The Indy Herald & Globe

By John R. Bruning.

Independence–August 31, 2026. Over the last week, our little town’s been in the Oregonian, the Statesman, on the TV news and even in the international press, where the UK’s Daily Mail wrote about our parks closures that included a photo of our mayor. The UK’s Independent also covered it.

Here are the links to the mainstream media’s coverage:

International News:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/oregon-town-broke-shut-down-162949468.html

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16081283/oregon-city-closes-PARKS-money-locals-outraged.html

Statewide Coverage:

https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2026/08/being-held-hostage-residents-accuse-oregon-city-of-closing-parks-as-leverage-in-funding-fight.html

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2026/08/24/riverview-park-closes-in-independence-others-to-follow/91448023007

Most Independence Parks Stay Closed as Funding Fee Heads to November Vote

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2026/08/27/1-closed-park-in-independence-oregon-will-reopen-after-city-gets-30k/91485954007

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/30/monmouth-independence-referendums-part-of-trend-of-local-backlash/91395970007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z116931p001150c001150e114650v116931d–33–b–33–&gca-ft=132&gca-ds=sophi

https://katu.com/news/local/independence-closes-parks-museum-and-library-amid-funding-shortfall-oregon-salem-polk-county-town-city-library-heritage-museum-funding-budget

https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/quite-devastating-this-oregon-town-shut-down-its-parks-to-save-money

https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/30k-grant-reopen-independence-park-closed-as-part-cost-cutting

https://kcby.com/news/local/gallery/independence-closes-parks-museum-and-library-amid-funding-shortfall-oregon-salem-polk-county-town-city-library-heritage-museum-funding-budget?photo=1

https://www.polkio.com/news/referendum-on-indy-library-parks-fee-going-to-voters/article_ca5608ac-adad-47c4-b93e-9744204e7015.html

The IO is also running a poll about the closures here:

https://www.polkio.com/was-the-city-of-independence-justified-in-closing-its-city-parks-until-learning-the-results/poll_9e5529cd-265d-47de-990a-d5e622ca457b.html

Further State Coverage:

https://www.kxl.com/one-of-the-parks-closed-in-independence-or-is-back-open-thanks-to-help-from-community

https://hoodline.com/2026/08/independence-oregon-fences-off-all-its-parks-in-41k-monthly-budget-fight

Tabloid Paper the US Sun also reported on it:

https://www.the-sun.com/news/16900948/public-parks-shut-down-city-government-independence-oregon

Some of these stories were picked up by news aggregate sites, including yahoo and MSN and published nationally as well.