Nike's focus on keeping costs low causes poor working conditions, critics say
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Nike contract factories will abuse workers, critics say, as long as the company forces the plants to make shoes and apparel for ever-lower prices. "As long as they continue to pay sweatshop prices," says Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker ...

and more »Google News

Plane crashes into Oregon coast house; 5 dead
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
GEARHART -- Flip-flops on damp sand and the murmur of early duffers at the golf course make up the ordinary August morning soundtrack in this cozy resort town. But dawn broke Monday to an entirely different cacophony: the sputter of a failing ...

and more »

Oregon blueberry acreage rises with demand
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Increased worldwide demand for blueberries has led Oregon farmers to increase their acreage planted with the popular fruit, which is said to provide some health benefits because of its antioxidant properties. Despite a cool spring and poor ...

Food origin labels will cost $$$
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Two months from now, shoppers shouldn't have to wonder about the country of origin of beef, chicken, fresh produce, and frozen fruits and vegetables, among other products, in grocery aisles. After tortured legislative negotiations dating back to 2002 ...

Portland adults can learn to swim, too
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
When you're a kid, learning the front crawl is a summer rite of passage. When you're 30, like I am, it has the potential to be very embarrassing. Consider my second day of beginner swim class this summer at Northeast Portland's Grant Pool. While I ...

Another woman drowns in same Rogue River rapids
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
A Portland woman drowned Saturday in the same Rogue River rapids that claimed the life of a California woman just one month ago. Curry County sheriff's deputies searched Monday for Kathleen Mills, 57, in a section of the river known as Blossom Bar, ...

and more »

Living Harvest has a hit with Hempmilk
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Yes, the hemp milk is made from the hulled seeds of cannabis sativa, the very plant featured in the 1936 cult classic "Reefer Madness." But these seeds are from industrial hemp, bred virtually free of the THC that powers its disreputable cousin. Rather ...

Pastor, who stole from funds for the needy, must pay up
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
More than a dozen members of the First Christian Church in downtown Portland showed up to see their former pastor admit he stole $132,000 meant for such programs as helping the poor pay for food, rent and medical bills. Judge Richard Baldwin then ...

Paramount Equity Mortgage under heavy scrutiny
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Washington mortgage regulators announced Wednesday they intend to revoke the license of Paramount Equity Mortgage, a Roseville, Calif., firm that has blanketed Northwest radio stations with commercials promising cheap and easy mortgages.

and more »

Eugene chip plant Hynix will close, erasing 1400 jobs
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Oregon's jittery economy took its biggest hit Wednesday with word that Hynix Semiconductor plans to shutter its 10-year-old memory chip plant in Eugene in the next two months, putting more than 1,100 employees and 300 contractors out of work.

and more »

Surfer, 14, recalls day he lost arm in dory accident
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Cole Ortega remembers throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt on that chilly Sunday morning, two days after the Fourth of July. It was around 8:30 a.m. and barely 60 degrees when the 14-year-old Bend boy and his friend Jackson rode their bikes to ...

Oregon violinist linked with 'Mr. Holland' dies
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Eugene John Kaza, a former Oregon Symphony violinist and music educator who many people believe was the inspiration for the film "Mr. Holland's Opus," died July 1 after several years of ill health at the age of 84. "Eugene was a violinist's violinist ...

and more »

Fallen tree shuts down camping at Oswald West State Park
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
The state is closing a boutique campground in one of its most popular coastal parks two weeks after a giant spruce tree fell without warning across several campsites, narrowly missing people. An inspection after the June 24 collapse of an 11-foot ...

and more »

Portland firefighter who appeared on 'Dr. Phil' agrees to plea deal
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
A Portland firefighter who damaged his personal reputation by appearing on the "Dr. Phil" show, then wounded his career by making a phony phone call to the Oregon Poison Center was ordered this week to get mental-health treatment. Brandon Anthony ...

Oregon's payday lenders all but gone
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Oregon's payday lending industry shrank dramatically in the year since the state cracked down on the short-term lenders' soaring interest rates. Three out of four Oregon payday lending stores have closed, and most stores still operating depend on check ...

Irishman's killing spurs uproar abroad
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
SILVERTON -- Four days after Andrew Hanlon was shot by a police officer in this tiny Willamette Valley farming community, his death had emerged Friday as the biggest news story in his home country of Ireland. Halfway around the world, charges of police ...

and more »

Bikini Coffee tries Portland on for size
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
The Bikini Coffee Co., which has already established a loyal -- and nearly all-male -- clientele in Salem, has set its sights on Portland. The company, known for its bikini-top-wearing baristas, plans to open an espresso bar at 520 S.W. Fifth Ave. for ...

and more »

Portland-based Nau apparel back in business
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Horny Toad Activewear Inc., a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based outdoor apparel retailer, has agreed to buy the Nau brand, an edgy clothing line with a conscience that halted operations after 14 months and closed its five stores in early May. Nau fizzled ...

and more »

Portland's Wi-Fi network making an exit
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
MetroFi Inc. has confirmed to Portland officials that it plans to turn off the city's Wi-Fi network at the end of the month, putting an end to the troubled, city-backed experiment in providing universal Internet access. The news is no surprise: The ...

and more »

Austin Winters' 'Bacon Boy' superhero sizzles in glass art
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
Flames engulf a building. Those trapped yell for help. Just when it seems hope is lost, in swoops . . . Bacon Boy! The strip-shaped superhero, cape flying, knows catastrophe all too well. He's endlessly at odds with his evil nemesis, Fry Guy, who ...