Tina Kotek

Mass timber affordable home prototypes are shown at the Port of Portland in Portland, Ore. Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. The prototype was built in a warehouse at the port. The Oregon Mass Timber Coalition aims to open a factory at the site that could mass produce homes and potentially alleviate the state's housing shortage.

Oregon pins hopes on mass timber to boost housing, jobs

The Associated Press

In Oregon, mass timber is increasingly being viewed as a construction material that could help the state build more affordable homes and revive rural logging towns. Mass timber is made from wood products that are fastened together to make large panels or beams.

Newly sworn-in Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek talks after signing three executive orders intended to combat homelessness at the State Library of Oregon in the state capital Salem on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, her first full day in office. The executive orders declared a homeless emergency in most of the state, increased housing construction targets and directed state agencies to prioritize reducing homelessness.

Politics

'A man-made disaster': Oregon's new governor tackles housing

The Associated Press

Oregon's newly sworn-in Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed three executive orders to tackle the state's housing and homelessness crises on her first full day in office Tuesday.

Democratic nominee for governor Tina Kotek greets an employee of a local grocery store before casting her ballot at a ballot drop box on Nov. 2, in Portland, Ore.

Politics

Tina Kotek is Oregon's new governor, continuing Democrats' rule

Lauren Dake

Kotek, a former state House speaker, beat out Republican Christine Drazan, a former state lawmaker. The race was uncomfortably close for Democrats, who've held the governor's mansion for four decades.