Oregon
‘Transition is the only option’: Oregon hospital to shift obstetrics and birthing services
Ashland Community Hospital’s childbirth and inpatient services will be consolidated to Asante’s Medford medical center.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Another Oregon health care organization is making cuts.
The brick-and-mortar Ashland Community Hospital will shutter in 2026, Asante revealed on Wednesday. The Medford-based medical care provider announced that the facility will continue operating through the year before transitioning into a “satellite campus” of the nearby Rogue Regional Medical Center in the spring.
In a statement, Asante President and CEO Tom Gessel said the “transition is the only option” as health care entities across the U.S. — and specifically in Oregon — continue to struggle. He noted that the Ashland Community Hospital has “lost millions of dollars” over the past year, as the facility simultaneously recorded a significant decrease in birth rates and inpatient admissions.
According to Asante, 37 Ashland residents have given birth in the hospital so far in 2025. Meanwhile, the organization reported that the demand for outpatient services and emergency department visits has risen.
“Legislation implemented in Salem has put hospitals in an untenable situation,” Gessel added in a statement, in part. “This will only worsen with the future reductions to Medicaid funding. For smaller communities like ours, consolidating duplicative services are inevitable — especially those in such close proximity. What this means for the Ashland campus is to maintain emergency and outpatient services being used most by residents, while consolidating services that are underutilized.”
The Asante announcement comes days after Portland’s Vibra Specialty Hospital announced it will cease operations around Feb. 1, 2026. The closure will impact 310 employees.
The Oregon Nurses Association has condemned both organizations’ decisions to cut back, arguing that workers and patients deserve “long-term investments” in medical care.
“These closures represent a devastating loss of critical healthcare access for Oregonians, forcing patients to travel farther for care, increasing risks in emergencies, and placing additional strain on an already overburdened health system,” ONA said in a release.
Providence Seaside Hospital also stopped offering labor and delivery services earlier in October of this year.
Oregon
Fireworks on sale in Oregon until July 6
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Fireworks are on sale in Oregon until July 6, but state and local rules limit where they can be used and what types are allowed.
In Portland, fireworks use and sales are banned year-round.
Fireworks are also banned on beaches and in state and national parks.
Statewide, fireworks that fly into the air, explode, act unpredictably or move more than 12 feet horizontally are illegal. Banned fireworks include sky lanterns, missiles, rockets, Roman candles, firecrackers, cherry bombs and M-80s.
Fountains, sparklers, ground spinners and smoke devices are among the fireworks allowed under state rules.
Officials said people should not call 911 to report illegal fireworks. They said reports should go to the non-emergency line for the area.
First responders said there were 263 fires across Portland during last year’s fireworks season, and 27 were caused by fireworks.
For more details about fireworks regulation in Oregon, click here.
In Washington, fireworks sales legally begin Sunday and run through July 4.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
Oregon
Gray whale carcass washes ashore in Gearhart on Oregon coast
GEARHART, Ore. (KATU) — Another gray whale washed up on the Oregon coast last week, this time in Gearhart, according to Seaside Aquarium.
The 41-foot-long male had been dead for months before washing up on the beach, Seaside Aquarium general manager Keith Chandler said.
He noted that there have been 19 total whale strandings or carcasses washing up on beaches just this year on the Oregon coast region.
The Cascadia Research Collective is reporting at least 30 on Washington coastline alone. | TIMELINE
Of those deaths, more than half were at least partially attributed to malnutrition. That could have been the cause in more strandings, however, necropsies were not performed in roughly a dozen of the 30 strandings.
Chandler said strong wind from the west this year has been contributing to why coastal towns are seeing a lot of whales and other things washing up on shore. However he also noted that many of the Grey whales washed ashore were emaciated with necropsies showing signs of malnourishment.
“The food sources have been compromised. The warmer water means the nutrients that they’re getting aren’t as good, so the whole food chain is kind of not as healthy,” Chandler said.
He pointed to the warming waters with climate change as the main reason noting that warm water plankton–Grey Whale’s main food source–is thinner and has fewer nutrients than plankton in cooler waters.
Chandler says this whale will not have a necropsy done because of its level of decomposition.
“The fresher ones, the team from Portland State [University] will come down and they’ll go in and do measurements, take samples and stuff, measurements of the internal organs. But on one this decayed, you won’t gain anything from it scientifically. And it’s just kind of a mess to do when they’re this rotten,” he said.
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You can report a whale stranding to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network Hotline by calling 1-866-767-6114.
Oregon
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek appoints Nathan Lichvarcik to Lane County Circuit Court bench
SALEM, OR — Gov. Tina Kotek announced today that she will appoint Nathan J. Lichvarcik to the Lane County Circuit Court bench, filling a vacancy created by the upcoming resignation of Judge Debra K. Vogt.
Lichvarcik’s appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2026.
Lichvarcik is a criminal law attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He has worked in the office’s Eugene branch for the past 14 years and has served as branch supervisor for the Eugene and Medford offices since 2020.
He has also taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Oregon Law School for the past 10 years.
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