Katie O’Connell became a regular at Portland’s Cully neighborhood Albertsons store, just two blocks from her home, during the COVID-19 pandemic as prices climbed at other nearby stores. Now, she divides her shopping between the Albertsons for pantry staples and a Safeway on Northeast Sandy Boulevard for fresh produce and meats,

The critical hearing in federal court into Kroger’s proposed $25 billion takeover of Albertsons will stretch into a fourth week for closing arguments.

The trial where U.S. anti-trust regulators made their case to block Kroger's $25 billion bid to buy rival grocer Albertsons will conclude on Tuesday, but the deal's legal challenges have just begun, with two more trials this month to hear complaints the merger could jack up grocery bills.