The Senate on Wednesday passed the bipartisan 21st Century Postal Service Act, which "reforms the U.S. Postal Service and puts it on a path toward solvency," said Sen. Jeff Merkley.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan have shaken up Capitol Hill with an intriguing, bipartisan plan for reforming Medicare, and also the private-sector employer-sponsored insurance system.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber on Tuesday imposed a moratorium on the death penalty for the remainder of his term, saying he's morally opposed to capital punishment and has long regretted allowing two men to be executed in the 1990s.

A group of 22 concerned parents sent a letter to the Beaverton School District, demanding that a student teacher be reinstated after his dismissal for gay marriage comments.

A gay student teacher was dismissed from a suburban Portland, Oregon, school after discussing gay marriage with a fourth-grader.