BY VIVIAN MCINERNY | OB BLOGGERIn 1980, Marv Ross wrote and recorded a catchy little original called Harden My Heart that helped Quarterflash land a deal with Geffen Records. Ross still writes music but now he, like everyone from Lady Gaga to the unknown vocalist with a ukulele and a webcam, gives it away to sell it. It’s a crazy business model that works.
The Daily Mail: Cleaning gadget apparently ‘switches itself on’ and moves onto kitchen hotplate in ‘suicide bid.’
CNN: New York City has needled out Chicago for the title of America’s tallest building.
The Guardian: Prison numbers in Sweden dropped 6% between 2011 and 2012 and are expected to do the same in the next few years.
About 15 Oregon companies are set to register as the state’s first benefit companies on Jan. 2.
The Portland Development Commission is considering giving Daimler Trucks North America a forgivable $8 million loan for its new headquarters on Swan Island.
The battle over genetically modified food labeling is moving to Oregon after being defeated in California and Washington.
The discovery of threatened marbled murrelet seabirds dropped the value of three tracts of forest land in Coos County from $22.1 million to $3.6 million since they can no longer be logged.
Portland-based Bettery opened rechargeable battery kiosks in five Safeway stores in the Seattle area and Portland.
SolarWorld revenue fell 26% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period of 2012, but the company’s Hillsboro factory remains a bright spot.