Oregon
Oregon’s unemployed say they’re ‘stuck in limbo’ as state officials struggle following website transition
The Oregon Employment Department’s new website is supposed to make it easier to communicate with the agency. But some Oregonians seeking unemployment insurance benefits are frustrated over long wait times to resolve application issues and difficulties communicating with the department.
The Oregon Employment Department launched their new online platform, Frances Online, on September 6, 2022.
Alex Hasenstab / OPB
Among them is Harvest Rich. She applied for unemployment benefits in January before the agency completed a multi-year, $106 million website upgrade. Rich used to live in La Grande before her spouse’s health issues led them to move out of state. Because her most recent job was an administrative position with Oregon Health and Science University, she is claiming benefits in Oregon.
Rich believes she and her husband meet all the eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits. Rather than having their application approved — or denied — both of their claims were flagged for further investigation. She still doesn’t know why, and neither have received benefits.
“It puts you in this state of limbo,” Rich told OPB. “You don’t know if you’re going to be denied, if you might be expecting a check in the next week or two — you know nothing.”
The upgrade to Frances Online is supposed to alleviate some of the issues related to communicating with the agency. However, transitioning to the new site has meant jammed customer service phone lines as staff and the public get used to the new technology. OPB has spoken with multiple claimants who are in a similar position as the Riches: they believe they qualify for unemployment benefits, but either their initial claim or a subsequent weekly claim is flagged for a potential eligibility issue.
The Riches and other applicants told OPB they haven’t been able to get through to anyone able to provide information about what’s holding up applications.
In Oregon, a flagged claim goes into an internal research process called adjudication. Representatives with the state employment department say because of the migration to the new online system, they do not know how many claims are waiting to get looked at by an adjudicator. They also lack information on how long it’s taking for claims in adjudication to get resolved.
Overall, the department receives around 30,000 weekly unemployment claims. The agency has 98 adjudicators and nearly 170 employees in the general claims category.
“The new system that we have, it’s not just new technology, it’s also a new process in terms of how we are handling the work,” David Gerstenfeld, director of the Oregon Employment Department, told reporters on Wednesday. “It means that the old reports that we had can’t just transfer over and give us the same kind of insights.”
Gerstenfeld said the agency is working on generating reports with data related to the adjudication process, but was not able to provide a timeline of when those reports will be available. He said the agency will make that information public.
OPB reached out to multiple state legislators in areas with higher than average unemployment or in large population areas. Many reported a small bump in emails about frustrations with the employment department since the website rollout was completed in March.
Rep. Anessa Hartman, D-Oregon City, said her office has heard from at least 10 constituents about issues connected to the employment department. Like Gerstenfeld, Hartman says the problems aren’t with the new website.
“OED’s previous filing system was notoriously outdated, and I’m optimistic that the new Frances Online system will streamline the process for Oregonians, despite initial hiccups for some people with their identity verification,” Hartman wrote in an email to OPB. “However, the vast majority of complaints from my constituents have not been about the online system, but rather the wait times in communications with OED staff or the adjudication process.”
Hartman points to staffing shortages and lack of federal funding as causes for the lengthy adjudication process. In the 2024 session, Oregon lawmakers approved more than $10 million for the employment department to add staff, but those funds won’t flow to the agency until June.
“The kinds of issues that adjudicators process when they’re looking at issues on claims can vary in complexity from things that are pretty simple to things that are highly complicated and involve multiple parties,” Sara Cromwell, deputy director for OED’s unemployment insurance division, said.
Officials with the agency have repeatedly pointed to understaffing and underfunding as part of the reason for long waiting times for cases in adjudication. It was among the issues brought to the surface during the pandemic when thousands of Oregonians suddenly found themselves out of work, applying for benefits and dealing with an outdated computer system and understaffed agency.
“We understand how important it is to have the unemployment insurance benefits to help replace income when people are between jobs, and we don’t take that lightly,” Cromwell said. “We’re working our hardest to provide folks with the services that they need and expect, and constantly striving to do better.”
Director Gerstenfeld told reporters he’s confident things will improve when they are able to add staff members with the state funding expected in June.
Meanwhile, folks like Rich are still in limbo.
“When people qualify for the benefits, they need to be paid in a timely manner,” Rich said. “And if for some reason you are unable to do that, then communicate clearly the reasons why and provide a timeline.”
The Oregon Ducks and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are set to face off against each other in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. As this College Football Playoff quarterfinal game gets closer, the betting odds are moving in the Ducks favor.
Oregon Favored By 2.5 Points
When it was confirmed that Oregon would be advancing to play Texas Tech after their first round playoff win over the James Madison Dukes, the betting line opened up on DraftKings Sportsbook with the Ducks as a 1.5-point favorite. Over the past few days, that number has increased a full point.
Oregon is now a 2.5-point favorite over the Red Raiders with odds of -125 to win outright. Texas Tech has odds to win outright of +105. The current over/under is at 52.5 points.
The movement indicates the public backing of coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks over the Big 12 Champion Red Raiders. Notably, ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Texas Tech a 51.6 percent chance to beat the Ducks.
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Ducks Coming Off First Round Win
Oregon comes into this game with a 12-1 record. Their lone loss came to the undefeated No. 1 ranked Indiana Hoosiers.
The Ducks beat James Madison by a final score of 51-34 in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals. The Ducks earned the No. 5 ranking in the playoff bracket, meaning they were the highest ranked team to not receive one of the four first round byes to the quarterfinals.
This is different to what happened last season for Oregon, as they entered that year’s playoff as the No. 1 ranked team with a bye to the quarterfinals. It didn’t end well, as Oregon was bounced immediately in their first game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Could not getting a bye this time around change the Ducks’ fortunes for the better and set up a long playoff run?
Texas Tech’s Elite Defense
Texas Tech also enters this game with a record of 12-1. The Red Raiders last game was a Big 12 championship victory over the BYU Cougars. They earned the No. 4 ranking and first round bye to the quarterfinals. Their one loss this season was to the Arizona State Devils.
The Red Raiders are anchored by an elite defense that has allowed opponents to score an average of just 10.9 points per game. This is the third lowest points allowed in all of college football this season, behind only Indiana and Ohio State.
This defense will be a major challenge for Ducks’ quarterback Dante Moore and company. If Oregon wants to advance to the semi-finals, they will have to be on their “A game.”
Kickoff for this matchup is an early one for those on the west coast at 9 a.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and announced by play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore and color commentator Jesse Palmer.
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The Oregon Ducks’ 2025 season has looked a lot different from when they went undefeated in the 2024 regular season and won the Big Ten Conference Championship. The Ducks entered the postseason with a loss on their record and a handful of young players gaining their first College Football Playoff starts in the first round vs. Jams Madison.
The path for Oregon to make a deep postseason run is still there. Coach Dan Lanning went on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday and revealed what he thinks his team’s biggest superpower is ahead of their quarterfinal matchup against Texas Tech.
What Dan Lanning Said About Strength in Numbers
The Ducks’ regular season didn’t lack adversity. Between a high-pressure overtime game, having to comeback with two minutes left on the road and a plethora of injuries, Lanning’s squad has had a lot to overcome. Throughout all the adversity, the team stuck together.
“I think our superpower is our love for our teammates,” Lanning said. “I think our superpower is the amount of guys that make an impact on this team.”
Quarterback Dante Moore said after the Ducks’ first-round win that the group has grown throughout the season because of the way they’re connected.
With players like wide receivers Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr., as well as various players on the offensive line, coming in and out the lineup, the offense has barely missed a beat. Other players have stepped up when their number has been called.
“I think strength in numbers has really been a superpower for us. We’ve been down players and then we’ve had players available,” Lanning said. “We’ve had guys that you didn’t expect to make an impact, make a huge impact. So, I think really our superpower is the strength in numbers and the buy in from our players.”
Lanning’s roster seem to be getting healthy at the right time. Moore and Bryant both returned to the field vs. the Dukes after missing over a month of action. Wide receiver Evan Stewart and defensive back Trey McNutt have both been seen practicing in the past week despite not playing yet this season.
The Ducks should become harder to scout with more players returning from injury. The way that players like wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan have stepped up for Oregon when its needed creates a variety of options for the coaching staff to choose from, and it makes the team more unpredictable.
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The Team’s Trust in the Coaching Staff
The players on the Ducks may have a lot of chemistry and trust in one another, but part of their “superpower” seems to be the trust they have in the coaching staff.
After Oregon had a lackluster second half against JMU, Moore said that he’s confident the team will clean up its mistakes because he knows his coach is going to continue to push them in practice.
“Coach Lanning’s our leader. We go as he goes,” Moore said. “He’s going to make sure that he’s going to push us very hard next week. We’re going go watch film. Of course, he’s proud of us for us making it this far.”
The great gray whale migration is back on the Oregon coast.
The massive migration of eastern North Pacific gray whales — the longest mammalian migration in the world — sees thousands of whales traveling roughly 12,000 miles from their Arctic feeding grounds to breeding grounds in Baja, Mexico. That migration will once again pass Oregon this month.
Oregon whale watchers will celebrate the peak of the migration from Dec. 27 to 31, when the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department hosts Winter Whale Watch Week at parks up and down the coastline.
Park rangers and volunteers will be stationed at 14 park sites, there to help visitors spot the big cetaceans as they swim past the shore. Park officials said they expect 13,000 whales to pass by Oregon on their way south this season.
The parks department also celebrates Spring Whale Watch Week when the gray whales make their migration north in March.
While there are many good places to go whale watching on the Oregon coast, the town of Depoe Bay, called the Whale Watching Capital of Oregon, is easily one of the best. The central coast town is home to the Whale Watching Center, which will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. every day of Winter Whale Watch Week.
Depoe Bay is a popular stop for some of the Pacific gray whales, which sometimes break off their migration to spend the summer months feeding in the kelp beds just offshore. Several whale watching tours are available in town to see the animals up close.
Those staying on shore can more easily spot the animals with binoculars. Scan the ocean slowly and look for the whale’s spout, which will appear as a vertical spray of mist. You can also look for a tail, called a fluke, which sometimes emerges from the water as the whale dives. If you’re lucky, you might see the whale breach, or jump out of the water, though gray whales do so less frequently than some other species, like humpbacks.
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