May 22, 2013

Tualatin calls to mind high-end shopping and its pristine artificial lake. But the Portland suburb also saw the sharpest jump in poverty in the metro area since 2000. More poor people now live in the nation’s suburbs than its cities, and in Oregon, the growth in poverty in suburbs such as Tualatin, Oregon City and Beaverton has eclipsed the rate at which poverty is growing in Portland, Vancouver and Gresham.

Revenue has fallen far short of expectations for the “high occupancy/toll” lane experiment on Washington’s SR-167. New UW research shows just how badly WSDOT transportation planners misjudged demand.

Hate being inside a stuffy, square office with artificial lights? How about working inside a giant, see-through sphere filled with trees? That’s the latest proposal from Amazon, which unveiled plans Tuesday for inventive biosphere offices in South Lake Union.

A sweeping bipartisan plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration system headed to the Senate floor after a key committee approved it Tuesday, setting the stage for a debate next month that could lead to the biggest victory for advocates of immigrant rights in a generation.

Crowdfunding campaigns are popular ways to raise money for fledgling businesses and independent projects and independent projects… but scientific research? As state and federal agencies begin the environmental review process for the largest coal export terminals on the West Coast, some scientists are turning to the public for help with research of their own.

Portland voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a plan to add fluoride to a water supply serving about 900,000 Oregonians. According to returns released at 9 p.m., 61 percent of voters were opposed to 39 percent in favor — a slight, even more negative, shift from early results.

Cecile Hansen is the great, great grandniece of Chief Seattle, who once led the Duwamish. Without a home base and federal standing, the Duwamish have struggled for decades to maintain their identity and cohesion. Hansen describes her tribe as “homeless.” It now faces its final shot in a decades-long legal fight for federal recognition.

Washington state road and transit systems deserves a D grade, and overall infrastructure a C, says a report issued Tuesday by the Seattle chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.  

This Saturday is the fourth annual “Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day.” For real. The idea is that at around 10 a.m. parents take their kids to—as you might expect from the name of this holiday—their local park. And then they leave them there. Not if the kids are babies, of course. Not even if they’re toddlers. But if they’re at least seven or eight years old, why NOT?

This time-lapse footage shows yesterday’s deadly tornado going from a neat, eerie-looking funnel to a giant cluster of wind and destruction. It’s pretty stunning, but still easier to watch than pictures of lost dogs or decimated homes.

Fishing nets are designed to ensnare fish. And that’s what they do, even after they’re lost or abandoned at sea. But a response is underway. It’s playing out internationally and in the Pacific Northwest.

Complaints about Car2Go miss their mark—in part because the carsharing service can’t be both virtually free and omnipresent.

If a bicycle was how you traveled through life, in Oregon, it might be your choice of your way out.

Cruising at a reduced speed in deference to those around me, I passed a jogger heading the other direction. Immediately, something in my head went off. Was that, I thought, who I think it is?

Seattle’s native people, the Duwamish, will learn today about their next step in a decades-old legal battle. The tribe has petitioned the US government for federal recognition, which would make the Duwamish eligible for certain benefits like health care, fishing rights and the chance to run a casino.

Fewer Canadian kids are commuting by walking or biking as a new report reveals a marked decline among young people using active modes of transportation.

Earlier this month we learned that bicycle-related travel pumps $400 million into Oregon’s economy each year. Now Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism development and marketing organization, has embarked on the second part of that research project: a comprehensive look at the economic impact of bicycle-related industry.

A tax levy to help maintain thousands of acres of natural areas throughout the Portland tri-county area has been approved. Measure 26-152 will raise about $50 million over five years to fight invasive species, limit erosion and build trails on about 13,000 acres of open spaces bought using money from previously approved bond measures.

Early vote returns Tuesday evening showed a push to fluoridate the city’s water supply appears to be failing despite the fact that fluoride supporters initially seemed to have everything going for them. According to the Multnomah County Election website, with more than half of the projected ballots counted, 60 percent had voted no and 40 percent had voted in favor.

An anti-immigration group looking to overturn a recently passed law that allows residents without proof of legal presence to get driver’s cards ramped up their efforts Tuesday to bring the issue before Oregon voters.