05/12/2008 Price of postal stamps increasing again Mailing a letter costs a penny more this week, with the price of a first-class stamp rising to 42 cents today.

Oregon's unemployment rate at 5.5 percent for April
Officials say Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in April, nearly unchanged from March.

Vancouver officials discuss waterfront redevelopment
The City of Vancouver and Port Officials will discuss the city's attempt to get state funding for a redevelopment of the waterfront a the port's monthly meeting.

Bend woman becomes first female to win brewmaster award
Tonya Cornett, a brewer at Bend Brewing Co., recently won the prestigious brewmaster award at the World Beer Cup.

Oregon tourism industry fears tax hike could hurt business
To the displeasure of many hotel and motel owners, the city council here has voted to hike the transient room tax by 1 percentage point to subsidize the Florence Events Center, which has run in the red since it opened in 1994.

05/08/2008

PGE to install 850,000 smart electricity meters in Portland
State regulators approved Portland General Electric Co.'s proposal to install 850,000 smart electricity meters over the next two years.

Gas tax holiday could be a potent issue in Ore. primary
Keith Bjorkman watched the digital readout on the service station gasoline pump climb inexorably higher as he filled up his truck for another business trip to California.

Weak cherry harvest blamed on cold temperatures
Fresh cherry pie on the Fourth of July? Perhaps not on the East Coast this year, and consumers can blame freezing spring temperatures in the Northwest.

05/10/2008

Oregon's Pope & Talbot shuts doors
Pope & Talbot Inc., has closed for good after a Delaware court ordered the bankrupt timber company to turn its mills over to a court-appointed trustee for liquidation.

05/07/2008 HP says no decision made on job cuts in Corvallis Hewlett-Packard says no decision has been made on possible job cuts at its Corvallis campus, but local economic development officials are preparing for possible layoffs.

Lane County warns 120 workers of possible layoffs
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.

Adidas wins $305 million for trademark violation
Adidas has won $305 million award from a federal jury for trademark violation of its three-stripe design by a Kansas shoe company.

Maine company acquires Oregon's Eutek Systems
Maine-based Hydro International says it is acquiring Oregon-based Eutek Systems for $8.5 million in cash plus additional incentives.

05/06/2008

Nike and Finish Line collaborate on concept store
Sportswear company Nike and specialty retailer Finish Line have opened a joint concept store focused on running and training gear for young athletes, called Finish Line Limited.

Learn to turn gift cards into cash You don’t have to sit on your gift cards. You can turn them into cash with the stroke of your keypad.  Video: KGW report on gift cards

05/05/2008

Yahoo shares fall 16 pct after Microsoft withdraws bid
Yahoo shares fell more than 16 percent Monday as hopes for the once-dominant Internet icon dimmed following Microsoft's withdrawal of a $47.5 billion takeover bid.

Average price for regular gas rises 15 cents
The national average price for regular gasoline has risen about 15 cents in the last two weeks.

Vodka maker finding customers after years of struggle
Just about anyone can start a business, said Jeff Meyers, co-owner of a distillery and bottling operation in Cottage Grove. The tough part, he said, is staying in business.

Ashland, Ore., mayor says he can't afford to live in Ashland
In recent decades, real estate has gotten pricey in the Southern Oregon college, tourist and Shakespeare town of Ashland. Now, even the mayor says he can't afford to live there.

05/02/2008 Swapping homes could be a house sale solution The house swapping process is simple: the equity you have in your house can be used as a down payment in the house you’re trading for and vice versa.

05/01/2008 Feds declare West Coast salmon fisheries disaster This is a first step toward providing federal disaster assistance to commercial and charter salmon fishermen and related businesses in California, Oregon and Washington.

Nike to hold worldwide race Nike says it will host a running race August 31 that it bills as the world's biggest one-day running event.

Starbucks 2Q profit sinks 28 percent
The Seattle coffee company says revenue rose 12 percent to $2.5 billion, compared to the same time a year ago.

04/30/2008 Pyramid Breweries to be acquired by Magic Hat The Magic Hat brewing company of South Burlington, Vermont, is buying Seattle's Pyramid Breweries for about $35 million.

05/01/2008

Coast Starlight to resume normal operations next week
For some Amtrak passengers, taking the train will no longer mean having to take a bus.

04/29/2008

Weyerhaeuser loses finished alder case; vows appeal
A Portland jury on Monday ordered Weyerhaeuser to pay almost $28 million for unlawfully monopolizing the market for finished alder lumber.

04/28/2008

Pink slips for one out of every 8 Lane Co. employees
Lane County's anticipated budget for the coming year will be released this week, but the numbers have already been announced -- and they're not pretty.

Buffett expected to face questions about the Klamath
The wisdom of billionaire Warren Buffett will be on display again next weekend when he fields questions from a throng of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

04/24/2008 Nationwide Insurance cuts 204 jobs at Portland office According to a filing with the state, the mass layoff is part of Nationwide's plans to eliminate certain departments.

Oregon craft brewing grows in 2007 Oregon craft brewing production keeps bubbling over. The industry posted strong growth despite increases in hop and barley prices, the two main ingredients in craft beer.

Electronic tax returns set record in Oregon
Electronic tax returns hit the one million mark in Oregon this year. The Oregon Department of Revenue says a Cannon Beach taxpayer set the record on April 15th.

Oregonians critical of Coast Range rail shutdown Oregon members of Congress and shippers say the owner of a closed railroad line has shirked its duties, and they want regulators to tighten regulation of railroad carriers.

Oregon microtunneling project could be longest in country
Engineers for a massive sewer construction project in Portland say their tunneling machine dug a tunnel 3,055 feet long for a connecting pipe.

Web site offers evidence, tips for unsolved crimes The Web site SwiftReport.net claims to be the first site of its kind where victims post unsolved crimes using text messages, PDAs, and a Web form.

04/23/2008 More people selling used books for quick cash While a good book maybe hard to put down, when it comes to the final chapter, more folks are turning their pulp fiction and every other kind of book into cash.

PGE seeks more renewable power
Portland General Electric is looking for proposals to supply more renewable power for its customers.

Oregon governor rejects RailAmerica offer
Ted Kulongoski has rejected an offer from RailAmerica for the state to jointly own and operate a closed rail line, saying the deal is insufficient.

04/22/2008 Adidas signs deal with Candace Parker Adidas has signed a multiyear endorsement deal with Los Angeles Sparks player Candace Parker, the top choice in the WNBA draft and The Associated Press player of the year.

Former bookkeeper steals from charity, goes to jail
A former bookkeeper who a judge called "one of the worst kind of thieves" for stealing from charity has been sentenced to 20 days in jail.

Employee hooked on video poker stole from MultCo
A former Multnomah County employee who claimed she was addicted to video poker must repay nearly $39,000.

04/21/2008

Optimism high for Gatorade plant in Oregon
City Manager Wes Hare remains optimistic that a Gatorade plant will be built in South Albany.

Fire destroys Clackamas business building
Fire destroyed a Clackamas County chrome-plating business early Sunday.

04/19/2008

Local GloryBee invests in its own business park
Company outgrows building. Company buys land. Company builds new facility. End of story.

04/18/2008 Popular water bottles eyed for safety risks The Nalgene company said it will stop using the chemical bisphenol A in its reusable water bottles, and WalMart will pull plastic baby bottles containing the chemical from shelves.

Nike completes sale of Bauer Hockey
Nike says it has completed the sale of its Bauer Hockey subsidiary to Kohlberg & Company and Canadian businessman W. Graeme Roustan for $200 million in cash.

Think tank says gas use in NW is down
A new report finds residents in Oregon, Washington and Idaho have cut back on their per capita gas consumption by 11 percent from 1999 to 2007.

Portland Airport gives compost to travelers
Travelers returning through Portland International Airport Friday will be offered free compost as part of the Port of Portland's celebration of its environmental efforts.

04/17/2008 U.S. Air will charge fee for window, aisle seats U.S. Airline will start charging travelers a fee for some aisle and window seats, beginning May 7th.

Army grant to help Providence develop new healing techniques Soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are surviving at higher rates than in previous wars, but many have suffered serious injuries that doctors are powerless to heal.

Coast Starlight line back in Klamath Falls
A passenger train arrived at the Klamath Falls Amtrak station for the first time in nearly three months.

04/14/2008 Oregon jobs report shows first decline in six months State economists say Oregon lost an estimated 2,700 jobs in March, the first decline in six months.  Poll: Worried about your job?

04/15/2008 Clark Co. neighbors sound off about casino proposal A meeting at the Clark County Public Services Center lasted several hours as people sounded off about a possible casino in Clark County, Wash.

Wash. WA jobless rate rises to 4.9 percent
Washington's unemployment rate has jumped fourth-tenths of a percentage point, to 4.9 percent, and payrolls have shrunk by 3,200 jobs.

Delta, Northwest merge to create world's biggest carrier Both carriers are losing money again but are in much better shape than the four much-smaller airlines that have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business in recent weeks.  Also: Aviation blog

Truckers caught skipping weigh stations in Oregon
Since infrared cameras went up, Oregon highway workers at Ashland have nailed about a trucker a day cheating on the requirement to stop at a weigh station.

04/14/2008 PacifiCorp's customers to pay more, PGE's less The Oregon Public Utility Commission will allow PacifiCorp to collect an additional $34.5 million from its customers over the next two years to cover taxes it paid for 2006.

Oregon ski resort, hit with complaints, to spend $3.4 million
Responding to complaints, the company that owns the Mount Bachelor ski area west of Bend says it will put $3.4 million into a lift maintenance program, buses and equipment and other upgrades.

Ore. company aims for solar-powered water purification
As president of Sol-Win, Inc. Janet Quinn dreams of water, specifically portable purified waters.

04/11/2008

Paul Allen Foundation distributes almost $12M in NW grants
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has awarded $11.8 million in grants to Northwest nonprofits.

Some upset Wash. governor's bus has Oregon plates
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire's big biodiesel campaign bus has Oregon plates.

04/10/2008 Columbia Sportswear re-opening downtown store Columbia Sportswear's downtown flagship store is re-opening Thursday, after a three-month closure for major remodeling.

Salmon fishing cancelled, Governor declares emergency West Coast fisheries managers have voted to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year.

Amtrak to resume Coast Starlight service
Amtrak announced that passenger train service between Seattle and Los Angeles will resume next week, but riders must transfer to bus service between Eugene and Klamath Falls in both directions.

04/09/2008 Cancellations leave flyers asking: What next? Authorities said the flight cancellations would likely spread to other U.S. airlines in the weeks ahead, across the nation.  More: Check PDX flights  Video: More delays at PDX  Travel Tips: Jack Penning's Blog

West Coast leads nation in 'green' attitutes about cars, driving The popularity of hybrids still continues to increase, despite their cost, according to new survey, and Portland is among one of the “greenest” cities when it comes to driving.

04/10/2008

Marylhurst University turns to business world for next president
Former PacifiCorp chief executive officer Judith Johansen lives near Marylhurst University and admits to occasionally violating the school's no-dogs-on-campus policy when walking her dogs.

04/09/2008

Doors opens for large-scale resort in Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge Commission voted to revise its land-use management plan, the first step toward the building of a large-scale recreational resort.

04/08/2008 Nike unveils products Olympians will use to go for gold On Monday, the Beaverton-based company unveiled its Olympics 2008 line, with special products created for every sport from BMX racing to equestrian jumping.  Slideshow: What they'll be wearing

Cab fares likely to rise in Portland Cab companies in Portland say it's been a long time coming -- and if you ride taxi's frequently in the city you'll likely need to carry some extra cash to pay for your ride.

Pizza Schmizza acquired by Salem chain According to Franchising.com, Figaro’s acquired the Hillsboro-based 31-store chain this week.

04/10/2008

Worker crushed by roller at Oregon sawmill
Sheriff Tim Evinger of Klamath County says an Interfor Pacific sawmill employee died while working on a debarker this week.

04/09/2008

City rankings in 'green' car survey
These rankings are calculated based on the number of hybrid searches in a market as a percentage of all new-car searches in the market:

04/08/2008 Final day for massive auction of confiscated merchandise Hundreds of bargain-hunters flocked to NE Portland Wednesday for the auction involving millions of dollars in merchandise.  Photo Gallery: Items for sale  Video: KGW report on auction

Mount Hood railroad sold to Chicago-based company
The historic Mount Hood Railroad has been sold to a Chicago-based company.

02/20/2008

Special report: Information overload at the office
Jeff Mills is a prime example of someone who suffers from information overload. In addition to the emails, Mills subscribes to dozens of industry news letters online. He also reads articles about the latest trends.

01/01/2008 New Oregon law puts a lid on check-cashing fees Oregonians who use check-cashing businesses may be paying lower fees starting Tuesday, thanks to a new state law.