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If you are experienced in pulp & paper engineering type of work, there is hiring going on in Vancouver, WA - minimal travel. For more info, let me know.

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in Central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise. They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn’t dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes — without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents. Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas, weak demand for...

In a move the technology sector will surely see as a victory, a controversial antipiracy bill being debated in Congress will no longer include a provision that would require ISPs to block access to overseas Web sites accused of piracy. Rep. Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), one of the biggest backers of the Stop Online Piracy Act, today said he plans to remove the Domain Name System or DNS-blocking provision. "After consultation with industry groups across the country," Smith said in a statement released by his office, "I feel we should remove DNS-blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that...

BEND, Ore. — As wolves spread into Central Oregon, advocates and opponents continue to debate their value. Some say the animals, eradicated from the state decades ago, will help bring the ecosystem into better balance. Others argue the predators were eliminated for good reason. Since wolves wandered into Oregon from Idaho in 2008, the state has spent about $800,000 to manage them, according to an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife report. That sum will grow by at least a half million dollars over the next couple of years, and the spending could escalate as the number of wolves roaming...

Portland might wait 5 years on paving projectsby KGW.com Staff and Tim Gordon Updated yesterday at 2:09 PM PORTLAND - Portland's Bureau of Transportation says it can't afford to do some big repaving projects. Southwest 4th Avenue was scheduled to be repaved. That project is on hold, along with others the bureau hoped to contract out over the next five years. Potholes riddle SW Oak St. through downtown Portland. The street was targeted for a big repaving makeover but now fixing the cracks and patches will have to wait. "Of all infrastructure, the transportation infrastructure is visible above ground, so...

Postal closings’ value questionedDozens turn out in Springfield to air concerns about a plan to close a processing center By Saul Hubbard The Register-Guard Published: Midnight, Dec 29, 2011 First-class next-day delivery could be a thing of the past, and a letter mailed in Eugene would travel 100 miles up and down Interstate 5 to Portland before arriving at its local destination, if the U.S. Postal Service moves ahead with a proposal to close its Gateway processing center in Springfield. Where will that leave veterans and seniors who rely on mail-order medical prescriptions, small businesses who require prompt mail delivery...

Local Family Disturbed by Topless Occupy ProtestBy Jessica Debbas December 31, 2011 EUGENE, Ore. -- A Eugene woman is speaking out after she and her family accidentally stumbled upon a topless protest outside City Councilor George Poling's house. The woman says she was taking her six and eight year old boys out to look at Christmas lights when she saw a group of topless women, with bags over their heads and red paint on their bodies. She said the demonstration was being video taped by a man. The footage you see in the video above of the incident is from...

Remember Sara Palin's prediction in 2010 that a Tea Party "revolution" would sweep America? Now we are observing their overreach in Iowa. Republican candidates for President have to be ultra conservative to win the nomination but when the general election rolls around these candidates will be seen as too polarizing for Independents and many establishment Republicans. Isn't it obvious to Republican candidates who bear hug the Tea Party too tightly in order to win the primary that it will cause those candidates serious issues in the general election. A couple of small favorite moments for me were watching Brian Schwetzer,...

ALOHA, Ore. – An Aloha couple woke up Christmas morning to a man hitting them with a tiki torch. Washington County deputies are investigating the incident, which started with a home invasion, according to spokesman Bob Ray. It happened at a home on 209th Street. According to Ray, a man believed to be on drugs broke into the back door of the home while the couple was asleep, grabbed a bamboo tiki torch and took it into the bedroom where he beat the couple with it. The husband, who has not been identified, grabbed a handgun in self-defense and a...

Mumbo-Jumbo Mystic Impervious To Cops' Electric Blasters For those of you who've ever wondered, like you do, whether the Jedi lightsabre or the Taser is the more effective weapon, we're delighted to report that the electric dispenser of justice is no match for Obi-Wan Kenobi's mighty glowing tool. David A. Canterbury earlier this week went on the rampage at a Portland Toys R Us store, assaulting three customers with a plastic replica of the Jedi weapon. Cue swift intervention by law enforcement operatives, who found 33-year-old Canterbury wandering in the parking lot, "talking incoherently", and still swinging his Star Wars...

PORTLAND – Protests were possible Saturday in Portland, some in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. Calling them the D-17 (December 17) protests, organizers in New York said they would gather at noon downtown Manhattan, for an all day performance event to re-occupy “in the wake of the coordinated attacks and subsequent evictions of occupations across the nation and around the world.” On Friday, a small group of protesters moved to SW Naito Parkway, where they “occupied” Mills End Park, setting up small signs and miniature tents in the world's smallest park. One demonstrator was arrested for refusing to move out...

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife The alpha wolf in the Imnaha pack was collared in May and is being tracked by state biologists. A pack of wolves roaming grasslands in Eastern Oregon killed another cow over the weekend. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said a yearling heifer was found dead on a ranch east of Joseph in Wallowa County. ODFW officials said the rancher had coraled his 700 cattle Sunday night in a pasture near his home and that the wolves broke in and chased them out, killing a heifer. The wolves returned the next night...

Portland Mayor Sam Adams is a self-described strong liberal, but despite sharing the politics of many anti-Wall Street protesters who rocked his city, he has also emerged as one of their harshest critics. Adams told Reuters this week in an interview at City Hall in Portland that the movement had lost its focus.The Oregon mayor's running argument with the Occupy movement, much of it conducted openly over Twitter, points to a similar rift between left-wing protesters and liberal politicians in cities across the country, from Los Angeles to Atlanta.Occupy protesters have denounced economic inequality and the perceived undue power of...

OAKLAND — As anti-Wall Street protesters attempt to regroup and settle in for winter after a series of police raids that stripped much of the movement of its signature camps, protesters on the West Coast are staging a comeback. On Dec. 12, Occupy movements from Seattle to San Diego say they will shut down their local ports, temporarily stopping the flow of capital on the West Coast. Organizers say they aim to disrupt the business of the “1 percent” — in this case, the corporations that own shipping terminals and do business at the ports. If successful, shutting down the...

MONROE, Ore. -- The thing to do if a squirrel runs up your leg is probably not to aim a .22-caliber rifle at it. A Benton County, Ore., sheriff's officer says a 36-year-old Monroe man told deputies he was startled by a squirrel that ran up his left leg so he fired at it but hit his foot instead.

PORTLAND -- Police have raided three vacant Northeast Portland homes taken over by anarchists who claimed they were part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police were tipped off about the situation Sunday. Responding officers found that the squatters had changed the locks on the homes. Police said it looked like the squatters were ready for battle. Inside the homes, police found anarchist literature, drugs and weapons, including machetes. “There's the body armor in there, the bucket of projectiles: broken up concrete, rocks,” Portland Police Sgt. Jeff McDaniel told KGW. “There was some body-armor-type stuff for someone who might want...

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber on Tuesday imposed a moratorium on the death penalty for the remainder of his term, saying he's morally opposed to capital punishment and has long regretted allowing two men to be executed in the 1990s. Kitzhaber's decision gives a temporary reprieve to a twice-convicted murderer who was scheduled to die by lethal injection in two weeks, along with 36 others on death row. It makes Oregon the fifth state to halt executions since 2007.

The Rev. Miriam Méndez admitted to the crowd of about 50 gathered Monday at the East Portland Community Center that Julio Cesar Marquez's life was short. But his 13 years were influential, she said: "We know he has touched many." Mendez spoke at an anti-violence vigil honoring the teen, whose body was found two weeks ago in a Northeast Portland alley. He died of blunt-force trauma and gunshot wounds, becoming the city's youngest gang-involved homicide victim in at least a decade. Marquez's family, friends and other community members braved a cold rain to remember the eighth-grader, who liked to dance...

It was in jest two months ago when I began calling the Occupy crowd “dirt smelly hippies.” Sadly, the phrase is now accurate. In Portland, Oregon, the city shutdown two parks for two weeks to clean up after these pigs left. 70 dump-truck loads of trash were hauled away. Now in Santa Cruz, California, Occupy Santa Cruz protesters left behind 200 pounds worth of human feces near the Veterans Memorial Building, a community center. Occupy San Francisco had a similar problem with the Ferry Building as these animals are too stupid and uncivilized to act as if they are potty...

Paramedics called to Occupy Eugene for alleged heroin overdoseReported by: Chris McKee EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) - Tense moments for Occupy Eugene protesters Saturday afternoon when police and paramedics were called for a reported heroin overdose. **SNIP** Protesters say two occupiers may have helped save the man's life. A registered nurse and a doctor came to the man’s aid shortly after he passed out, giving him CPR before on-duty paramedics arrived.

Saba Ahmed, the young Muslim woman from Beaverton who ran in the Democratic primary for Oregon's 1st District congressional seat, says she has switched to the Republican Party. From her Facebook page: "Never thought I would see this day, but I am officially a registered REPUBLICAN. Thank you to all the Oregon Democrats for helping me realize my Conservative Potential. Looking forward to 2012 Republican Victories!" Ahmed, who had interned for then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, has been a frequent participant in Democratic events. She received less than a half-percent of the votes in last week's primary. She...

ASTORIA, Ore. -- A Coast Guardsman was being honored as a hero Monday for his efforts in saving a woman from drowning in the Columbia River in September. Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Doniphan, a cook aboard Cutter Alert in Astoria, had just finished his shift on Sept. 10 and was heading on to the pier when he noticed some commotion on the river's edge. It turned out, a young girl about 11- or 12-years-old, who had been swimming around the pilings under the dock, got caught in the river's current. Moments later, it was apparent she was about to...

Police began moving in on a downtown park Sunday, where a few hundred Occupy Portland demonstrators have remained in defiance of an eviction order. Police on loudspeakers warned that anyone who resisted risks arrest and "may also be subject to chemical agents and impact weapons." Demonstrators chanted "we are a peaceful protest." Mayor Sam Adams had ordered the camp shut down last night, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves. The anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters had flooded a city park area in Portland early Sunday in defiance of an eviction order while authorities...

PORTLAND, OREGON -- November 13, 2011 -- People clear trash from the camp at Occupy Portland.

PORTLAND -- Bail for a man inside the Occupy Portland camp Wednesday on accusations related to a Tuesday Molotov cocktail fire was raised to $1 million by a judge Thursday. David Hodson, 29, was arraigned on first-degree arson, manufacturing a destructive device, possession of an explosive device and second-degree criminal mischief charges. --SNIP-- In an interview Wednesday morning on OPB, Mayor Sam Adams said that a suspect in the World Trade Center bombing was seen returning to the camp. Portland's World Trade Center houses the headquarters for Oregon's largest electric utility, state offices, a number of law firms and the...

Oregon elections officials are turning to iPads in a new attempt to make voting as easy and accessible as possible for disabled voters. In a small pilot program playing out during the special primary election to replace former U.S. Rep. David Wu, about 12 voters have filled out their ballots on Apple's touch-screen tablet.

The Obama administration in a brief to the Supreme Court has backed the Vatican's claim of immunity from lawsuits arising from cases of sexual abuse by priests in the United States. The Supreme Court is considering an appeal by the Vatican of an appellate court ruling that lifted its immunity in the case of an alleged pedophile priest from Oregon. In a filing on Friday, the solicitor generla's office argued that the Ninth Circuit court of appeals erred in allowing the lawsuit brought by a man who claims he was sexually abused in the 1960's by the Oregon priest. The...

WASHINGTON - Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and six other Democrats charged Tuesday that modern political campaigns - and democracy itself - are threatened by a pair of "awful" Supreme Court decisions that can only be fixed by changing the U.S. Constitution itself. The senators said during a news conference that adding a new provision to the Constitution is necessary if Congress wants to nullify a 1976 ruling that said campaign spending was the same as free speech and a 2010 ruling that removed all limits on campaign spending for special interests, corporations and labor unions. "In the mid-70s the activist...

I often ask myself the question: What would it take for America to finally awaken to the scope and depth of the threat that jihad presents us and begin to fight this war like we mean to win it? From MichelleMalkin.com comes a noteworthy piece on the Portland, Oregon jihadist, Mohammed Mohamud – and an astounding collection of jihadists’ mug-shots that makes the FBI’s Most-Wanted poster cork-board at your local Post Office look like a postage stamp: http://michellemalkin.com/2010/11/27/just-another-bomb-plotting-jihadist-yelling-allahu-akbar/ “…I’ll get to the Portland Christmas Day lighting bomb plotter in a moment. But first: How many times over the years have...

NEW YORK (AP) — While more U.S. cities are resorting to force to break up the Wall Street protests, many others — Philadelphia, New York, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore., among them — are content to let the demonstrations go on for now.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for example, said Friday that the several hundred protesters sleeping in Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters of the movement that began in mid-September, can stay as long as they obey the law."I can't talk about other cities," he said. "Our responsibilities are protect your rights and your safety. And I think we're trying to...

A federal investigation shows more than 7 million dollars in stimulus money was misused by Rogue Valley forestry companies, when they hired foreigners instead of Americans. When "Recovery Act" contracts were being handed out, four local companies said they couldn't find American workers, and hired 254 people from across the border. That's according to a Department of Labor investigation. The four companies are GE Forestry, Ponderosa Reforestation, Medford Cutting Edge, and Summit Forests. They were able to hire foreigners using h-2b visas, which are allowed when no American workers can be hired. Officials with Grayback Forestry say their company had...

Organizers of Occupy Portland say they fear as much as $20,000 donated to the group through a PayPal account has disappeared. They also say the group's finance committee has hijacked the demonstration's Internet domain name and filed for incorporation against the wishes of the group's decision-making body. The demonstrator who filed the papers with the state said she did so to protect the protest, and she has received death threats as a result. The rift arose before members of the movement joined labor union supporters Wednesday to march through downtown Portland during rush hour. The peaceful rally drew about 1,000...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- When Occupy Wall Street protesters took over two parks in Portland's soggy downtown, they pitched 300 tents and offered free food, medical care and shelter to anyone. They weren't just building, like so many of their brethren across the nation, a community to protest what they see as corporate greed. They also created an ideal place for the homeless. Some were already living in the parks, while others were drawn from elsewhere to the encampment's open doors. Now, protesters from Portland to Los Angeles to Atlanta are trying to distinguish between homeless people who are joining their...

Michelle Harris/Towsurfer.comBobby Gumm of Newport was attacked by a 16- to 17-foot great white shark while surfing last week, losing a good-sized chomp from his board. NEWPORT -- On a deceptively calm morning last week, Bobby Gumm floated on his surfboard on the water off South Beach State Park. "I was enjoying that feeling of being a surfer out there by myself," said Gumm, a 41-year-old father of four. "It was peaceful. I was sitting there in heaven, pretty much." Within seconds, heaven turned to hell, as Gumm became the mistaken prey of the biggest living nightmare in the...

PORTLAND — A man who displayed a handgun at Occupy Portland’s downtown encampment after a dispute with protesters has been arrested, police said in a statement Thursday. The argument took place Wednesday afternoon when 32-year-old Jason C. Parker was challenged verbally by protesters after filming tents, police said. One of the protesters used a racial epithet against Parker, who is black, police said. A witness said Parker was filming inside tents without permission and displayed the gun more than once after protesters at the camp displayed knives.

A Labor Department Inspector General report released this week found that $7,140,782 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds went to four Oregon forestry services firms who hired no U.S. workers. From the report: Only two Oregonians were listed on the employer recruitment reports, indicating that workers in Oregon were likely unaware these job opportunities were available. In fact, although 146 U.S. workers were contacted by the three employers regarding possible employment, none were hired. Instead, 254 foreign workers were brought into the country for these jobs. The Labor OIG even interviewed local workers to find out why no Americans...

Oregon Senate Democrats announced Wednesday that state Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, will not seek re-election next year. In a statement, Verger said she's in good health and looking forward to finishing her current term. But she's retiring after that. Several weeks ago, Verger's House colleague, Rep. Jean Cowan, D-Newport, announced she would also be retiring from the Legislature. As a result, Oregon could likely see two very competitive races on the coast, with the control of the current, 30-30 House and 16-14 Senate in play. Question: Will House Co-Speaker Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, take a run

A convicted sex offender from California who registered his address at the Occupy Portland camp spoke to FOX 12 about his past and reasons for moving. "I'm not here to harm children," said Raymond Curtis. "I'm not harmful to children." Curtis said he left Mendocino, CA, started driving and ended up in Portland. Since last week, he's been living in Lownsdale Square among the dozens of other demonstrators in solidarity with the national Occupy Wall Street movement. "I found there was an opportunity to maybe change the system and I've put everything I have into it. Here I am," said...

Once again the Occupy insert city here protesters are engaging in seditious, unpatriotic behavior. This time we take you to Portland, Oregon where a band of protesters sing a punkish sounding song which must be entitled, Fuck the USA. See for yourself (warning strong language):

The more people know about the wind-energy business, the less they like it. And when it comes to lousy wind deals, General Electric’s Shepherds Flat project in northern Oregon is a real stinker. I’ll come back to the GE project momentarily. Before getting to that, please ponder that first sentence. It sounds like a claim made by an anti-renewable-energy campaigner. It’s not. Instead, that rather astounding admission was made by a communications strategist during a March 23 webinar sponsored by the American Council on Renewable Energy called “Speaking Out on Renewable Energy: Communications Strategies for the Renewable Energy Industry.”

Forty-six House Democrats have joined forces this week to ask the chamber's Judiciary Committee to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for ethics violations. The Democratic lawmakers' complaint argues that reports of Thomas' actions--including those related to the high-profile political activism of his wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas--have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. "Public records clearly demonstrate that Justice Thomas has failed to accurately disclose information concerning the income and employment status of his wife, as required by law," Democrats led by Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter (pdf) Wednesday to leaders of the...

For Portland bicycle commuters hoping that TriMet would build a “sonic bike path� connecting to the nation’s largest car-free bridge, Thursday was the day the music died. The idea was for an intricate sequence of concrete grooves on the path that would play Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)� when bicycle tires rolled over them. But Oregon’s largest transit agency announced a song that goes something like this: Not going to happen. Citing concerns about cost, safety and design, the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project’s art advisory committee told TriMet and Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee today that it...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   A Victory for Oregon Universities' Students, Staff and Faculty   Friday, September 30, 2011   In what promises to be a continuing debate on the rights of law-abiding citizens, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled this week that banning firearms on the grounds of Oregon's public universities exceeded the scope of the university system's authority, thereby opening up the state's campuses to individuals who hold valid concealed handgun licenses.  Long viewed by gun rights activists as a violation of the state firearms preemption law, the restriction of license holders from exercising...

For Portland bicycle commuters hoping that TriMet would build a “sonic bike path” connecting to the nation’s largest car-free bridge, Thursday was the day the music died. The idea was for an intricate sequence of concrete grooves on the path that would play Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)” when bicycle tires rolled over them. . . . Citing concerns about cost, safety and design, the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project’s art advisory committee told TriMet and Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee today that it has voted to ditch the proposal.

Portland emergency workers are at Portland VA Medical Center after four employees reported opening an envelope containing a "white, powdery substance" that made their hands and faces burn. The incident was reported about 4:30 p.m. at the hospital, located at 3710 SW U.S. Veterans Hospital Rd., after one of the employees open the envelope and all four reporting burning on their skin, said Paul Corah, spokesman for Portland Fire & Rescue. (more at link)

Portland, Ore., braces for Occupy marchPublished: Oct. 5, 2011 at 2:41 PM NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Police in Portland, Ore., Wednesday warned downtown businesses to expect traffic jams during a march by a local contingent of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police said the organizers of the march had refused to cooperate with them by obtaining a parade permit and informing the department about the intended route of Thursday's march. **SNIP** Organizers have said they are inspired by the Arab Spring revolutions in Africa and the Middle East, The Boston Globe reported.

Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Water and Power, today made the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to administration plans for removal of Klamath dams. Mr. Speaker: This generation is facing spiraling electricity prices and increasingly scarce supplies. Californians have had to cut back to the point that their per capita electricity consumption is now lower than that of Guam, Luxembourg and Aruba. What is the administration’s solution? Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday that the administration is moving forward with a plan to destroy four perfectly good hydroelectric dams on the Klamath...

The seemingly endless expansion of wind power production in the United States has pushed large parts of the nation’s electric grid to the limits of its abilities. Now, in the Pacific Northwest, the power grid is pushing back. Wind power producers in Oregon and Washington State are likely to be the first casualties claimed in the impending morass triggered by calls for reverse rolling power outages at wind farms to keep the regional transmission system operating smoothly. Needless to say, wind investors are pissssssssed.

PORTLAND, Ore/SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Four Oregon men sued the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday for $20 million over childhood sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of a pedophile knowingly appointed as their scoutmaster in the 1970s. The four lawsuits, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, accuse the national Boy Scouts and its Cascade Pacific Council of negligence, fraud and sexual battery of a child in connection with the repeated molestation of the men, then aged 12 to 15. The suits, each seeking $5.2 million in damages, are the latest in a barrage of...

Wolf sightings in the Blue Mountains are becoming more frequent this summer, but wildlife officials for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have yet to document firm evidence of a pack forming in the southeastern corner of the state. Paul Wik, district biologist for the department at Clarkston, said the canyons and timbered ridges southeast of Dayton have been a hot spot for wolf reports this year. Some hunters have even captured images of wolves with trail cameras, he said. "It's definitely no secret they are here," Wik said. "The only question to us is what their status is."...