The Public Employees Retirement System hired Kristi Ivers as modernization program director. She was deputy chief information officer at the Department of Administrative Services. Before that, she worked for the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Consumer and Business Services.

Chase Abston is the new superintendent at Warner Creek Correctional Facility near Lakeview. He started at the Oregon Department of Corrections in 2013 as a correctional officer at Snake River Correctional Institution. Since 2023, he has intermittently served as Warner Creek’s interim superintendent.

Dr. Michael Seale was permanently named DOC’s chief of medicine. DOC Deputy Director Heidi Steward is leading the Health Services Division until a comprehensive review is completed by Falcon Correctional and Community Services, which specializes in correctional health care.

New employees at the Department of Land Conservation and Development include Emily Anderson, administrative specialist for the Housing Accountability and Production Office, and Philip Woods, GIS coordinator.

Majid Tanas and Gary Runyon are finalists for executive director of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy. The board will hold a virtual meet-and-greet and informational interview with each candidate on March 21. Tanas is vice president of pharmacy services and chief pharmacy officer at Legacy Health. Runyon has been pharmacist consultant and compliance officer for the state board.

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, appointed Sens. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, and Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, to the Legislative Commission on Indian Services. They replace former Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Portland.

Joe Casey joined the Association of Oregon Counties as legislative affairs coordinator. He previously worked as a campaign manager and legislative staff member.

The U.S. Senate confirmed former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-5th District, as President Donald Trump’s secretary of labor. Oregonians who served in previous presidential cabinets include Bonneville Power Administrator Don Hodel, who was President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of energy and then secretary of interior, and Neil Goldschmidt, who was President Jimmy Carter’s transportation secretary before being elected Oregon governor.

Julia Shumway is now editor of the Oregon Capital Chronicle, moving up from deputy editor. Lynne Terry resigned as editor. Shumway currently serves as president of the Oregon Capitol press corps.

Veteran journalist Dann Miller was named executive editor for the new Lookout Eugene-Springfield, which launches in April. Miller was a top editor at the Salem Statesman Journal during 2014-2018. His newspaper experience also includes roles in Kentucky, Tennessee, Washington, Pennsylvania, Florida and New York.

If you have an update on who’s coming or going – or taking on a new assignment – in state government or organizations involved with it, email Dick Hughes at TheHughesisms@gmail.com.