 45 years. Her husband, the personal representative of her estate, sued Philip Morris for marketing an addictive product that caused adverse health effects. Punitive damages are awarded to reform behavior of the defendant, which was Philip Morris Inc. in this case.

PORTLAND – At a Metro work group session Tuesday afternoon, TriMet representatives outlined their current and future budget situation, telling the Metro Council that their budget picture is “bleak” and that near-term restoration of transportation cuts is unlikely.

TriMet has continued to cut services over the last two budget cycles due to budget shortfalls. Last year’s shortfall was $31 million. This year $27 million will need to be cut from the budget.