Lauren Dake
Lauren Dake is a political reporter and producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Before OPB, Lauren spent nearly a decade working as a print reporter. She’s covered politics and rural issues in Oregon and Washington. She’s spent time in a maximum-security prison in Bogota, Colombia (for a story!) and sat in a sweat lodge on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
Send Lauren the best story ideas.
Latest Stories
Federal shutdown could mean political peril for Oregon swing district Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Vulnerable "Biden District Republicans" will most likely face political backlash if the federal government shutters for an extended period.
Oregon auditors raise questions about millions of dollars in state agency spending
During the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Oregon Housing and Community Services agency delivered millions of dollars in aid to try and prevent people from being evicted.
Effort underway to recriminalize drugs again, supporters include Oregon’s richest businessmen
Effort underway to recriminalize drugs again, supporters include Oregon's richest businessmen
Oregon attorney general pushes to strengthen anti-discrimination laws in religious schools
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced last week she would join the effort to call on a federal appeals court to limit the ways schools can discriminate against students on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender.
One of Oregon’s top House Democrats will face a recall election
Members of one of Oregon’s largest labor unions successfully gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote of one of the state’s most labor-friendly lawmakers — Rep. Paul Holvey, a Democrat from Eugene.
Kotek selects interim director Wells to head Oregon Lottery
Michael Wells has been with the Oregon Lottery since 2019. Before joining the lottery office, Wells worked in local, state and federal law enforcement for more than two decades.
Former head of Oregon civil rights division awarded $1.7M in racial harassment lawsuit
The Oregon state agency charged with monitoring discrimination in workplaces across the state was itself a hostile work environment for the Black woman who was hired to head the civil rights division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries. A Multnomah County Circuit Court jury awarded Carol Johnson $1.7 million dollars on Monday, supporting her claim she faced a hostile workplace and race discrimination.
Oregon Congresswoman Val Hoyle takes stand to defend against allegations of racial bias
Former civil rights leader accuses agency charged with discrimination in Oregon’s workplace of racism.
Gov. Tina Kotek calls for more therapeutic foster homes, an end to housing kids in hotels
The state has spent about $25 million housing 462 kids in foster care in hotels since 2018. State of Oregon officials regularly spend more than $2,560 per kid, per night (which includes lodging, staffing and food) to house a child in temporary lodging.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek approves billions to be spent on housing crisis
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has approved spending billions of dollars to help ease the deepening housing crisis in the state. She also promised Thursday to provide more certainty for renters and cut red tape for developers.