The year 2020 in Oregon involved several major events.
Events
The smoke from the 2020 wildfires turned the sky red or orange in much of the state. (Oregon State Capitol , September 2020)
March
COVID-19 infographic at a TriMet bus stop in Portland, March 2020 March 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown declares a state of emergency.[ 4]
March 11
March 14 – COVID-19 pandemic: A man dies from COVID-19 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland, becoming the first person in the state known to have died from the virus.[ 6]
March 23 – COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown issues a stay-at-home order .[ 7]
April
April 13 – 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.[ 8]
April 29
COVID-19 pandemic: The state reports its 100th death from COVID-19.[ 9]
A man is struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Salem .[ 10]
May
TriMet bus, Portland, May 2020
June
Black Lives Matter protest in Eugene, June 2020 June 1
June 2 – 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 .[ 17] [ 20]
June 5 – 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.[ 21]
June 8
George Floyd protests: Protesters shut down I-84 in Portland.[ 17]
Amid daily protests in Portland, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch steps down, and is succeeded by Chuck Lovell .[ 17]
June 13 – A tornado touches down in Damascus, Oregon .[ 22]
June 14 – George Floyd protests: Protesters topple a statue of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson High School in Portland.[ 23]
June 18
June 26 – 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 .[ 26]
July
The elk fountain in Portland on July 2, 2020, after removal of the statue July 11 – George Floyd protests: Federal agents shoot a protester in the head with a projectile, causing skull fractures and facial injuries requiring facial reconstruction surgery.[ 27]
July 18–19 – Portland's Black Lives Matter street mural is vandalized.[ 28]
July 26 – Unidentified law enforcement hits journalist Trip Jennings directly in the eye with a pepper ball .[ 29]
July 26–27 – A heat wave brings temperatures above 100 degrees in Portland.[ 22]
August
August 20
Some Wasco County residents are ordered to evacuate because of the White River Fire .[ 30]
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.[ 31]
August 25 – 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.[ 32]
December
December 4 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Oregon Health Authority announces the state's 1,000th death from COVID-19.[ 36] December 21 – 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.[ 37]
Deaths
January 2 – Nick Fish (born 1958), politician and lawyer who served on the Portland City Council[ 38]
March 16 – Jim Bartko (born 1965), University of Oregon athletics administrator[ 39]
March 31 – James A. Redden (born 1929), politician and judge[ 40]
April 4 – Arlene Schnitzer (born 1929), arts patron and philanthropist[ 41]
April 6 – Joan Dukes (born 1946 or 1947), politician and member of the Oregon State Senate[ 42]
April 19 – Duane Ackerson (born 1942), writer[ 43]
May 15 – Mitch Greenlick (born 1935), member of the Oregon House of Representatives[ 44]
June 10 – Harry Glickman (born 1924), founder of the Portland Trail Blazers [ 45]
June 13 – Jim Grelle (born 1936), middle-distance runner[ 46]
June 17 – Vic Gilliam (born 1953), politician and actor[ 47]
July 21 – Dean Ing (born 1931), writer and academic[ 48]
August 11 – Russell Kirsch (born 1929), inventor of the first digital scanner[ 49]
August 29 – Clifford Robinson (born 1966), basketball player with the Portland Trail Blazers[ 50]
August 31 – Hans. A. Linde (born 1924), legal scholar and justice of the Oregon Supreme Court [ 51]
September 8 – Glenn Anthony May (born 1945), historian[ 52]
September 21 – Bob Smith (born 1931), politician and rancher[ 53]
October 6 – Jim Weaver (born 1927), businessman and politician[ 54]
December 25 – Barry Lopez (born 1945), author[ 55]
References
↑ Mena, Kelly (February 25, 2020). "Oregon Republicans walk out again over environmental bill" . CNN . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Oregon's 1st COVID-19 patient out of hospital after 2 months" . AP News . May 6, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Ogle, Wesleigh (February 28, 2020). "Things 2 Do: Feb. 28 - March 1, 2020" . KATU . Retrieved March 12, 2026 . ↑ "Oregon COVID-19 Response" . www.oregon.gov . Retrieved August 23, 2025 .1 2 "2020 timeline: Big stories from Oregon, the U.S. and beyond" . Oregon Capital Insider . December 31, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Pitawanich, Christine (April 16, 2020). "Remembering Lynn Bryan, the first confirmed COVID-19 death in Oregon" . KGW . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Vanderhart, Dirk (March 23, 2020). "Gov. Kate Brown Issues Order Directing Oregonians To 'Stay Home' . OPB . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "California, Oregon and Washington to work together on plan to lift coronavirus restrictions" . Los Angeles Times . April 13, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ "Oregon COVID-19 Daily Update" (PDF) . oregon.gov . April 29, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ "Man killed by Amtrak train in Salem" . The Oregonian . May 1, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Hale, Jamie (May 5, 2020). "Cycle Oregon cancels all 2020 events due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Hale, Jamie (May 7, 2020). "Large gatherings banned in Oregon at least through September" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Hale, Jamie (May 8, 2020). "Oregon State Fair canceled for 2020, following ban on large gatherings" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Hale, Jamie (May 13, 2020). "Hood to Coast Relay cancels 2020 race amid coronavirus pandemic" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Results for the Oregon primary election May 19, 2020" . KGW . May 18, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ Tariq, Nia (May 24, 2020). "Oregon kitten born with two faces, named 'Biscuits and Gravy' . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . 1 2 3 4 Graves, Mark (September 6, 2020). "100 days of Black Lives Matter protests in Portland: Timeline and photos trace the arc of events" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Killen, Dave; Nakamura, Beth. "Protests continue in the streets of Portland for a fifth night in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25" . oregonlive . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Portland Imposes Curfew After Violence Upends Friday Protests" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .↑ Currier, Carsyn (June 2, 2020). "Protest in downtown Grants Pass continues into the evening" . KTVL . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "50 days of protest in Portland. A violent police response. This is how we got here" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .1 2 "Portland 2020 Weather 'Year In Review' . www.brucesussman.com . Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ "Thomas Jefferson Statue Pulled Down At Portland's Jefferson High" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .↑ "George Washington Statue Toppled In Portland" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .↑ Hardgrave, Alex (June 27, 2020). "Black Lives Matter mural splashes its message across N. Portland street" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "50 days of protest in Portland. A violent police response. This is how we got here" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .↑ "Federal Officers Shoot Portland Protester In Head With 'Less Lethal' Munitions" . opb . Retrieved August 26, 2025 .↑ "Black Lives Matter mural vandalized in North Portland" . KATU . July 21, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Lee, Alicia (July 30, 2020). "A photojournalist who was shot in the eye says it's not just violent rioters being targeted in Portland" . CNN . Retrieved August 26, 2025 . ↑ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (August 28, 2020). "Evacuations ordered for residents near Wasco County's White River fire" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 24, 2025 . ↑ Wilson, Conrad (August 21, 2020). "NORCOR, last jail in Oregon to hold immigration detainees, to end ICE contract" . OPB . Retrieved August 24, 2025 . ↑ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (August 27, 2020). "Patient climbs wall of Oregon State Hospital, runs half a mile before being apprehended" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 24, 2025 . ↑ "Oregon wildfire deaths: Lives lost in historic 2020 fires" . The Oregonian . September 10, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ Peñaloza, Marisa (September 14, 2020). " . NPR . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Oregon Presidential Election Results" . www.registerguard.com . Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ "Oregon reports 2,176 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 30 new deaths" . www.oregon.gov . December 4, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ "Lawmakers remove state legislator over Oregon Capitol breach" . NBC News . June 11, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2025 .↑ "Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish dead from stomach cancer" . KATU . January 2, 2020. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Canzano, John (March 17, 2020). "Longtime University of Oregon athletic administrator Jim Bartko dies at 54" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Redden, James A. III (April 1, 2020). "James A. Redden, longtime Oregon politician and judge, passes away at 91" . Portland Tribune . Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Celebrating the Late Arlene Schnitzer" . sites.up.edu . Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ "Dukes was longtime state senator" . The Astorian . April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2026 .↑ "Oregon Poetic Voices- Duane Ackerson" . oregonpoeticvoices.org . Retrieved April 10, 2026 .↑ Powell, Meerah (May 16, 2020). "Oregon Rep. Mitch Greenlick Has Died" . OPB . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Blazers founder Harry Glickman dies at 96" . KOIN.com . June 11, 2020. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Goe, Ken (June 15, 2020). "University of Oregon running great, 1960 Olympian Jim Grelle dies Saturday at 83" . The Oregonian . Retrieved April 10, 2026 . ↑ "Former Oregon Rep. Vic Gilliam dies" . KATU . June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ "Obituary for Doctor Dean C. Ing" . www.soobituaries.com . Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2026 .↑ "Computer scientist, pixel inventor Russell Kirsch dead at 91" . PBS News . August 13, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2026 .↑ "Blazers, UConn star Clifford Robinson dies at 53" . ESPN.com . August 29, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025 .↑ Acker, Lizzy (September 1, 2020). "Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Hans A. Linde dies at 96" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ "Glenn May Obituary (1945 - 2020) - Eugene, OR - Eugene Register-Guard" . Legacy.com . Retrieved April 10, 2026 .↑ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (September 22, 2020). "Former Oregon Congressman Bob Smith dies at 89" . The Oregonian . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ Brown, Jordyn. "Jim Weaver, former Oregon congressman known for his environmental work, dies at 93" . The Register-Guard . Retrieved August 23, 2025 . ↑ McFadden, Robert D. (December 27, 2020). "Barry Lopez, Lyrical Writer Who Was Likened to Thoreau, Dies at 75" . The New York Times . Retrieved August 23, 2025 .
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