Bullseye Glass faces new clean up order, while TriMet expands into electric vehicles.
OREGON NEWS
— The Department of Environmental Quality has ordered Bullseye Glass to clean its smokestacks. State officials believe the stacks are one of two sources of hexavalent chromium. The Oregonian reports elevated chromium levels have persisted in the air, at almost four times what the state has deemed acceptable. It reportedly took a month to identify the smokestack as a source of pollution.
— A $3.4 million grant will allow TriMet to purchase four electric buses. The Federal Transit Administration provided the grant under its Low and No Emission Vehicle Deployment program. The grant will not only pay for the four buses, but the necessary infrastructure as well. The Portland Tribune has more.
— A vote Friday by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission approved an increase to Oregon’s bottle deposit. As of April 1, the bottle deposit will double from 5 cents to 10 cents. Changes must be made statewide to prepare for the change, including selling remaining 5-cent bottles, changing labels and signs at stores. Read more from the Bend Bulletin.
— The Atlantic has labeled Portland the “Whitest City in America.” The magazine writes about something most people in this city have known for a long time: although Portland is known as a progressive hub, it has a history of exclusion.
— Oregon’s Department of Transportation will partner with Waze — a crowdsourced traffic app — to integrate incident reports with TripCheck.com. This partnership should improve the data available to drivers. The Statesman Journal has more.
— After graduating Lane Community College’s Energy Management Program, Joe Levesque wanted to give back. Now an energy engineer with Siemens, Levesque formed a partnership between LCC and Siemens for on-hand training in the growing industry. Read more from the Register Guard.
— Art Director Wes Boyd explains how he created our July/August cover.
NATIONAL NEWS
— The Democratic National Convention kicks off today in Philadelphia. But the convention has already been marred in scandal with an email scandal that resulted in DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s resignation.
— Yahoo’s sale to Verizon was made official today, with a $4.8 billion purchase price. The acquisition leaves the future of both companies unclear. The BBC has more.
