Category: Oregon
Somali Democrat Who Came To US Two Decades Ago Still Can’t Speak Clear English
The state senator has been in the U.S. since 1998
Cattle rancher battles Amazon data center accused of poisoning water supply, causing miscarriages
An Oregon cattle rancher did his own research into an apparent rise in obscure medical conditions after the opening of an Amazon data center.
The facility, which requires enormous amounts of water to cool its infrastructure, stands accused of adding wastewater — laden with nitrates — to an already struggling filtration system.
‘Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members.’
Jim Doherty from Morrow, Oregon, sought out to investigate the alleged increase in health problems stemming from toxins in the local water supply. Doherty has since performed tests, worked alongside his county, and knocked on doors to try to solve the equation. He spoke with Rolling Stone about his findings.
The rancher said he surveyed 70 local wells and shockingly found that 68 of them violated federal limits for the allowable levels of nitrates in drinking water. In the same report, Doherty detailed that of the first 30 homes he visited in his area, 25 residents had recently suffered miscarriages.
The report alleged a number of illnesses related to the water supply — which included different forms of cancer — and pointed the finger at pollution exacerbated by an Amazon data center that popped up in 2011. The square-footage of the data center ranges in estimates from 120,000 to 200,000 but comes with a 15-year tax abatement worth nearly $200 million.
The cost of this, allegedly, is a slew of health problems.
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Amazon Web Services and Iron Mountain data centers in Manassas, Virginia, on July 9, 2025. Total power usage in the US is expected to climb 2.15% in 2026, spurred largely by a 5% spike from commercial users because of the expansion of data centers, according to a US Energy Department report released in June. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“One man about 60 years old had his voice box taken out because of a cancer that only smokers get, but that guy hadn’t smoked a day of his life,” Doherty told Rolling Stone.
Another woman reportedly wrote Doherty to tell him her husband got “kidney cancer in his early 40s. His doctor thought it was due to exposure to herbicides and pesticides. He lost a kidney, but he lived.”
“We had acceptable levels of [toxins in our] drinking water when we first moved there,” the woman claimed. “After my husband’s cancer, we realized they went up and up through the years. It’s very sad.”
Doherty’s wife, Kelly, also claimed that out of the 14 people that live on their road, “I think nine of them have cancer right now.”
On the contrary, Amazon spokesman Lisa Levandowski told Rolling Stone that “the apparent narrative” about the 45,000-person county is “misleading and inaccurate.”
“The truth is that this region has long-documented groundwater quality challenges that significantly predate AWS’ presence, and federal, state, and local agencies have spent years working to address nitrates from agricultural fertilizer, manure, septic systems, and wastewater from food processing plants,” Levandowski explained.
She went on, “Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members; nitrates are not an additive we use in any of our processes, and the volume of water our facilities use and return represents only a very small fraction of the overall water system — not enough to have any meaningful impact on water quality.”
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An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia, US, on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Data center developers in Northern Virginia are asking utility Dominion Energy Inc. for as much power as several nuclear reactors can generate, in the latest sign of how artificial intelligence is helping drive up electricity demand. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Oregon Rural Action, an activist group focused on preserving water, compared the situation to the “historical precedent” of Flint, Michigan.
“In part because of how slow the response to the crisis has been, and in part because of who’s affected. These are people who have no political or economic power and very little knowledge of the risk,” executive director Kristin Ostrom told Rolling Stone.
The argument that Amazon has increased the amount of toxins in the water is indeed a complex one as there exist arguments on both sides that require investigation to prove.
As the Department of Energy explains, the process of cooling with water typically includes water softening to remove harmful toxins, but that does not mean there aren’t additives involved in the process.
Possible additives include phosphates to prevent corrosion, acids to adjust pH levels, and anti-foaming agents, to name a few. Nitrates can also be used to prevent corrosion in cooling systems.
The DOE also notes that when water evaporates from cooling towers, dissolved solids or toxins become more highly concentrated. This is typically solved by removing a portion of the highly concentrated water and replacing it with “fresh make-up water.”
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VIDEO: Leotarded liberals protest ICE facility with ’80s-themed aerobics class
Liberals protesting against the mass deportation policies of the Trump administration donned leotards and participated in a bizarre aerobics class outside of a detention facility.
On Sunday, about two dozen protesters dressed up in ’80s garb and hopped around satirically outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon.
‘These people are so freaking weird … I think they might really be space aliens.’
The Portland ICE facility has been the scene of some of the most violent protests against the agency. Protesters have also donned Halloween costumes in an attempt to ridicule federal officers and defuse claims of violent intent. One protest included nude cyclists.
Oregon Live reported that the aerobics protest was called “Sweatin’ Out the Fascists,” and participants collected donations for the Oregon Food Bank.
In one instance, officials blared out orders to protesters with a loudspeaker in the voice of President Donald Trump using a digital voice cloner.
Some mocked the protest on social media with humorous jabs.
“Make insane asylums full again,” read one response.
“Our civil war opposition. Not sure how I will sleep peacefully again,” joked another user.
“These people are so freaking weird. And of course the obligatory furry in the back. I think they might really be space aliens,” added another.
The administration has previously threatened to cut off federal funds to the city if local law enforcement didn’t do more to stop the attacks on federal officials.
“This is not peaceful protesting. This is left-wing anarchy that has been destroying this great American city for years, leaving police officers battered, citizens terrorized, and business properties damaged,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in October.
RELATED: Democratic senator accuses Trump administration of faking anti-ICE rioting
“These radical left-wing lunatics have violently breached the ICE facility by using a stop sign as a battering ram,” she continued, “hurled explosives and other projectiles at law enforcement, repeatedly assault and doxx officers, berate their law-abiding neighbors, and have even rolled out a guillotine in front of the ICE facility.”
Leavitt added, “Law and order will prevail, and President Trump will make sure of it.”
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Illegal alien steals from SNAP program in massive fraud scheme
As more than 40 million Americans prepare for a disruption to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program handouts amid the Democrat-led government shutdown, a member of a fraud conspiracy related to SNAP has been brought to justice.
On October 15, an Italian illegal alien living in Oregon was sentenced to federal prison after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
‘By siphoning millions of dollars in government funds intended for food-insecure households, this illegal criminal alien proved to be one of the worst of the worst.’
Over the course of 14 months between August 2023 and October 2024, Giovanni Spirea, 29, and his co-conspirators purchased over 120,000 pounds of groceries using electronic skimming devices to steal SNAP benefits.
“Spirea shared stolen account information with other members of the organization, who, along with him, used the stolen benefits to purchase large quantities of infant formula, energy drinks, and other SNAP-eligible nonperishable food items from grocery stores … and through websites associated with grocery stores offering curb-side pickup,” the DOJ said in a press release.
The stolen items were then sold on the black market, the DOJ added.
RELATED: Democrats’ shutdown blame game backfires — even Jake Tapper calls them out on SNAP benefits
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Spirea and his co-conspirators operated in Oregon, Washington, and California. The estimated value of the stolen goods is $2.4 million.
“By siphoning millions of dollars in government funds intended for food-insecure households, this illegal criminal alien proved to be one of the worst of the worst,” said April Miller, Homeland Security Investigations Seattle acting special agent in charge.
“Protecting government-funded programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program isn’t just about preserving funds — it’s about safeguarding trust in a vital lifeline that millions of families depend on to put food on the table,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Scott Bradford. “Today’s sentencing should deter perpetrators from defrauding American families and the federal government for personal gain.”
Spirea was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $61,874.32 in restitution. Sixteen others were charged in the conspiracy.
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