The bad news: Some economists speculate that Oregon's leveling-off has less to do with the state economy pulling out of its swan dive, and more to do with more Oregonians having given up the job hunt, thus removing themselves from the head-count of the technically unemployed.
The good news: The job market for economists looks pretty good.
Time to Span the State!
[More after the jump, including three updates and the StS True Animal Story.]
Being legitimate carries a price: If marijuana becomes legal and taxed, cultivators will have to take responsibility on issues like this:
An estimated 200,000 marijuana plants were discovered in raids during the Oregon growing and harvest season this year, according to state and federal documents.
And while that number may be staggering, pools filled with chemical fertilizers to grow the plants are a main nerve of concern among state officials and environmentalists.
The criteria: affordability, crime, and academic test scores.
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Oregon gas prices: The average reported pump price in Oregon is $2.75/gal, up 1/10th of a cent from last week. (Surprisingly, the usually glass-is-half-full folks at AAA of Oregon puts it at $2.76/gal, up half a cent. They also peg the national average at $2.63/gal.)
Cheapest reported pump price: $2.54/gal, at the Flying J truck stop, 400 NW Frontage Rd near I-84 exit 17, in Troutdale.
Highest reported pump price (tie): $2.99/gal, at the Chevron station, at 21755 NW Imbrie Dr & NW Cornelius Pass Rd, in Hillsboro. And the bizarre $2.99/gal price war continues at the Shell station, 460 S Valley View Rd & I-5 Exit 19, and the 76 station, 461 S Valley View Rd & I-5 Exit 19, both in Ashland.
Nearly one in 10 Oregon homeowners was late on at least one mortgage payment this fall, the highest rate on record, and those troubles are expected to grow worse into 2010.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says about 9.4 percent of Oregon's 631,000 mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure in the third quarter. That's up from 5.2 percent a year ago and outpaces the 7.7 percent high from the 1980s recession.
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Update: Last April, StS congratulated state Attorney General John Kroger [thanks, Carla!] and Treasurer Ben Westlund for going after the managers of the state's now-defunct college savings plan, after the fund was pissed away through high-risk investments.
The state of Oregon has reached a $20 million settlement with MassMutual Financial Group's OppenheimerFunds Inc. over big losses in a bond fund in the state's "529" college-savings plan.
The update, which was approved Thursday during a meeting of the Oregon 529 College Savings Board, paves the way for investors in Oregon's plan to recover some of their losses in what was supposed to be a conservatively managed bond fund.
The Oregon Court of Appeals has rejected a request by a high school English teacher to carry a handgun at school, the latest legal setback for the teacher who says she needs the gun for protection from her former husband.
Shirley Katz had argued the Medford School District lacked authority to set a policy banning employees from carrying firearms.
But the appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Jackson County trial judge who ruled the school district could prohibit guns on campus.
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Winter openings: The Ashland Rotary Centennial Ice Rink had a one-of-a-kind opening this week:
Mike Marshak juggled and ice skated simultaneously for the first time Friday. He has juggled and roller bladed before, but never on the slick and frozen.
Few were there to see it.
The Ashland Rotary Centennial Ice Rink opened Friday in rather slushy conditions amid the rain and weather. In its first fully operational year since renovations, this year's skating season looks smoother than ice.
Marshak was in town visiting his daughter and granddaughter from his Crown Point, Ind., home, was the first skater of the season in rather "pondy" conditions.
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Will it matter, if the paychecks cash? There's good news in Prineville, but with an odd twist:
Dozens of high-wage technology jobs could be coming to Prineville, courtesy of a company so secretive its name isn't even known by those in city government.
For the past several months, Prineville has been negotiating with Vitesse LLC, a company that is serving as the site-selector for the now-unnamed company that would operate a proposed data center. Data centers are banks of powerful computers, most commonly used to manage Internet traffic and provide server space for Web pages.
The prince stopped three people away and had a big conversation with some lady. Actually, it was just a sentence or two, long enough for me to take some really blurry pictures. Then, he shook the hands of the couple who didn't give me my spot back. Colin and I were next. But, horror of horrors, at that exact moment, Prince Charles was beckoned away and he turned toward the ropeline on the opposite side of the sidewalk. Noooooo!
Did it turn out all right? You'll have to read the story. No spoilers here.
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StS True Animal Story (Update): In June, 2008, we noted that state biologists had discovered the first signs of a wolf pack in the state since wolves disappeared from the state decades ago.
The existence of the pack wasn't a surprise. Fish and Wild scientists have been monitoring it since June 2008 and even know a bit about the individual wolves. But the number -- at least 10 wolves are seen in the video -- surprised even veteran wolf watchers.
"ODFW has been regularly monitoring this pack but, until this video was taken, we only had evidence of a minimum of three adults and three pups making up the pack," said Russ Morgan, the agency's wolf coordinator. "Pups can be difficult to distinguish at this distance, but it appears there may be as many as six pups in the video."
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Tune in to the Carl + Christine show on KPOJ AM620 tomorrow morning between 7.30 and 8.00 to hear Carl, Christine, and Paul match wits with TJ on the weekly Spanning the State Limerick Challenge!
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