Oregon’s Fiscal Flow

It’s widely recognized that there are two Oregons: one centered on the Portland metropolitan area and another composed of the state’s smaller cities and rural areas.

Ebb and flow

 A weekly list of new hires, fires and promotions, as well as retail and restaurant openings and closings:

Revolving Door

Northwest Environmental Business Council Executive Director Robert Grott has announced his intention to step down in 2016 after a decade leading the organization.

Morning roundup: Pot pendulum in Deschutes; Austin weirder than Portland?

Get a jump on the news with our compilation of local and national headlines: Pot in action. Repealing a ban imposed just five months earlier,  Deschutes County commissioners voted to allow sales of recreational and medical marijuana. The repeal ordiance, however, may not go into effect untli September, leaving purveyors in unincorporated Deschutes County out … Read more

The Slabtown revival

Portland’s skyline is rapidly changing as a rush of tech companies moves in and apartment buildings spring up all over the city. One neighborhood that stands out for its recent transformation is historic Slabtown. The district in Portland’s northwest has gone through a revival in the past couple of years. It stills retains some of its historical past as a center of traditional industries, but it is developing a very modern character as service sector businesses move in and loft apartments go up.

Editor’s note: Welcome to OB’s new enews

Welcome to our new and improved enewsletter!  On behalf of OB staff, I am pleased to bring you our revamped daily news update featuring a boost in original content and a clean, modern and easy-to-read design. The goal is to provide both a snapshot of the day’s top news stories and exclusive OB coverage of the people, … Read more

Morning roundup: Nike gets greener, software reaches cannabis industry, Patriot Movement surges

Here are a few headlines that grabbed our attention this morning: Nike ambition. The Beaverton-based athletic giant has announced a lofty goal for the company’s future. Nike plans to halve its environmental impact by 2020, while simultaneously reducing the number of factories manufacturing product. Read the Footwear news story here.  A budding industry. Law firms, … Read more

Portland Commissioner Fish against business tax hike

A proposed Portland business tax hike — seeking to raise $9 million for city programming — may be on the way out. From OPB: In a council work session Tuesday, (Commissioner Nick Fish) said the council has recently asked the business community to shoulder other new costs, due to laws requiring paid sick leave and raising … Read more

Published in Categories News

President Obama to visit Hiroshima

In a visit to Hiroshima this month, President Barack Obama is the first serving U.S. president to travel to the city since the nuclear bombing in 1945. From BBC: The visit will be part of an Asian trip from 21-28 May that will also take in Vietnam. The Hiroshima bombing on 6 August 1945 killed 140,000 … Read more

DOJ sues North Carolina over LGBT law

After filing a suit against the Department of Justice, the DOJ has now filed its own lawsuit against North Carolina. From NPR: The state’s legal filing came ahead of an end-of-Monday deadline for North Carolina to respond to the Department of Justice over the law barring protections for LGBT people in the state. The state law … Read more