Claire Rush, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - A view of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, top left, in Portland, Ore., Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Affordable housing residents near Portland ICE building to ask judge to limit feds’ use of tear gas

February 12, 2026

Residents of an affordable housing complex across from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, are set to testify Friday in a lawsuit seeking to limit federal officers’ use of tear gas during protests at the building. The apartment complex’s property manager and multiple residents filed the suit after months of repeated exposure. They argue the use of chemical munitions has violated residents’ rights by sickening them and contaminating their apartments. According to the complaint, tenants have experienced difficulty breathing, coughing, headaches and other symptoms. The federal government says officers have deployed crowd control devices in response to violent protests.

FILE - Law enforcement officers look out from a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

ICE agents can’t make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there’s a risk of escape, US judge rules

February 4, 2026

A judge says U.S. immigration agents in Oregon must stop arresting people without warrants unless they are likely to escape. U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued the preliminary injunction Wednesday. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit law firm representing a man who was detained by immigration officers without a warrant despite having a valid work permit. In a memo last week the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement emphasized that agents should not make arrests without an administrative arrest warrant issued by a supervisor unless they develop probable cause to believe the person is likely to escape from the scene.

Federal agents must limit tear gas for now at protests outside Portland ICE building, judge says

February 3, 2026

A judge in Oregon has temporarily restricted federal officers from using tear gas at protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. U.S. District Judge Michael issued the temporary restraining order Tuesday. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists. The suit against the Department of Homeland Security argues that federal officers’ use of chemical munitions and excessive force is a retaliation against protesters that chills their First Amendment rights. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FILE - Employees sort vote-by-mail ballots from municipal elections on Election Day at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office, Nov. 4, 2025, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Senators worry that US Postal Service changes could disenfranchise voters who cast ballots by mail

January 15, 2026

A group of Democratic U.S. senators is voicing concern over U.S. Postal Service processing changes and what those could mean for voting with mail ballots. Updated agency policy says the postmark date on mail might not indicate the first day the Postal Service received it, but rather the day it was handled in a regional processing center. Sixteen senators sent a letter Thursday to Postmaster General David Steiner urging him to reverse the change. They worry it could disenfranchise voters in states that use postmark dates to determine whether a mailed ballot can be counted. The Postal Service says it will respond to the senators directly.

Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

FBI says it has found no video of Border Patrol agent shooting 2 people in Oregon

January 12, 2026

The FBI says in a court document that it has found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week. Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented. The truck then pulled forward, and the agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public. The driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada, made a federal court appearance Monday on charges of aggravated assault of an officer and damaging federal property.

Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say

January 8, 2026

Federal immigration officers have shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon. Thursday’s shooting comes a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a driver in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security described the vehicle’s passenger as “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who had been involved in a recent shooting in Portland. The statement said that when agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver tried to run them over and an agent shot. There was no immediate independent corroboration of those events. The FBI’s Portland office says it is investigating.

Workers prepare for voters at a poll site, in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Democratic state election officials demand answers on Justice Department’s requests for voter data

November 18, 2025

Ten Democratic secretaries of state are asking the Trump administration to provide more information about its efforts to seek voter registration data. The state officials sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. They expressed concern that federal agencies may have misled state elections officials about why the information is needed and how it will be used. They said they also were concerned by reports that the Justice Department has shared voter data with the Department of Homeland Security. The Justice Department has asked at least 26 states for voter registration rolls in recent months, including eight that it has sued for the data.

FILE - Joseph David Emerson, back, appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court for an indictment hearing in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 7, 2023. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, Pool, File)

Off-duty pilot who tried to cut a flight’s engines midair to be sentenced in federal case

November 16, 2025

A former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 is set to appear for sentencing in federal court in Portland, Oregon. Joseph Emerson was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, and was subdued by the crew. The plane landed safely in Portland. Emerson pleaded guilty or no-contest to all charges against him in September as part of plea agreements with state and federal prosecutors. He was sentenced in state court to five years of probation. In the federal case, prosecutors seek one year in prison while his attorneys seek probation.

FILE - President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Federal judge blocks the Trump administration from pulling funding for sex ed on gender diversity

October 28, 2025

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from pulling sexual education funding over curricula mentioning diverse gender identities. U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken in Oregon issued the preliminary injunction on Monday. The order came in a lawsuit filed by 16 states and the District of Columbia against the Health and Human Services Department. The department wants to prohibit the inclusion of what it describes as “gender ideology” in lessons funded by two federal grant programs used to teach about abstinence and contraception. The lawsuit alleges that the new grant conditions violate the separation of powers and federal law. The health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gary Kristensen, dressed up as the character Buddy from the holiday movie "Elf," celebrates after winning a race during the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Tualatin, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Giant, floating pumpkin races draw large crowds to annual event in Oregon

October 20, 2025

Giant, floating pumpkin races have drawn large crowds to the Oregon city of Tualatin. The Portland suburb has hosted the event since 2004. In Sunday’s event, giant pumpkins that originally weighed roughly 1,000 pounds were carved out, allowing them to float. People dressed in costumes then sat in the hollowed-out pumpkins and used kayak paddles to race around a small human-made lake. Gary Kristensen won the first race of the day in a 936-pound pumpkin that he grew in his backyard. Earlier this year, Kristensen earned a Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat after paddling over 58 miles on the Columbia River.

Valerie Nagle, whose DNA recently helped to confirm the remains of her sister Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon, poses for a portrait with a photo of her sister Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A woman’s remains were found in Oregon in 1976. They’ve been identified 49 years later thanks to DNA

September 18, 2025

Oregon authorities say DNA has helped identify a woman’s remains after 49 years. Oregon State Police announced this week that the remains of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter were identified in June. She was last seen at a shopping mall in a Portland suburb in 1974 when she was 21. Her remains were found near a mountain creek in Oregon’s Central Cascades in 1976,. She remained unidentified for decades. State police say a breakthrough came this year when information uploaded to a commercial ancestry website helped genealogists find a surviving sister. Police contacted the sister, whose DNA helped confirm the identity of the remains.

Protesters yell at officers as they walk back to the gates after they created a path for vehicles to exit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Portland to issue land use violation notice to ICE building over alleged detention violations

September 17, 2025

Portland, Oregon, says it will issue a land use violation notice to the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. The facility’s land use conditions of approval, in place since 2011, don’t allow people to be kept overnight or held for more than 12 hours. The city alleges that the facility violated this provision 25 times between last October through most of this July. The city said it reviewed data released by ICE to the nonprofit Deportation Data Project under public records requests. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Portland landowners have 30 days after receiving a land use violation notice to correct the issue. The next steps could also include a fine or a land use hearing.

Trump threatened Portland with troops to quell protests. The mayor says it’s not needed

September 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has threatened sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests. There have been nightly protests at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building since June. While disruptive to nearby residents, the demonstrations are a far cry from the unrest that gripped the city during the racial justice protests of 2020. Recent protests peaked in June, with Portland police declaring one a riot and other smaller clashes since then. Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer, and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C. He has also recently threatened to send troops to Chicago and Baltimore to combat crime.

A guardian drops off a child at the Guidepost Montessori school on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Immigration arrest outside Oregon preschool rattles parents

July 19, 2025

Parents at a preschool in Oregon are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Mahdi Khanbabazadeh this week as he was pulling out of the preschool’s parking lot in Beaverton. Witnesses and ICE say officers broke a car window to arrest him. Khanbabazadeh is a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran. ICE says it detained him because he overstayed his visa. His wife says he has always maintained lawful status. The company that oversees the Montessori school says the event is deeply upsetting. It comes as immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country.

Stabbing attack at Oregon homeless shelter injures a dozen people

June 2, 2025

Police say a dozen people were injured in a stabbing attack at an Oregon homeless shelter and a suspect was arrested. The Salem Police Department says a man with an eight-inch knife walked into the lobby of the Union Gospel Mission Sunday evening in Salem and stabbed several people. Other people were hurt when they tried to intervene. Police say the man then left the building and stabbed others who were sitting outside nearby. Police arrested the suspect across the street from the shelter. Five of the victims remained hospitalized on Monday.

Claire Rush.