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Obama Talks Energy in Bend
Portland Oregonian
05/11/2008
The Illinois Democrat said he would put a higher tax on companies that pollute and use the money to invest in wind, solar, geothermal and other alternatives to oil. He said he wouldn't rule out nuclear energy as a future source of power, if problems of waste storage and safety can be resolved.
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Priced Out of Seattle
Seattle Times
05/12/2008
Can Seattle really claim to be a livable city when the median home value is half a million dollars and so many who live here feel they may not be able to anymore?
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Housing Dreams Deferred in Vancouver
Vancouver Province
05/12/2008
It is increasingly common to see married couples living in their parents' basements, young professionals taking on second jobs, workers commuting long hours and the growth of the 40-year mortgage. It wasn't supposed to be this hard.
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Big Oil Tours NW
KUOW
05/12/2008
Another day, another new high for oil prices. Against that backdrop, the president of Shell Oil Company (USA) delivered a vigorous defense of his industry's record profits. The oil executive stopped in the Northwest -- in his words -- to "educate" political leaders. KUOW reports on the message and the reaction in Coeur d'Alene.
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Salmon Closure Hits Winchester Bay Hard
Portland Oregonian
05/12/2008
The whole Oregon coast will feel the pinch of the broadest shutdown ever, but the sportfishing town is particularly dependent on salmon.
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The Myth of the Stay-at-Home Mom
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
05/12/2008
As families celebrated the nation's 94th Mother's Day on Sunday, they are coping with a different set of trends -- a rising number of two-career families, growing cost of living, sagging home prices, mounting hours at work and a looming recession. The view from Seattle.
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Solar industry needs workers
San Francisco Chronicle
05/10/2008
California's fascination with solar power has created thousands of jobs in the state and will probably add thousands more, according to a new survey of the industry.
The survey, by two community college researchers, estimates that solar companies in California now employ between 16,500 and 17,500 people and may hire another 5,000 in the next year.
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Seattle fish-egg auctions net hundreds of millions
Anchorage Daily News
05/12/2008
The roe is considered a delicacy in Korea and Japan.
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Politicians look for ways to turn rising tide of poverty in Prince Rupert
canada.com
05/12/2008
The release of the latest census data last week showed that the average family in Prince Rupert has significantly less income than it did five years ago, and local politicians say they'll continue to fight for their rural constituents to redress the imbalance.
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Salmon Gone, Fishermen Adapt
New York Times
05/09/2008
With most of Oregon and California's commercial salmon fishery shut down because of sharp declines in the number of the fish returning to the Sacramento River to spawn, many fishermen are looking for almost any alternative, trying to diversify along with the rest of the regional economy.
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Olympia Food Bank Sees Jump in Demand
Olympia Olympian
05/09/2008
The number of individuals seeking help increased 27 percent to more than 17,000 in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, food bank executive director Robert Coit said. The number of households seeking help rose 28 percent to more than 7,000, he said.
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BC has Worst Child Poverty in Canada
Georgia Straight
05/09/2008
British Columbia holds the dubious record of having the worst child-poverty rate in the country for five consecutive years, from 2002 to 2006.
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Food prices hurt families
canada.com
05/09/2008
They're not driving as much, and are spending a lot of time searching for cheaper produce, she said.
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Victoria-area Plan Delivers Real Affordable Housing
Victoria Times Colonist
05/08/2008
Every 10th house built in suburban Victoria will be in reach of the average family under a new municipal affordable housing program.
Builders must construct one affordable house -- it must be sold for approximately $160,000 -- out of every 10 new houses built. That's in a market where single-family detached housing can't be found anywhere else in the region for less than $340,000.
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BC Natives Held Back from Growth
BC Local News
05/08/2008
First Nations on Vancouver Island -- and throughout British Columbia -- are getting restless. Everywhere there is prosperity, development, construction, high employment, except on their reserves. They want in, but are held back, they say, by the Indian Act and the slowness of land claims and treaty settlement, which combine to prevent access to the natural resources they believe are theirs.
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Immigrant Construction Workers Get Stiffed
Seattle Weekly
05/07/2008
Contractor Shawn Campbell brought in over a dozen Spanish-speaking immigrants to help build a new apartment complex in Renton. But he didn't call them employees; they were "business partners." Because of that designation, Campbell was able to avoid over $1 million in payments to the state workers' compensation fund and keep his employees working up to 46 hours a week with no overtime, a judge found.
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Emergency Home Loans for Seattleites
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
05/08/2008
Several dozen Seattle homeowners facing foreclosure could receive emergency loans under a new program approved by a City Council committee Wednesday.
The program would provide one-time, zero-interest loans of up to $5,000 to eligible, working homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages.
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Views: Candidates, Listen Up on Timber Payments
Portland Oregonian
05/08/2008
For another week and a half, Oregon has a rare chance to be heard loud and clear by the man or woman who will be the next U.S. president. This means all three candidates must not leave the state without making specific commitments on one of Oregon's most vexing and misunderstood issues: federal timber payments to counties.
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800 More B.C. Mill Workers Out of Work
CBC BC
05/06/2008
Industry officials estimate 10,000 B.C. forestry workers have lost their jobs through mill shutdowns, down-time and lay-offs brought on by the downturn in the U.S. housing market over the past year.
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Redesign for Vancouver, B.C. Low-Density Housing
Vancouver Sun
05/07/2008
The developer selected to do a massive and potentially controversial makeover of Vancouver's oldest social-housing site says his first priority will be to pay attention to what the community wants for the site.
The deal, which the province hopes will be the first of many as it sells off old low-density social housing sites to generate new money for housing, will require Simon Lim of Holborn Porperties to replace the site's existing 224 social-housing units within the market housing he builds there.
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San Francisco Hostile to Chain Stores
San Francisco Chronicle
05/07/2008
San Francisco - a city that values homegrown companies and neighborhood character - is increasingly hostile to chain stores and restaurants, even if the businesses want to move into empty stores.
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Idaho Uranium Enrichment Plant To Bring Jobs
Boise Idaho Statesman
05/07/2008
A uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls will be one of the largest construction projects in the state's history, and it could create 1,000 jobs for the five years it takes to complete it.
Construction on Areva Inc.'s $2 billion facility could begin as early as 2011, once the French-backed company obtains a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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Commercial Bee Hive Loss Increased
USA Today
05/07/2008
A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1% of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year.
Last year's survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of about 32%.
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No Timber Dollars in Oregon Could Mean No Jobs
Salem Statesman Journal
05/07/2008
Lane County started notifying more than 120 workers that they could be laid off or forced into lower-paying jobs by the end of May because of the potential loss of a federal payment program.
By July 1, the county plans to cut the equivalent of 196 full-time jobs — 12 percent of the work force. It’s the largest cut to county government since 1983, a year that saw the collapse of the timber industry, budget manager David Garnick said.
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Feds' Fish Aid Falls Short for Oregon
Tillamook Headlight-Herald
05/07/2008
If the $500,000 in aid to be distributed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office didn't sound like much to Oregon salmon fishers who have been left without a season, the figure $45 million may be more appealing.
That's how much the Governor's Office has estimated the state will lose because of the closed season. The number includes not just commercial fishers but processors, sport anglers and charters and all support business, from retail shops to gas stations.
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