Economy & Business

Construction work can be dangerous, but a new Oregon training program aims to beef up worker safety for a part of the job that’s often overlooked: their lunchbox.

Oregon’s unemployment rate starts the new year at historic lows. But some analysts think the state’s economy won’t continue to grow at the same robust rate in 2020.

Fundraising for a new YMCA facility in Eugene just got a big boost. 

Several members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation are praising the U.S. Forest Service for awarding a new type of firefighting contract meant to save the agency money.

The Lane County Board of Commissioners is considering a $15 per hour minimum wage for its more than 2,000 employees.  

The Oregon Department of Revenue will hold a public meeting in Eugene Wednesday evening to answer questions and gather input on the state’s new Corporate Activity Tax. The tax is the cornerstone of a bill approved by Oregon lawmakers this year to raise $1 billion a year to fund K-12 education. It will be levied on businesses with revenues of more than $1 million a year.

The penalty for businesses that sell alcohol to underage people in Oregon could double. That’s under a proposal being considered by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

Note: An earlier version of this story suggested a vote could happen tonight (9/16/19), but a city official says such an action will take place at a later meeting.  KLCC regrets the error.

Monday night, the Springfield City Council is giving a second reading on a rezoning request for the Patrician  Mobile Home Park.  The owner, Urban Transitions LLC, wants the site rezoned for commercial development. Many tenants worry they’d be thrown out onto the street.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is now asking processors and retailers to review vaping paraphernalia for potentially dangerous additives.

This follows a user’s vaping death in July.  Investigators are seeing if something added to a commercially-purchased marijuana oil is to blame.

Food waste is a large problem in the U.S. One reason for this is that produce that isn’t pretty doesn’t make it to supermarket shelves. A west-coast based grocery company brings fresh produce that doesn’t meet retail standards directly from local farms to consumers.

A labor strike has been averted, following 400 hospital workers in Springfield approving a new union contract.

A program in Eugene is hoping to solidify the city as a hub for food and beverage manufacturing.

Campbell Community Center’s renovation and expansion will break ground tomorrow after its annual ice cream social.

The Oregon Department of Justice said Monday that it’s joining a multi-state lawsuit aimed at blocking the merger of two major cell phone companies.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint would result in higher prices for Oregon cell phone customers. The two companies are the third and fourth largest telecommunications providers in the country, according to the state Department of Justice.

Oregon workers will get paid time off to care for loved ones or to welcome a new baby into the family. That’s because of a bill signed into law Friday by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown.