Oregon
BREAKING: Oregon Ducks land commitment from elite QB
Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln-Way East On300 quarterback Jonas Williams announced his commitment to Oregon on Saturday.
The blue-chip 2026 passer chose to play for head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks over his other finalists in Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.
Offensive coordinator Will Stein led the charge in recruiting the four-star Williams who becomes commit No. 3 for Oregon in the class. The On3 Industry tabs Williams as the nation’s No. 9 quarterback and No. 92 prospect overall.
Williams talks about his decision
Williams visited Oregon twice, hitting camp in June and returning for Saturday Night Live this past weekend.
“Oregon has been my dream school for awhile,” Williams said. “A lot of people talk highly of Oregon and it definitely lived up to that standard. When I got there I really liked Coach Stein and how he teaches. That’s really important. I’m going to spend a lot of time with him the next four years of my life.”
The 6-foot-1 1/2, 200-pound Williams gave Lanning and Stein his pledge on Tuesday.
“I really like Coach Lanning,” Williams said. “He’s one of the most humble head coaches I’ve met. The whole coaching staff has a sense of integrity to them. I feel comfortable with them and can trust them.”
Williams called Stein and told him he was coming and five minutes later he was on with Lanning.
“It shows how much Oregon loves their players and pours into their players and it speaks volumes to a recruit,” Williams said.
With Williams and fellow touted quarterback Faizon Brandon committing on Saturday, nine of the Top 10 ranked passers have declared.
“I didn’t feel sped up,” Williams said. “I think I took my time with it. I went on the visits I needed to go on. There was nothing more I needed to see.
“When I went to Oregon the first time in June I was like I want commit. That’s why I went back down this past weekend. I was like this is where I want to be.”
Oregon stacking terrific recruiting classes
Oregon signed On3’s No. 3 ranked class in 2024. They have On3’s No. 5 ranked class at this point in 2025. With guys like Williams in the fold they’ll make a run at an elite class in 2026 as well.
“Oregon has been on a roll recently with the 2025 class getting Dakorien Moore and guys like that,” Williams said. “That’s more intriguing for a quarterback to see the type of wide receivers they have. I’m going to be throwing to weapons. A lot of people say the best receivers are at Ohio State or Alabama but Oregon is up there too.
“I also think the position for me coming in will be good. I think I fit in well with the players. I’ve been around the players a bit. I think it’s a good fit for me.”
Oregon
Oregon among states suing Trump admin over changes to childhood vaccine recommendations
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — More than a dozen states, including Oregon, sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health.
The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put children’s lives at risk when it announced last month that it would stop recommending all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Under the new guidance, which was met with criticism from medical experts, protections against those diseases are recommended only for certain groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.”
The new vaccine recommendations ignore long-standing medical guidance and will make states have to spend more to protect against outbreaks, the states, including Arizona and California, said.
“In Oregon, we’re already seeing the consequences of the federal government’s reckless actions and vaccine narrative,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield in a news release. “Just last week, our state health officials declared a measles outbreak – with most confirmed cases linked to unvaccinated individuals. Preventable diseases are returning when we undermine public confidence in proven vaccines. We must trust science, trust doctors, and protect our children.”
Emily G. Hilliard, press secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, blasted the complaint as a “publicity stunt dressed up as a lawsuit.”
The lawsuit escalates an ongoing battle between Democratic-led states and Republican President Donald Trump’s administration over the federal government’s changes to public health policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of workers at federal public health agencies, cut funding for scientific research and altered government guidance on fluoride and other topics.
Kennedy last year ousted every member of a vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with his own picks, which Tuesday’s complaint alleges was unlawful.
The lawsuit comes months after the Democratic governors of California, Washington state and Oregon launched an alliance to establish their own vaccine recommendations. The governors said the Trump administration was risking people’s health by politicizing the CDC.
States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren, though the CDC’s requirements typically influence state regulations.
KATU contributed Rayfield quote to this story.
Oregon
2027 4-star CB Danny Lang schedules official visit to Oregon in June
Cornerback was one one of the Oregon Ducks’ strongest positions during the 2025 season, with much of the standouts being true or redshirt freshman such as Brandon Finney Jr. and Na’eem Offord, among others. Two talented players as part of the 2026 class, four-stars Davon Benjamin and Azel Banag, will hope to keep the trend going this coming fall.
Currently, the Ducks don’t have a commit at the cornerback position in the 2027 class, with four-star edge Cameron Pritchett and three-star linebacker Sam Ngata representing the only two commits on the defensive side of the ball.
However, Dan Lanning and his staff are working hard to change that, as four-star cornerback Danny Lang has scheduled an official visit to Oregon on June 19.
Lang is the No. 12 cornerback and No. 100 player nationally, per 247 Sports Composite. He competes for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA, where he’s the 11th-ranked player in the state. He also has official visits with Auburn (June 5), and USC (June 12), proceeding his visit to the Ducks.
Per 247 Sports, Rashad Wadood and Chris Hampton have been the main recruiters of Lang, who totaled 33 tackles, two interceptions and three forced fumbles in 11 games as a sophomore. Considering the all-around talent at Mater Dei, Lang contributing as an underclassmen shouldn’t be understated.
What also can’t be understated is the importance that Oregon reels in several talented cornerbacks as part of the 2027 class and continues their run of talented youngsters at the position.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
Oregon
New Guardrails for AI Companions Could be Coming to Oregon
Operators of artificial intelligence chatbots would have to refer suicidal users to a crisis hotline, and clearly tell users that they are talking to software—not a human—under a bill that has been moving through Salem in recent weeks.
“One of the most important features of this bill is, it tries to take a moment of crisis and turn it into a moment of intervention, of hope,” says Dwight Holton, the CEO of Lines for Life, a major operator of crisis hotlines in Oregon.
The proposal is part of a broader AI regulatory bill that looks to establish safety guardrails on an emerging technology. It comes as experts sound louder alarms about the way sycophantic chatbots and other AI companions manipulate users. Experts say the systems are, in many cases, designed to hook users and extract their monetizable personal data.
Under the bill, AI companions would face additional regulations when they interact with minors in particular. Research presented to lawmakers suggests that most adolescents use AI regularly, and experts say the technology’s risks go well beyond the now-familiar addictive perils of social media.
“Over the past decade, we learned how social media captured human attention,” the researcher Dr. Mandy McLean told lawmakers. “AI systems do something more fundamental. They engage the human attachment system.”
With little action at the federal level, Oregon is joining a coterie of states mulling guardrails for AI companions, Jai Jaisimha of the Transparency Coalition tells WW.
The Oregon bill has passed the Senate and now awaits a vote in the House. No testimony has been formally filed thus far against the legislation.
The bill—Senate Bill 1546—would, at its core, establish a set of new regulations for operators of AI companions.
In addition to requiring AI companions to identify themselves as such, it would require the technology to include an evidence-based protocol for detecting inputs indicating thoughts of self harm or suicide—and to direct applicable users to the national 988 suicide hotline or a youth line.
And where AI companion systems detect they are dealing with youth, they would be forbidden from generating statements that would lead a reasonable person to believe they are interacting with another person.
The bill has carveouts, including for software intended for customer support. But the “artificial intelligence companion” platforms it would regulate range from chatbots to certain hardware with an AI software component.
”Imagine for a moment if your five-year-old’s favorite character or teddy bear talked to them, knew their name and told them what to do,” Dr. Mitch Prinstein, the senior science advisor for the American Psychological Association, told an Oregon senate committee early this month.
After this presentation, Sen. Lisa Reynolds (D-Portland), who is sponsoring the bill, said, “Well, I think we’re all pretty much horrified here.”
Reynolds, a pediatrician, has also said that she sees the potential of AI—in the health care space, for example, but is seeking to manage the risks. Holton, who helped bring the issue to her attention, sees risks and rewards too.
Early this month, he told lawmakers, for example, that Lines for Life runs has been using AI in quality assurance and training, He said AI listens to calls and gives real time feedback. The technology can also roleplay for training purposes.
“I’ve done it, the conversations can go on for 10 minutes or 45 minutes or an hour, and you wouldn’t know you’re not talking to a real person,” Holton told lawmakers.
In fact, he said, youth in many cases assume when they contact Lines for Life that they are interacting with AI—even when they’re not.
“Regularly, every day, our youth line volunteers have to convince a person in crisis who has reached out to them that they are not AI,” he told lawmakers. “The majority of our contacts are electronic; they’re by text. And so the first thing that the youth who’s reaching out to us in crisis will ask is ‘How do I know you’re not AI?’ That’s not an easy question to answer, as it turns out.”
Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.
Support WW
-
World6 hours agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Montana6 days ago2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
-
Massachusetts14 hours agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Oklahoma1 week agoWildfires rage in Oklahoma as thousands urged to evacuate a small city
-
Louisiana3 days agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Technology5 days agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Culture1 week agoTest Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States
-
Technology5 days agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making