Editor's Take: September 23, 2009
kandyjaxx, flickr
Life on the Unemployment Line
There's mixed news on the economic front today: Thousands of Northwesterners stand to lose unemployment benefits if lawmakers don't act quickly, but federal stimulus funding to support Oregon's safety net is also creating jobs. And one laid-off WA worker is collecting surprising success stories from his fellow unemployed.
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Stimulus creates jobs for OR's needy
Oregonian
09/22/2009
After nearly a year of searching for work, Jason Pruett finally broke down in July and applied for food stamps. Ironically, thanks to money Oregon is getting from the federal stimulus to preserve social programs, Pruett was offered a job as a state caseworker helping other people get them.
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The deadly silence of the electric car
Washington Post
09/23/2009
After years of trying to make cars sound as if they were riding on air, engineers are considering how they might bring back some artificial vroom. They're trying to make some of them - those silent hybrids - more audible to alert pedestrians.
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EPA to polluters: Report greenhouse gas releases
New York Times
09/22/2009
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday that it would require the nation's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to start tracking their emission levels on Jan. 1 and report them to the government.
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Paying more for Portland's peak power
Oregonian
09/22/2009
A Portland General Electric Co. pilot program will charge variable electricity rates to motivate residential customers to reduce consumption during periods of unusually high demand. The goal is to see how much the utility can reliably shave customer's consumption by sending real-time price signals and, in some cases, controlling energy use within customers' homes.
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Bird deaths present problem at wind farms
USA Today
09/22/2009
For years, a huge wind farm in California's San Joaquin Valley has killed thousands of birds, including golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and burrowing owls, despite efforts to solve the problem. Avian scientists say the drive to rapidly boost US wind-farm power 20 times could lead to massive bird losses and even extinctions.
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Jumbo squid hit Oregon beaches
Eugene Register Guard
09/23/2009
Dozens of deep-sea-living Humboldt squid washed up along the central coast on Tuesday morning between Florence and Newport, providing a puzzle for scientists and a spectacle for beachcombers. There are as many as 10 different theories about why the squid are beaching themselves, but climate change is a likely cause of their growing numbers.
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Idaho's changing climate
Boise Idaho Statesman
09/23/2009
Idaho fishermen, skiers, power companies, wine makers, river floaters - all have been affected by global warming in the past few decades.
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The end of the unemployment line?
KPLU
09/22/2009
Unless lawmakers act quickly, thousands across the Northwest will soon cash their final unemployment insurance checks. They're part of a wave of people who've exhausted their jobless benefits, but still haven't found work.
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'Wonderful' stories from the job hunt
Tri-City Herald
09/23/2009
Ken Won has read the many tales of despair from the discouraged and growing ranks of the long-term unemployed. But the laid-off marketing man has launched a website full of different stories: about successful job hunts, the kindness of strangers during periods of unemployment and the energy and passions of those with time on their hands.
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Views: Death by 1033 cuts
Crosscut
09/22/2009
If it passes this fall, Initiative 1033 will inflict cuts inducing massive bleeding in Washington State's schools, hospitals, health services, conservation efforts, firefighting capabilities, law enforcement resources, job recovery. And right now the "No on I-1033" campaign seems the unkindest cut of all.
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