Desert Sun Holdings, a subsidiary of developer Desert Sun Development, has submitted plans to the city of Redmond for a proposed 40,000-square-foot, $4.5 million indoor motocross facility.

Rising housing prices in Central Oregon have caused a labor shortage in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties.

The Port of Portland expects to receive a new post-Panamax container crane for its Terminal 6 container facility by 2008, with a $7.5 million grant from the Connect Oregon program to cover part of the $12.3 million project budget.

Planar Systems, a maker of monitors and industrial displays used in medical equipment, will expand into the digital signage and command-and-control-room visual system markets with the purchase of Wilsonville-based Clarity Visual Systems.

Lion Capital, a London private equity firm, expects to close its purchase of Salem-based potato-chip maker Kettle Foods this month.

Construction has begun at McNary Field to install security screening and add a modular building for passenger services in the hope of attracting commercial air service.

RealEnergy, a California-based company that develops on-site power systems for commercial buildings, hopes to begin construction this month on a manure-to-energy project at the Rickreall Dairy.

Reedsport OPT Wave Park filed an application with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this summer for a preliminary permit to test the feasibility of a wave park.

The Coquille Economic Development Corporation (CEDCO) has responded to months of very low vacancy rates at the Mill Casino and Hotel with plans for a $44 million expansion of the gaming and resort complex.

Crops to fuel biodiesel are being raised in Eastern Oregon, but there are no biodiesel production plants east of the Cascades and scant supplies at the pump. Meanwhile, farmers running diesel pickups and tractors are prime potential consumers of home-grown fuel.