Editor’s roundup


The DOE takes another hit, transportation package in jeopardy and John Kitzhaber can’t catch a break.

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It’s the kind of news that, unfairly, gives renewable energy a bad name.  An energy department employee admitted to taking bribes linked to the state’s beleaguered energy tax credit program. Oregon Live has the story.

Road to nowhere. Passing a transportation package is a litmus test of a functioning Oregon state goverment. Weeks before the session closes, lawmakers now say the future of the infrastructure bill is uncertain. More on the story here.

Ride-sharing companies are also taking a hit. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick steps down as the troubled tech-transport service introduces in-app tipping for drivers.  

And, in a final piece of transport news — the EV Roadmap Conference is taking place in Portland this week.  OB research editor Kim Moore reports on record attendance levels and why conference sponsors are removing EV from the conference name next year. 

John Kitzhaber can’t catch a break. The Oregon ethics commission is reopening its inquiry into the former governor’s alleged influence peddling. The Bend Bulletin reports.

Portland entrepreneur Cameron Madill, founder and CEO of PixelSpoke, was named “Global Citizen of the Year” for working to scale efforts at the Innovation Law Lab, an organization that defends refugees from deportation. Read our story on the Innovation Lab here.

The East Oregonian has published an ebook featuring its five part series on the Cascadia earthquake and its impact on the eastern part of the state. To read about the role Central Oregon might play after the Big One, read Tim Neville’s OB account here. 

People can’t stop talking about the glowing sea creatures popping up on the coast.  The creatures, otherwise known as pyrosomes, are apparently drawn by warm ocean conditions, KGW reports.  Meanwhile, Cannon Beach may have uncovered the remains of a long ago shipwreck, according to the Daily Astorian.