The year 2020 in Oregon involved several major events.
Politics and government
Incumbents
Elections
Events
Ongoing
February
March
April
- April 13 â COVID-19 pandemic: Oregon joins Washington and California in creating the Western States Pact, an agreement to ease back each state's COVID-19 restrictions.
- April 29
- COVID-19 pandemic: The state reports its 100th death from COVID-19.
- A man is struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Salem.
May
- May 5 â COVID-19 pandemic: Cycle Oregon cancels all events for the year.
- May 7 â COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown announces a ban on large gatherings, expected to last until at least September. The Oregon State Fair is canceled almost immediately.
- May 13 â Organizers announce that the 2020 Hood to Coast is cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- May 19 â Oregon marks the end of primary voting for the Democratic and Republican parties.
- May 20 â A kitten with two faces is born at a farm in Albany.
- May 28 â Protesters gather at the Multnomah County Justice Center, marking the first George Floyd protest in Oregon.
June
- June 1
- George Floyd protests: Thousands of people march across Portland's Burnside Bridge.
- George Floyd protests: Portland mayor Ted Wheeler announces a curfew.
- June 2 â George Floyd protests: On the 6th consecutive day of protests in Portland, additional demonstrations are held in various other cities in Oregon, including Albany, Bend, Brookings, Eugene, Forest Grove, Grant's Pass, McMinnville, and Tualatin.
- June 5 â George Floyd protests: U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez issues a temporary restraining order that restricts the Portland Police Bureau's use of tear gas so that it should only be used during riots, although the order defines a "riot" as involving as few as five people.
- June 8
- George Floyd protests: Protesters shut down I-84 in Portland.
- Amid daily protests in Portland, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch steps down, and is succeeded by Chuck Lovell.
- June 13 â A tornado touches down in Damascus, Oregon.
- June 14 â George Floyd protests: Protesters topple a statue of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson High School in Portland.
- June 18
- George Floyd protests: On the eve of Juneteenth, protesters topple a statue of George Washington in Northeast Portland.
- Local resident Nick Lloyd paints the Black Lives Matter street mural on North Edison Street in Portland.
- June 26 â George Floyd protests: Protesters and the city agree to expand the restraining order on tear gas so that it also applies to rubber bullets and pepper spray.
July
- July 11 â George Floyd protests: Federal agents shoot a protester in the head with a projectile, causing skull fractures and facial injuries requiring facial reconstruction surgery.
- July 18âÂÂ19 â Portland's Black Lives Matter street mural is vandalized.
- July 26 â Unidentified law enforcement hits journalist Trip Jennings directly in the eye with a pepper ball.
- July 26âÂÂ27 â A heat wave brings temperatures above 100 degrees in Portland.
August
- August 20
- Some Wasco County residents are ordered to evacuate because of the White River Fire.
- The Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCF) announces that they will end their contract with ICE, leaving the state without any facilities to hold people detained by federal immigration officials.
- August 25 â A patient scales the wall of the Oregon State Hospital and briefly escapes, running for half of a mile before hospital staff catch up with her.
September
- September 9 â Two people are killed by wildfires southeast of Salem; these are the first deaths of the year that are confirmed to have been caused by wildfires.
- September 14 â IQAir.com lists Portland as having the worst air quality in the world, due to ongoing wildfires across the entire West Coast.
November
- November 3 â Oregon holds elections for president, state representatives, ballot measures, and other issues.
December
- December 4 â COVID-19 pandemic: The Oregon Health Authority announces the state's 1,000th death from COVID-19.
- December 21 â A group of protesters breach the Oregon State Capitol, aided by Representative Mike Nearman, during a closed emergency session. The protesters engage in violent confrontations with police and are forced out of the building.
Deaths
- January 2 â Nick Fish (born 1958), politician and lawyer who served on the Portland City Council
- March 16 â Jim Bartko (born 1965), University of Oregon athletics administrator
- March 31 â James A. Redden (born 1929), politician and judge
- April 4 â Arlene Schnitzer (born 1929), arts patron and philanthropist
- May 15 â Mitch Greenlick (born 1935), member of the Oregon House of Representatives
- June 10 â Harry Glickman (born 1924), founder of the Portland Trail Blazers
- June 17 â Vic Gilliam (born 1953), politician and actor
- August 29 â Clifford Robinson (born 1966), basketball player with the Portland Trail Blazers
- August 31 â Hans. A. Linde (born 1924), legal scholar and justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
- September 21 â Bob Smith (born 1931), politician and rancher
- October 6 â Jim Weaver (born 1927), businessman and politician
- December 25 â Barry Lopez (born 1945), author
See also
References
External links