
Lillian Mongeau Hughes
Lillian Mongeau Hughes is a news editor at OPB, overseeing health and justice coverage. Lillian started at OPB in 2022 after more than a decade covering public education for radio and print. Most recently, she was a senior editor and the Western Bureau Chief at The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news magazine focused on education. Lillian’s work and work she edited has been honored several times by the Education Writer’s Association for being among the best education reporting in the country. In 2017, she was a Livingston Award finalist for her series on the state of public preschool in the United States. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, online for The Atlantic and on KQED, among many other local and national publications. Storytelling is Lillian’s passion, whether it be a crisp 100-word newscast, a lush 3,000-word feature or a choose-your-own-adventure video game explainer (she’s made two). The goal is always to ensure readers and listeners feel a little smarter at the end of the story and, whenever suitable, have had some fun along the way.
Latest Stories
Oregon health officials deny request to close Gresham-based birth center
The Legacy hospital system requested to close its Gresham-based birthing center because it didn't have enough qualified doctors. The Oregon Health Authority has denied that request.

Reports of antisemitism up 63% in the Pacific Northwest in 2022; resistance is up too
The ADL recorded 40 incidents of antisemitic hate in Oregon in its 2022 audit, the most ever, and 65 incidents in Washington, also a record.
Birthing services set to end at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham
Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center will not be delivering babies as of midnight on March 17, though the hospital is still waiting for approval to formally stop providing these services.
Proud Boy 'Tiny' Toese found guilty on assault, riot, unlawful weapon charges
More than a year after violently clashing with Portland anti-fascists in the summer of 2021, a judge found Proud Boy Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, 25, guilty on 10 counts in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday.

‘Your body feels numb’: Living in Portland without shelter in the frigid cold
For Portlanders without a permanent place to live, frigid temperatures can be dangerous, even deadly.

Oregon Sen. Wyden calls on FDA to ignore expected federal court decision to ban abortion pills nationally
Using harsh language to describe what he sees as a political strategy by right-wing ideologues, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday that a ruling banning access to mifepristone would not be legitimate.

With Oregon schools’ deadline looming, pop-up clinics get kids immunized
Oregon’s overall school-age vaccination rate lags the national average. Pop-up clinics help kids to catch up with required shots before the Feb. 15 deadline.
Oregon health officials find dangerously high lead levels in Diep Bao skin cream
Oregon officials have tested two tubes of the cream after two Portland-area infants were identified with high levels of lead in their blood
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Radon awareness poster contest comes back to Oregon
Children are invited to submit posters warning of the dangers of this invisible, cancer-causing poison in hopes it will inspire more adults to test their homes.
State asks Oregon Supreme Court to dissolve preliminary injunction blocking gun laws
If granted, the petition would allow the voter-approved magazine ban and completed background check requirement to go into immediate effect.