Oregon Business Team

A number of Portland-area residents reported their debit cards either were compromised or canceled suddenly, and  police said at least one case was related to a data breach earlier this year at Michaels Stores Inc.

Wind farm owners stepped up their fight with the Bonneville Power Administration, asking federal energy regulators to halt the agency’s new policy of curtailing wind generation when it has excess hydroelectric power to sell.

The federal government has released the second payment from a grant of up to $3.32 million that was approved two years ago to help laid-off Monaco Coach employees at its Coburg plant and in Hines. The federal government released the first $1.66 million in 2009, with most of the money going to Lane County.

The Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Campaign for Free Enterprise says creating government programs to put the jobless back to work would be a step backward.

Raise a glass — or fork — to Lane County’s food and beverage manufacturers. They were among just a few sectors that actually added jobs in this latest deep and punishing recession.

In his eighth term in Congress, Rep. Earl Blumenauer is growing weary. Blumenauer has been in office for most of his adult life.  “The frustration is real,” said the 62-year-old Democrat. “It is hard, it is unpleasant.”

Oregon labor negotiators have told the top two state workers’ unions that they will not agree to extend existing contracts if a deal isn’t reached by June 30, the end of the current biennium.

Washington State’s Gov. Chris Gregoire has decided that she will not seek a third term.

Columbia Sportswear, along with its Italian subsidiary, OutDry Technologies S.r.l., announced that they have filed a complaint with the Commission of the European Union against W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.