Editor's Take: June 05, 2008
Credit: Istock
Fuel, Food, and the Flextime Answer
Stories about food and fuel prices, and some unexpected effects of the economic slowdown top today's news. In cheerier news, we're getting creative about cutting fuel costs (flextime!), while the Sound's treasure-filled low tides
provide reason to play hooky from work (if you can take the rain).
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Elisa Murray | View All Today's News
NW Farmers Face Rising Fuel Prices
Oregon Public Broadcasting
06/04/2008
In cities across the Northwest, people are trying to conserve fuel. But in rural areas, farmers say there's little they can do.
Go to article.
Flex Work Hours Save on Fuel
KPLU
06/05/2008
Here's a solution that will cut gas use, gas spending, and emissions: Washington public workers are getting a chance to switch to a four day week to save on gas money. Washington State University has now joined the ranks of those offering flexible work hours to its employees.
Go to article.
Clark County Schools On the Green Grid
Vancouver Columbian
06/04/2008
A roof-top solar array at the Washington State School for the Blind has been soaking up power from the sun and piping it from the campus into the region's electrical grid. Soon Clark College will also have a dozen solar panels drawing energy. Both of these schools are benefiting from a statewide effort to get institutions involved in renewable energy.
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Views: Moving Toward Smarter Health-Care Decisions
Seattle Times
06/05/2008
Amid the political promises about sweeping health-care reform, the Puget Sound Health Alliance is tackling the real nitty-gritty of reform, and has earned more resources to keep doing it.
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House Debates Aid to Oregon Rural Areas
Oregonian
06/05/2008
The program, which is expiring, provides $250 million to Oregon to offset revenue lost from reduced timber sales on federal land. Lawmakers have been frantically working on an extension so that counties can pay teachers and sheriff's deputies, keep libraries open and provide other services.
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Double Standard on Chinook Bycatch?
Oregonian
06/05/2008
Despite an unprecedented shutdown of a chinook fishery, the boats that chase whiting, a codlike fish, will be allowed to haul in 11,000 or more chinook along the West Coast without penalty, as part of the fishery's inadvertent "bycatch."
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Canada's Home Ownership Highest Since 1971
Vancouver Sun
06/05/2008
The report also shows that British Columbians are paying the highest proportion of their income among all Canadians to housing costs, as nearly a third are spending more than 30 per cent of their income to keep a roof over their heads.
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B.C.'s Native Leaders Given Options On Salmon
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/05/2008
Native leaders who have been asked to work out a strategy among themselves to ration a meager salmon run on the Fraser River this year have been given four options to consider.
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SkyTrain Billions Better Spent on Trams
The Tyee
06/05/2008
For the $2.8 billion cost of the single 12 kilometre SkyTrain tube from Commercial Drive to UBC, Vancouver could build 175 km of tram lines crisscrossing the city and beyond.
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In Construction Slump, Latinos Lose the Most
Washington Post
06/05/2008
The unemployment rate among Latinos is rising faster than the rate for non-Hispanic workers in the United States, as the steep decline in the construction industry eliminates hundreds of thousands of jobs.
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