Alex Baumhardt

Alex Baumhardt

[email protected]

Alex Baumhardt covers education and the environment for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Before coming to Oregon, she was a national radio producer and reporter covering education for American Public Media's documentaries and investigations unit, APM Reports. She earned a master's degree in digital and visual media as a U.S. Fulbright scholar in Spain, and has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post.

Oregon GOP leaders want constitutional hunting, fishing protections in response to ballot measure
Oregon

Oregon GOP leaders want constitutional hunting, fishing protections in response to ballot measure

Aug 04, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
GRESHAM — To counter a failed ballot initiative from animal rights activists that attempted to ban hunting, fishing and animal slaughter in Oregon, the state’s Republican leaders pledged to introduce their own constitutional amendment to guarantee fishing, hunting and farming...
Democratic lawmakers propose three-year moratorium on new large data centers in Oregon
Oregon

Democratic lawmakers propose three-year moratorium on new large data centers in Oregon

Aug 04, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Four Oregon Democratic lawmakers, and two hopefuls, are calling for a three-year moratorium on new data centers in the state in response to growing public concern over energy and water demand, farmland loss, tax fairness and community benefits, and a...
Gov. Kotek presses feds to get Oregon farmers, ranchers same urgent wildfire relief as red states
Oregon

Gov. Kotek presses feds to get Oregon farmers, ranchers same urgent wildfire relief as red states

Jul 31, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is urging federal officials to help Oregon farmers and ranchers respond to, and rebound from, wildfires at the same scale and speed those officials delivered in Republican-controlled states hit by natural disasters this year. In a...
Oregon researchers journey into Pacific for clues about disappearance of old, female rockfish
Oregon

Oregon researchers journey into Pacific for clues about disappearance of old, female rockfish

Jul 30, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Off the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Canada and Alaska, three species of female rockfish have largely disappeared in the last 40 years. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife scientists hope to learn why when they board an Oregon State...
Confusion over Trump changes to graduate student loan limits hurting Oregon programs
Oregon

Confusion over Trump changes to graduate student loan limits hurting Oregon programs

Jul 29, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
PORTLAND — Enrollment in some graduate education and healthcare programs at Oregon’s public universities is expected to be down this fall, in part because students who might have enrolled face confusion and uncertainty over whether they can get the federal...
Pro-data center industry group behind ad campaign in Oregon, six other states
Oregon

Pro-data center industry group behind ad campaign in Oregon, six other states

Jul 28, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Just days before the Oregon Legislature in March passed a one-year pause on a popular tax incentive program for data centers, a group called Oregon Connects registered as a nonprofit business in the state. Then the ads started appearing. “From...
In Oregon, big grocery, retail companies have highest number of employees on Medicaid
Oregon

In Oregon, big grocery, retail companies have highest number of employees on Medicaid

Jul 27, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Multi-billion-dollar grocers and retailers such as Walmart and Amazon were among the most listed employers on Oregonians’ applications for publicly-funded health insurance last year, according to a Capital Chronicle analysis of Oregon Health Authority data. The data, taken from Medicaid...
Climate Commission proposes bigger goals for storing planet-warming gas in Oregon lands, waters
Oregon

Climate Commission proposes bigger goals for storing planet-warming gas in Oregon lands, waters

Jul 23, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
As the federal government pushes for more logging and grazing on Oregon’s lands, state climate commissioners are calling for more ambitious goals to protect the state’s land and water so they can capture carbon dioxide. The 13 voting members of...
Oregon’s western state forests will see more conservation, less clear cutting under new plan
Oregon

Oregon’s western state forests will see more conservation, less clear cutting under new plan

Jul 22, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry...
Following data center boom, Oregon for first time considers charging use fees for undersea cables
Oregon

Following data center boom, Oregon for first time considers charging use fees for undersea cables

Jul 21, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
The Oregon Department of State Lands is proposing for the first time to charge multinational telecommunications and tech companies for using the seafloor off the state’s Pacific Coast for fiber-optic cables used to transmit internet data and international calls. Since...
Federal judge will decide future of Oregon’s new package recycling law by end of August
Oregon

Federal judge will decide future of Oregon’s new package recycling law by end of August

Jul 17, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
PORTLAND — A federal judge will determine by the end of August the future of Oregon’s nascent statewide recycling modernization law, meant to require product manufacturers and distributors to cover some of the packaging disposal costs Oregonians currently pay via...
Regional earthquake experts say more coordination, investment needed to prepare for ‘Big One’
Oregon

Regional earthquake experts say more coordination, investment needed to prepare for ‘Big One’

Jul 17, 2026
Alex Baumhardt
PORTLAND — If the “Big One” — the anticipated massive Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake — hit today, Oregonians west of the Cascades would be luckiest to find themselves at the recently-retrofitted state Capitol in Salem or on the roof of...