Portland foreclosure rate up
The foreclosure rate in Portland was up slightly in December compared to a year earlier.
Hillsboro in online contest
Hillsboro is one of 20 cities in a Huffington Post contest as part of the $5 million Bloomberg Mayors Challenge that seeks to drive innovation in local government.
Lane County officials to lease downtown Eugene land
The Lane County Board of Commissioners voted to seek a deal to lease downtown land to Fifth Street Public Market owner Brian Obie as part of a major downtown redevelopment project.
Breathable nail polish a hit with Muslims
AP: For many observant Muslim women, manicures have been a problem as it prevents water from making contact with nails in pre-prayer hand and arm washing five times a day.
Corporations urge court to support gay marriage
Reuters: More than 200 businesses will urge the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to heterosexual union.
Jumbo mortgages return
Reuters: A luxury real estate revival is being fueled, in part, by another resurgence: so-called jumbo mortgages – those loans, typically over $417,000, that are too big to qualify for purchase by federal agencies.
J.P. Morgan Chase to cut 17,000 jobs
Wall Street Journal: Hoping to trim more than $1 billion in expenses annually the banking giant plans to cut costs and 17,000 positions by next year.
European horse meat causes unease in American consumers
New York Times: Horse meat has been found in more than a dozen European countries, worrying American consumers.
Unemployed outnumber job openings 5-to-1 in Oregon
Oregon’s unemployed outnumber private-sector job openings five-to-one, a new report says.
Little known about which programs will be impacted by federal cuts
Oregon will lose over $38 million under automatic federal budget cuts that kick in Friday, but it is still unknown which specific programs will be impacted.