Amelia Templeton

Voters in Oregon are deciding whether to raise their taxes to make up for lost timber payments from the federal government. In Josephine County, the sheriff has laid off 80 percent of his deputies.

Two giant wildfires burning in eastern Oregon have finally been contained. Although few people live in the affected area, cattle ranchers have seen hundreds of their livestock burned to death. The fire has an economic impact on the ranchers not only because of the lost livestock but also because these ranchers grazed their cows on federal land. And federal rules say that after a burn, land needs to go ungrazed for at least two years.