MAY 2019
Terroir: Ancient Practices Produce Best Wines and Beers
Zoning Codes Inherently Exclusionary Fuel Tax Revenue Declines Foresters Use Clearcutting to Harvest Timber Ocean Expedition to Study Salmon Unique
A Few Words It seems its always time to change passwords. Remembering to change the date after the New Year arrived was once the hardest to do, followed closely by the changing of the clock twice per year. Now there’s a steady stream of reminders that a password needs to change for technical security reasons. I can’t remember my wife’s mobile phone number. How am I supposed to remember internet passwords every time there’s a day in the week ending in ‘day’? There must be ten or more of them that I commonly use – and they cannot be the same. It used to be that we were warned to be careful with making personal identification, like social security numbers, public in the fear that someone might steal our identifications. Its bigger than that today. Welcome data analytics and the storage of all our information, including my wife’s phone number, where people exist who know how to spell “technology” by the age of two. Its incredible what can be done in data analytics and advanced technology. These are reasons enough not to complain about the reprimands I receive for not changing my passwords. Foreign countries accessing our voter registration lists to try to influence our voting behavior is bad enough. But, when someone with evil imagination can also access things like our public records or health information to convince us they are our friends just trying to help us with money, health or voting decisions, its more than annoying. It can be dangerous. I know you’ve been told by someone in the last few days to change a password. Don’t be annoyed, just go ahead and do it. I promise to improve my behavior for my own good and the good of us all. You should too.
Greg The Southern Oregon Business Journal extends sincere thanks to the following companies for their continued presence as important cogs in the wheels of industry in southern Oregon.
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A JOURNAL FOR THE ECONOMICALLY CURIOUS, PROFESSIONALLY INSPIRED AND ACUTELY MOTIVATED
Contents Inside This Issue 4. Commissioner Joins Leaders in D.C. 12. Florence Harbor 2nd Best in U.S. 14. Resource Center Prepares Engineers 16. Sales Prices Surge with New Tax Break 24. Coos Bay Swing Span Bridge Reopens 28. InfoStructure Growing Since 1994
FEATURED 6. Terroir, It Doesn’t Make Wine... 19. Zoning Code Inherently Exclusionary 22. Fuel Tax Revenue Declines 26. Foresters Use Clearcutting to Harvest Timber 36. Ocean Expedition to Study Salmon a Unique Experience
30. Oregon Tech Entrepreneurs Receive $20K 32. Free Energy Assessment 34. B r e w s , B r a i n s a n d L u m b e r 39. Honest Discussion about Rose Quarter Freeway Widening Project
Cover Photo
703 Divot Loop Sutherlin, Oregon 97479 www.southernoregonbusiness.com 541-315-6127
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Commissioner Melissa Cribbins to Join Leaders in County Government for Intensive Leadership Program in Nation’s Capital AOC CONTACT: Megan Chuinard | 503-400-3235 | NACo CONTACT: Paul Guequierre | 202-942-4271 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Melissa Cribbins, Coos County Commissioner and Second Vice President of Association of Oregon Counties Board of Directors has been accepted as one of a select group of leaders in county government from across the country to participate in the 16th Annual County Leadership Institute (CLI), a rigorous program developed by the National Association of Counties (NACo) and Cambridge Leadership Associates. CLI will be held on June 9 – 13 in Washington, D.C., and equips county officials with practical leadership strategies as they explore innovative approaches to address key issues facing their counties and constituents. “The County Leadership Institute will provide a hands-on professional development experience that will help us accomplish our goals in Coos County,” said Cribbins. “It’s an honor to be selected for this unique opportunity. I am looking forward to learning new approaches from experts and working with other county leaders as we strengthen our skills to tackle some of our greatest challenges.”
The program helps county leaders develop their approach toward solving complex challenges. It provides tools to encourage innovation and creativity; resources for invigorating organizational culture; and best practices in effective communication, collaboration and decision-making. Southern Oregon Business Journal
Matthew Chase, NACo’s executive director, said, “County officials often address similar issues and can learn a great deal from one another. The County Leadership Institute fosters peer-to-peer learning and encourages common-sense solutions to challenges that counties and residents face every day.” Since its inception, the Institute, known for enhancing the capacity of county officials to identify and implement innovative solutions to complex challenges, has graduated 331 leaders from over 172 counties across 45 states. This year’s program focuses on the demands of personal leadership in the modern era of government, one characterized as a “permanent crisis” by Cambridge Leadership Associates co-founder Marty Linsky.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo assists America’s 3,069 counties in pursuing excellence in public service to produce healthy, vibrant, safe and resilient counties. NACo promotes sound public policies, fosters county solutions and innovation, promotes intergovernmental and public-private collaboration and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money. More information at: www.naco.org. 4
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Terroir It Doesn’t Make Wine or Beer, It Just Makes Them Better Article by Greg Henderson
The World’s Oldest Bottle of Wine
Known as Römerwein, or the Speyer wine bottle, it’s at least 1,650 years old. This dates back to the 4th century, sometime between 325 and 359 AD. The 1.5-liter glass vessel was discovered during the excavation of a Roman nobleman’s tomb in modern-day Germany. The Historical Museum of the Palatinate (German: Historisches Museum der Pfalz) is a museum in the city of Speyer in the Palatinate region of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Histocal_Museum_of_the_Palatinate
Photo: Historical Museum of the Palatinate
I read about “Terroir” by accident when the decision was made for a topic for the agriculture piece in the May 2019 edition of the journal. It’s a French word pronounced ‘terr-war’ that’s been around a long time. At first the article was going to be about wine, wineries and grape farming. I mentioned to my brother, Jim, that I was reading about terroir and made the mistake of saying it had to do with wine. He said I needed to talk to a really great guy named Seth Klann from the Madras, Oregon area of Central Oregon. Jim knows a lot about farming, especially grains, like barley. Seth Klann grows barley. Lots of barley.
Mecca Grade Estate Malt is the farm where Seth grows barley, over 1000 acres of it. It’s a few miles outside of Madras. I called Seth… about the nicest fellow you’d ever want to talk to. I guess the whole family is like that.
Seth and his dad Brad Klann Southern Oregon Business Journal
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It turns out that Seth has been thinking about terroir and its application to barley for quite some time. He said first of all, “Think of grain as grapes”. That bit of mental gymnastics I could handle. So, I did. You and I know there has been information exchanged (and guarded) about grapes, and wine for centuries. The ancient Greeks were proud of what they created. Ancient Greeks included Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC and is known for his military successes around the Mediterranean. He had never heard of the French word “Terroir” but he did know about wine. Eventually the Greeks let their wine secrets drift off to the southern region of France where the Burgundy region lies. Monks in monasteries were good at farming and must have had a lot of time on their hands to try out new ways of growing grapes. By doing things slowly and quietly discussing the results they discovered the location of the grape vines and the ground it was in seemed to change the wine’s flavor.
The location, or place, was called terroir. Nile Zacherle & Whitney Fisher
Seth Klann knows Nile Zacherle and his wife Whitney Fisher from the Napa region of Northern California. Nile and his wife are vineyard managers who also own Mad Fritz Brewing. Nile is as good a person to talk to as Seth. Nile started making beer with his father in 1990 when he was 18, giving him over 25 years to really learn the trade, and form his own opinion about a few things. Nile said the question to ask is, “Why do some wines sing?” To answer you have to become open minded about everything in the process. While we may know about plants and water and sunlight, is there more going on? Buy greenhouse vegetables at the store and grow them in your own garden, he suggested. Is there a difference? Of course there is. The scientist in him wants to know why. Trial and error help to explain some things.
Planting grapes or growing barley with terroir in mind requires a level of intentional experimentation not often considered with all the work involved in farming. Growing grapes and barley may be farming and brewing beer and making wine filled with science, but to be really good at it there is a need to accept change and to keep the variables in your process that large producers try to eliminate in the interest of time and money. That may be a way to increase the quantity of the product but it will be at the cost of quality. North of Napa Valley, CA in southern Oregon other activities in agriculture have been occurring near the town of Medford. The Rogue Valley is establishing itself as a prime contender in the production of superior wines. Though the region is 30-50 years behind Napa Valley in production of traded sector vintages, the quality cannot be disputed. John Bowen settled in the Rogue River valley in 1853. He was about 51 years old at the time. His wife, Roxy Ann was about 47. They settled at the base of a 3576 foot mountain later named after Roxy Ann. Roxy Ann Peak is 2200 feet above the valley floor and is possibly the oldest mountain in the Cascade Range at over 23 million years by some estimates . Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Historic Roxy Ann Winery Barn Joseph J. Stewart, arrived in the Rogue Valley in February in 1885. He began the local commercial fruit industry by planting a large orchard south of Medford. William H. Stewart probably transported some of these young trees to the land now known as Hillcrest Orchard. In 1903, as the apple and pear trees were coming into bearing, Stewart sold the orchard to Julian Wells Perkins, a Portland businessman. Mr. Perkins named the orchard Hillcrest and built a new residence on Hillcrest Road. In 1908 J.W. Perkins sold the orchard to the Hillcrest Orchard Company. Within two years, company president Reginald Parsons of Seattle, Washington, took controlling interest and became owner and manager of Hillcrest. Jack Day, grandson of Hillcrest founder Reginald Parsons, saw the potential of grape growing on the historic Hillcrest Orchard and armed with the vision of an artisan farmer and a Harvard MBA, oversaw the planting of the original 20 acres on the southwest slopes of Roxy Ann Peak in 1997; where the property’s shallow, clay soils and southern solar exposure seemed ideally suited to producing Bordeaux style varietals.
In 2001, the first harvest of grapes at Roxy Ann produced only 150 cases of a proprietary red “Claret” that was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; with the entire production selling out in two weeks. Today, Roxy Ann Winery produces nearly 15,000 cases of award-winning Claret, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Syrah, and Viognier that reflect balance, complexity and profound depth of flavor. Seven years ago, in 2012, Jack Day implemented Southern Oregon Business Journal
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his succession plan and handed the keys to the estate to Chad Day. I enjoyed an extended conversation with Chad about the succession plan. He said it went about as well as one could expect. Jack dropped the keys in Chad’s hands and told Chad he was in charge and Jack, now in his late 70’s was retired, needed a ride to the airport for his flight to Mexico where retirement would be his primary interest. Chad went to school to learn engineering earning a BS at Cal Poly SLO and his MBA at Seattle University. It turns out that combination works very well for the operation of Roxy Ann Winery. Experts at farming grapes and wine making already existed so Chad was able to create an operation for running a business. His view is at the 30,000 foot level where big-picture items can be seen. The MBA experience taught numbers, strategic considerations and tracking performances in a multitude of areas, things that would be very difficult to do in the vineyard or wine-making lab. My conversation with Seth Kann included his mention of Epigenetics, a word that made my heart race for the lack of knowledge I have on the subject. But he and the internet came to my rescue: “Epigenetics is the study, in the field of genetics, of cellular and physiological phenotypic trait variations that are caused by external or environmental factors that switch genes on and off and affect how cells read genes instead of being caused by changes in the DNA sequence. Hence, epigenetic research seeks to describe dynamic alterations in the transcriptional potential of a cell.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics
Understanding the vague definition of “Terroir” is easier with this assist. There’s a beautiful vineyard and winery in Douglas County just west of the small town of Winston where Chris Lake is vineyard manager. Abacela Winery has reached an envied level of fame among those with more than a passing interest in the industry. Chris is the former instructor at Umpqua Community College’s Danny Lang Wine Institute. He knows wines and terroir like the back of his hand. Being a teacher necessitated his deeper description of terroir as the consideration of soils, subsoils, temperature, seasonal Earl & Hilda Jones rainfall, fog, climatic conditions and varied interactions of the plant. The influence of the farmer’s shepherding is also important.
The Southern Oregon Wine Institute (SOWI) was established in 2008 at UCC as the first viticulture and enology program in Oregon outside the Willamette Valley. https://www.umpqua.edu/sowi Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Earl Jones did not start the vineyard and winemaking process with his eyes closed. He studied wine regions in Europe and compared them to potential wine properties in the United States. When he found enough similarities to what he needed to match an area between two rivers in northern Spain he purchased the property in southern Oregon. Earl and Hilda’s son Greg is known around the world for his expertise in climatology and global warming. He is now a professor at Linfield College. Greg Jones is the Director of the Evenstad Center for Wine
Education, holds the Evenstad Chair in Wine Studies, and is a professor and research climatologist in the Department of Environmental Studies at Linfield College. He specializes in the study of climate structure and suitability for viticulture, and how climate variability and change influence grapevine growth, wine production and quality. He holds a BA and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Environmental Sciences with a concentration in the Atmospheric Sciences. In every case during my conversations and research for this agriculture article I have been supremely impressed with the skills and knowledge of each individual. Agriculture can be as complicated or simple as you want it to be. However the added interest in the details of agriculture has a way of enticing you to learn more. It is quickly learned that the more you know, the more there is to know. Enjoy a glass of beer. Enjoy a glass of wine. Understand as Chris Lake said, that you have the opportunity to “consume an affordable luxury good.”
460-404 B.C. - According to ancient Greek historian Thucydides,
“the peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine”. In over 2,000 years man has been improving farming methods, discovering exciting and surprising things along the way. Terroir entering in the conversation among enthusiasts has opened new doors to self-awareness, realizing that much of what man experiences is as important internally as it is to grasp the outside world. Each step toward ideal interactions and close physical interactions is advantageous to both, the definition of symbiosis.
Greg Henderson, www.southernoregonbusiness.com All photos by permission
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Florence Oregon Harbor Voted Second Best Harbor in the United States
Aerial Photo Courteous of: Curt Peters Southern Oregon Business Journal
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290 Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439 FlorenceChamber.com | 541-997-3128
Contact: Bettina Hannigan, Executive Director
FLORENCE VOTED #2 BEST HARBOR IN US USHarbors.com has tallied the votes from across the country and from among their 4 million users. Florence was voted #2 Best Harbor of 2019 in the US, overtaking Lubec, Maine, in the final week of voting. Padanaram/South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, was voted #1. The Best Harbor contest kicked off in January with nominations of 1,278 harbors across 23 states. During the nomination phase readers of US Harbors narrowed down the list of eligible harbors leaving 90 across the US. Online voting began in early March. Rounding out the top five were Florence, Lubec, ME, Rockland, ME, and Oyster Bay, NY. The organization announced in its news release that “Over the past few months US Harbors has been on a mission to find out which community our users deem the Best Harbor of 2019. It’s been a long, tight race. For us the best part of the contest was getting to read personal stories and feedback about the people, places, businesses, and events that make each of the US harbors special. Our readers shared their local favorite things-to-do and we took note, updating our site with the suggestions provided.” In a town where tourism is the economic backbone for everything else, providing 1900 jobs and $137 million in economic activity last year, the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce asked the public’s support in gaining another national recognition to boost its visibility and attract Southern Oregon Business Journal
additional tourism dollars. Bettina Hannigan, executive director for the Chamber says “We knew our harbor was worth voting for because of its astounding natural beauty; the excellent boating, fishing, and crabbing; and our vibrant riverside Historic Old Town district’s excellent food, drink, galleries, shops, and award-winning hotels. There is also our historic bridge, public art, farmer’s markets, concerts, parks, the Siuslaw River Interpretive Center, and fun wildlife viewing of birds, sea lions, otters, and occasional orcas.” Other similar efforts to boost Florence’s profile have resulted in Florence gaining recognition as a Coast Guard City, one of TripAdvisor’s 25 Best Family Weekend Getaways With Kids, USA Today’s number-two Best Small Town in the Northwest and number-two Small Town In America for Adventure, Expedia.com’s Most Beautiful Town, Oregonian readers’ Favorite Coastal Getaway, and one of Flight.com’s 8 Coolest Cities You Must Experience for Yourself. “We’re really getting known to vacationers around the country, and even the world,” adds Hannigan. “After all, we are Oregon’s Coastal Playground, and all these attributes and accolades prove it.” For more information on Florence, or to receive a free Florence Visitor’s Guide, contact the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce at Florence Chamber.com, info@FlorenceChamber.com, or 541-997-3128. 13
Newly Dedicated Brian Leach Design Resource Center Prepares Next Generation of Civil Engineers CONTACT: Ashley Van Essen, Public Relations Representative Phone: 541.885.1162; ashley.vanessen@oit.edu SOURCE: Katie Cavendish, Program Manager, University Development Phone: 541.885.0222; katie.cavendish@oit.edu
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Honoring an alumnus who became a mentor to many students, Oregon Institute of Technology, “Oregon Tech,” announced the new Brian Leach Civil Engineering Design Resource Center within the newly remodeled Cornett Hall at the Klamath Falls campus. The Center is named for Brian Leach, Oregon Tech 1995 civil engineering graduate and dedicated alumnus. Celebrating his commitment to student empowerment through technology education, Oregon Tech
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formally dedicated the new laboratory which emphasizes innovation Friday, April 5, 2019. The ceremony was attended by family and those closest to Mr. Leach; colleagues and friends; Oregon Tech Foundation members; as well as several Oregon Tech students, faculty and staff. The naming of the resource center was made possible through a generous contribution from Brian Leach’s family. In attendance at the dedication ceremony were his wife Patty with their son Mitchell (currently a student in civil engineering at Oregon Tech), Brian’s parents Sue and Doug, brother Steve, and
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sister and brother-in-law Laurie and Tim. Dr. Nagi Naganathan, president of Oregon Tech, led the event, which was hosted by the Oregon Tech Foundation.
he provided advice, counsel, and guidance to the Civil Engineering Department to help the department excel in its mission of preparing students for professional practice and leadership roles during their careers.
“We are thankful for the generous contributions of the Leach family, which establishes the Resource Center as both a tribute to Brian and a way to continue his legacy at Oregon Tech,” said President Naganathan.
Dr. Sean St.Clair, who served as the Chair of the Civil Engineering department during the last decade commented on Brian Leach's impact on the department. "Our department has undergone many changes while Brian was advising us transitioning from a technology program to an engineering program and then to offering graduate degrees. Brian was always keen to move the profession and our program forward."
The state-of-the-art space will keep Oregon Tech at the forefront of educating the next generation of civil engineering students who will design, build and protect our society’s infrastructure. The Brian Leach Civil Engineering Design Resource Center is dedicated for student learning and will allow collaborations on projects and testing of ideas— ensuring that civil engineering students have access to technology that fosters their creativity and problem-solving skills and help them become innovative leaders in their field. Mr. Leach graduated from Sherwood High School, earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1995, and passed the professional engineering exam in 1998. He continued his career in the family business, Carlson Testing, and later became one of the principal owners. He served on the Oregon Tech Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Council (IAC) and acted as an adviser and mentor to the next generation of graduates, until his untimely passing in 2016. As a member of the IAC,
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President Naganathan presented the family with special commemorative plaques to celebrate the occasion. “This special endowment will enrich our students’ educational experiences for decades to come,” President Naganathan shared. “We are truly honored to name this student-centered laboratory after Brian Leach.” The Brian Leach Civil Engineering Design Resource Lab is located in the East wing of the recently remodeled Cornett Hall at Oregon Tech’s Klamath Falls Campus.
About the Oregon Tech Foundation The Oregon Tech Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and funds the educational, cultural, charitable, and service functions of the Oregon Institute of Technology.
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Sale Prices Surge in Neighborhoods with New Tax Break By Alexander Casey Sale prices ticked up sharply in some of the nation’s lowest-income and highest - poverty communities near the end of last year-but mostly in the neighborhoods now eligible for newly created tax breaks. Tucked within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) is a somewhat overlooked, but potentially massive, program: Opportunity Zones. Investors have flocked to these designated zones since last summer, when the Treasury Department certified the final batch of 8,700 census tracts selected by state governors. Sweet deals for investors The zones – a collection of low-income or highpoverty census tracts scattered across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. – offer potentially large tax savings for investors who fund projects in these communities. A laundry list of rules and regulations detail the precise qualifications for eligible investments, but the bottom line is that capital gains from other ventures that are funneled into Opportunity Zones eventually can be rewarded with up to a 15 percent discount on taxes they would have owed otherwise. And if that deal wasn’t sweet enough, investors who keep their money in the Opportunity Zone for at least 10 years avoid all capital gains taxes on profits from the Southern Oregon Business Journal
Opportunity Zone investment. The rationale behind the zones is relatively simple. Proponents argue that a lot of the wealth currently generated as capital gains could be put to good use as seed money in traditionally neglected communities shut out of investment – ideally revitalizing infrastructure, fueling economic growth, and spurring job creation and overall prosperity. But whether this tax break will direct funds to the communities that need them the most – or what happens when money arrives – are open questions. Researchers contend that the particular tracts that were chosen as Opportunity Zones could determine whether the policy succeeds. Skeptics of Opportunity Zones argue a lax regulatory system and selection criteria can provide costly tax breaks for developments in areas already attractive to investors, essentially subsidizing projects that would have happened regardless of a tax break. Others fear the incentives may concentrate residential redevelopment in communities already vulnerable to gentrification and displacement, without many guardrails to mitigate undesirable outcomes. We are still in the program’s infancy, so these promises and fears are mostly theoretical. While it’s 16
still early, we already see some signals that folks have begun to take up Uncle Sam on his generous offer. Compared to similar tracts that were not selected, real estate sale prices are increasing at a faster rate in Opportunity Zones following their selection. It appears the year-over-year change in sale prices for all eligible zones (selected or otherwise) were increasing months before the TCJA was passed, but the divergence after the final selection of Opportunity Zones provides an early signal of demand. In other words, the yellow and green lines moving upwards together in late 2018 may not have been solely due to TCJA and may indicate broader real estate trends in low-income areas. However, after the tracts composing the green line actually became Opportunity Zones, their sale prices took off. Similar analyses found surging sale values in land categorized as development sites within Opportunity Zones.
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We calculated the 12-month moving average sale price in each month through the end of 2018 for each category, including all arm’s length transactions where sale price data were recorded. We then calculated the year-over-year change in that moving average. Because real estate data are subject to seasonal variation, a 12-month moving average avoids putting too much weight on any one month that might have been subject to idiosyncratic shocks not related to market fundamentals. Sales Prices in Opportunity Zones Grew by More Than 20% Year-Over-Year For the most part, until selection of all Opportunity Zones, the selected tracts and the rejected tracts displayed generally similar price trends. During the period between the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the selection of Opportunity Zones, the year-over-year change in average sale prices grew between 10 and 15 percent in the
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eligible tracts, regardless of whether they were ultimately chosen as Opportunity Zones. However, in the months immediately following the final selection of Opportunity Zones, the price trajectories diverged. Sale prices in eligible but not selected tracts began growing more slowly and by single digits, whereas sale prices in Opportunity Zones started growing by more than 20 percent year-over-year. It’s crucial to note that Opportunity Zones are still very much in their infancy, and we are measuring very early signals of how the tax breaks may correspond to real estate trends. It remains to be seen whether this uptick in Opportunity Zones is a flash in the pan, or the start of something larger. It’s also very likely that the big money hasn’t even started pouring into these zones yet, as many funds may watch from the sidelines until more rules and regulations are hammered out. If that’s the case, signals we see in transaction data now might be drowned out in the coming months if waves of new capital begin pouring in. Finally, while changes in average sale prices provide one lens for viewing investment demand for certain types of property, they are an incomplete measure that will need to be expanded upon as we track this policy in the coming months. Reprinted by permission: https://www.zillow.com/research/ prices-surge-opportunity-zones-23393/
Alexander joined Zillow as a policy analyst in the summer of 2016. He works on the Economic Research team, using Zillow’s research to contribute to current public policy concerning housing and the overall economy. Alexander is involved with a variety of policy issues including housing assistance, land use, finance and transportation. Prior to joining Zillow, Alexander worked at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office on consumer protection issues. Alexander holds an M.P.A. from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota.
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(Photo by: CollegeDegrees360 via Flickr. Creative Commons license.)
Your Zoning Code Is Inherently Exclusionary (But It Doesn ’t Have To Be) by Nolan Gray Since bursting onto the scene in the 1970s, the concept of “exclusion” now figures heavily in the way urban planners do their work. Now more than ever, urban planners are aware of how certain land-use regulations and forms of public process can systematically exclude certain groups of people. These are both good developments. But so far, the push toward inclusion leaves out a fundamental part of our work: the accessibility of zoning. If a local resident or business owner with a high school diploma can’t sit down and figure out what she can and cannot do with her property in less than an hour, the zoning regime is inherently exclusionary. After all, one of the key selling points of zoning is that it supposedly provides certainty about what a property owner can and can’t do as of right. The rules shaping things like use and bulk are meant to be clear and predictable. But if zoning rules are hard to access or difficult to read and Southern Oregon Business Journal
interpret, this benefit is lost, as locals will be forced to hire a land-use attorney to guide them through the process. Needless to say, this is unnecessary and expensive, forcing low- and moderate-income households and small, local businesses to either scrap their plans or go underground. Worse yet, it ultimately advantages moneyed interests like out-of-town developers, who typically have the resources to employ full-time land-use attorneys. If that’s not exclusionary planning, what is? It doesn’t need to be this way. Whether your town needs a full text overhaul, a new zoning handbook, or even just better graphics and charts, consider accessibility in everything that you do. Toward that end, here are four changes your town could make to immediately improve the accessibility of your zoning. 19
ZoLa, a product of NYC Planning Labs, is the gold standard when it comes to zoning map accessibility.
Make the zoning code and map webaccessible and easy to use. I am frequently shocked to learn that municipalities don’t have their zoning code or map online at all. More commonly—and only slightly better— municipalities will post their codes in the form of a scanned PDF (which cannot be searched) and spread their map across multiple PDFs, each showing only small sections of the city. This turns run-of -the-mill zoning questions into massive hurdles. If a town is going to adopt zoning, it should have an interactive zoning map and a searchable, text-based online code, with section references linked. To really minimize confusion, add a feature allowing users to type in their address and automatically be served with the essential information they may need. Keep the code simple, both in style and content. The style piece of this recommendation is straightforward: write every line of code with clarity in mind. Prefer short words over long words. Keep sentences short too. Minimize jargon. Avoid senseless repetition. Use bullet points. All of Southern Oregon Business Journal
which is to say, write for regular people, not lawyers. If city lawyers draft legalese, push back. And if you can’t win that battle, work with your colleagues to publish a free, plain language zoning handbook that outlines the key information. The content piece drives at a broader problem with zoning today: don’t overload your zoning text with excessive rules, exceptions, and qualifiers. Zoning at its best is a broad, fair set of rules focused on avoiding things that everyone agrees are bad. Zoning at its worst is a complicated and detailed
(For all my reservations about form-based codes, they do a fantastic job of illustrating development standards. Here’s a great example of illustrating building envelope from the Boulder, Colorado code. )
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mess of rules, packed with hedges, exceptions, and spot text amendments, designed to achieve the preferred design outcome of particular group of people at a particular time. Aspire toward the former when drafting new sections or overhauling your code. Illustrate your design and bulk standards. Most people don’t spend all day thinking about things like setbacks and lot coverage. What they do with all that extra time, I cannot say. But I can say that we have an obligation to speak at their level. Where bulk and design jargon is unavoidable, planners should include graphics explaining the concepts in an intuitive way. (Here’s a classic example for floor area ratio.) Better yet, for each zone, planners should illustrate the building typologies that the codes are designed to facilitate. (Here’s a great example from the New York City Department of City Planning.) Thank to tools like SketchUp, it’s never been easier for planners to make these kinds of illustrations. Where these illustrations can’t be built into the code, add them to your town’s zoning handbook.
Guatemala City’s code, Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial, includes copious, consistently formatted charts, making their code more accessible than the average U.S. code.
Everyone loves a good chart. A wall of text is a really weird way to figure out a zoning envelope. Where the same sets of standards will be repeated over and over again—as with setbacks, lot sizes, or uses—this information should be collected into consistently formatted charts. Unlike the other ideas discussed in this piece, this suggestion is more valuable for contractors and architects than for the average layman. But if manning a zoning help desk has taught me anything, it’s that these people need to pull information from zoning codes a lot. Making sure that they can easily access the numbers they need will cut back on a lot of unnecessary brain damage for all parties involved. Even if your town doesn’t care about the issue of exclusion, there’s a practical case for improving the accessibility of zoning: an inaccessible zoning text or map wastes a lot of time. Since starting work as a professional planner, I’ve been impressed by how much time I and my colleagues must spend teaching the code to ourselves, let alone helping laymen navigate its mysteries—and I work with one Southern Oregon Business Journal
of the most accessible codes in the country! In less well equipped offices, an inaccessible zoning text or map could easily suck up hundreds of hours of work time for planners each year. Whatever your town’s motivations, give zoning accessibility the due consideration it deserves.
Nolan Gray Nolan Gray has been a regular contributor for Strong Towns since 2016. He is an urban planning researcher and a contributor to Market Urbanism. He lives in New York City.
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COOS BAY SWING SPAN BRIDGE
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CONTACT: Ashley Van Essen, Public Relations Representative 541.885.1162; ashley.vanessen@oit.edu SOURCE: Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy, Catalyze Organizer 541.885.1767; aja.bettencourtmccarthy@oit.edu
Oregon Tech Student Entrepreneurs & Inventors Present Solutions to Real-World Problems, Win Over $20k in Seed Money -April 29, 2019, KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Innovative,
highly technical and eager student entrepreneurs at the Oregon Institute of Technology “Oregon Tech” came together Thursday, April 25, to compete for seed money to turn their product ideas and prototypes into real businesses. The competition is open to recent alumni and all students pursuing bachelor’s or master’s degrees in a number of different engineering, technology, health care or business programs at the public polytechnic university. The winning team, called The Reclaimers, is a concept by students Annika Andersen (Renewable Energy Engineering & Electrical Engineering), Ashlei Morgan (Mechanical Engineering) and Jessica Arrington (Mechanical Engineering). The team plans to turn recycled plastics into crude oil and use their $9,000 winnings to advance their usability testing. Judges noted that the concept responded to a very real need. This is the fifth annual Catalyze Klamath Falls Challenge, which began with the concept of keeping Oregon Tech graduates in Klamath Falls to start entrepreneurial efforts after graduation, and help spur economic growth and stability in the region. Started in 2015 with the first awards totaling $9,000 to the innovator’s concepts, this year the competition had a total prize pool of $22,500. This included cash and donated space at the Gaucho Collective, a community maker space that brings together Klamath Falls entrepreneurs and creatives. With the theme of ‘Innovation Close to Home,’ eight strong teams competed in the final round of judging. Five volunteer judges, all from Oregon Tech’s business, community and university connections, watched the presentations, asked Southern Oregon Business Journal
many probing questions, and selected the winners. This is the first year that an all-female team took first place. The distinguished judges awarded the first place team $8,000 to invest in startup costs and ignite project development. The second- and third-place winners received $5,000 and $3,000, respectively, based on their plans and presentations. Individual prizes were also awarded for Audience Choice at $500; Entrepreneur in Action presented by Kat Rutledge on behalf of Klamath IDEA; Impressions Design and Marketing; and Gaucho Collective at $250 (plus $500 for design assistance and $2,400 for office space). Additionally, two teams were awarded $500 each to further develop their business plans and compete against other colleges and universities in the statewide InventOR semifinals in May. The 2018-19 Catalyze Klamath Falls Challenge was sponsored by investments from our community sponsors: Avista Corporation, City of Klamath Falls, Cypress Creek Renewables, Gaucho Collective, Impressions Design and Marketing, InventOR, Klamath County, Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA), Klamath IDEA, Klamath Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Wendt Family Foundation. The three winning projects were: 1. The Reclaimers, First Place: $8,000 prize to further usability testing of their industrial business, turning recycled plastic into crude oil. Inventors include Annika Andersen, a Renewable Energy Engineering and Electrical Engineering student; and Ashlei Morgan and Jessica Arrington who both 30
study Mechanical Engineering. The team was also awarded the Audience Choice award presented by the Oregon Tech Foundation for $500, and an InventOR award of $500 to advance to the InventOR semi-finals.
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2. Keepsake Keychain, Second Place: $5,000 prize to create a product that securely stores jewelry in a convenient clip-on case. Senior inventor Jacey Conklin is a Business Marketing major.
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3. Imagine Mapz, Third Place: $3,000 prize to design an app that allows community members to interface with government leaders regarding community concerns. Developer William Natividad is a senior in Environmental Sciences. Throughout the event, finalists presented and defended their business plans to the panel of judges which included: Jason Aarstad, Gathering Grounds and Gaucho Collective; Stephanie Hirche, Craft3; John Lamy, Lamy Consulting; Chad Olney, Pacific Federal Credit Union; and Matt Wendt, vice president of Spruce Street Ventures. Kelley Minty Morris, Klamath County Commissioner and Oregon Tech Board of Trustees member, was the Master of Ceremonies and effectively led the teams and judges through the fast-paced, timed presentations. The eight project teams who presented at the Challenge included: • • • •
The Reclaimers: Annika Andersen, Jessica Arrington, Ashlei Morgan Wet Jet Boards: Kris Canete, Duncan Lees Lifestyle Pack: Tim Hasty, Christian Meyers, Madi Sattler Imagine Mapz: Will Natividad
Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Nuclear Medicine & PET/CT Clinic: Kevin Pierce, Shad Thorton Direct Air Carbon Capture (DACC): Justin Villers, Thomas Tappert, Robert Dandrea, Cody Taylor Keepsake Keychain: Jacey Conklin Basin Digital Solutions: Samuel Bishop, Tucker Meyers, Andy Halfacre, Matt Volpe
Also in attendance on behalf of InventOR were Juan Barraza from PSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Thais Rodick from the Oregon Lottery. They presented The Reclaimers and SODACC (all-in -one capture and delivery system for CO2) with InventOR awards of $500 each to build prototypes and present them at InventOR. An award given to the business which is the furthest down the road, the Entrepreneur in Action award was presented to Klamath Tangent, creator of the WeeGo pack an easy and convenient traveling pack that is already being made in Klamath Falls; inventor Timothy Hasty practiced on-the-spot product marketing by giving away two packs to lucky audience members. Faculty and staff members of the Oregon Tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee who organized and managed this year’s Catalyze event include: Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy, Chair; Mark Ahalt, Sharon Beaudry, Jesse Chaney, Tara Guthrie, Mike Healy, Franny Howes, Don Lee, SophiaLyn Nathenson, Barbara Neal, Hallie Neupert, Mason Terry and Kristy Weidman. For more information regarding the Catalyze Klamath Falls Challenge, visit www.oit.edu/catalyze; or contact Oregon Tech’s public affairs office at 541-885-1162
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Could Your Plant Benefit from a FREE Energy Assessment? By: Energy Trust Looking for new ways to trim energy operating costs and increase the bottom line in your facility? Whether you’ve already made energy improvements or are just getting started, an energy assessment can help you determine the largest savings and decide where to focus. Available at no cost to eligible customers of Southern Oregon Business Journal
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participating utilities*, an energy assessment offers a quick overview of energy-using systems and potential energy waste in your facility—helping you decide how to use your resources cost-effectively. Often times, it’s difficult to know just how much energy you’re overusing. Our Energy Trust of Oregon industrial energy experts tailor the assessment to your goals. We can meet with your facility personnel to assess energy use in one of your process lines, walk through your entire facility taking a broad look at all energy systems or find an approach somewhere in between.
several other benefits, including:
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Giving plant personnel a chance to think about ways to cut energy use and share their ideas. It’s a great employee engagement tool.
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Reducing maintenance by identifying situations which cause excess wear and tear on equipment
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Identifying bottlenecks in your process, opening the door to improvements that can increase production and lower energy use
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Uncovering ways to save other resources such as water or raw materials
After your energy assessment, you can decide if you’d like to pursue a formal Technical Analysis Study on a particular project or area. This study is available free of charge, and delves deeper. For example, you might opt for a study on your compressed air system, where we examine everything from leaks to controls to a compressor upgrade. Our industrial energy experts are highly trained energy engineers with thousands of dollars worth of measurement and metering tools at their disposal. Why not put them to work in your facility free of charge? When customizing your energy assessment, we’ll also discuss and consider factors such as:
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Your overall capital plan for the next one to five years
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Energy or production projects you’re thinking of implementing in the near future
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Your return on investment criteria
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If you’re operating out of your maintenance budget and need the assessment to emphasize low- and no-cost improvements
Because it’s tailored to your needs, an energy assessment can take as little as one hour or as long as one day. You’ll receive the results of your assessment almost immediately—either on the spot or via email within a day or two. Based on our discussions and your input, you’ll come away with a prioritized list of energy-saving opportunities that can improve your bottom line and makes sense for your business.
Hundreds of Oregon manufacturing plants of all sizes have benefited from energy assessments. “We’re able to help just about any facility regardless of size,” said Eric Braddock, senior technical manager at Energy Trust.
“Small-to-medium plants often come away learning the most because they typically don’t have the same on-staff expertise.” To schedule an energy assessment for your plant, email production@energytrust.org or call 1.866.202.5076. To learn more about industrial energy-efficiency visit www.energytrust.org/ industry.
* Energy Trust services and cash incentives are available for customers served by Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista.
In addition to giving you a starting point for your energy-saving efforts, an energy assessment offers Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Brews, Brains, and Lumber: Occupations Clustered in Lane County by Henry Fields
Sometimes to understand an economy you need to look at the things that make a place unique. Location quotients (LQ) are a tool that help analysts do just that. LQs compare local employment in one industry or occupation with the nation as a whole.
It’s basically like looking at the whole U.S. economy as a pizza. The toppings scattered unevenly across the pizza represent different kinds of jobs. A location quotient takes out one particular slice and compares the toppings you find locally to their national frequency. The resulting number shows concentration – how much more or less of the “topping” we find locally than if that slice were a replica of the whole pie. If you slice Oregon out of the national pizza, for
Southern Oregon Business Journal
example, you’re going to find a lot more forestry jobs among the toppings here than in the nation (LQ 7.9), and a lot less in petroleum and coal manufacturing (LQ 0.4). An LQ of 7.9 means Oregon had nearly eight times as much employment in forestry and logging as you would expect in a slice our size, while 0.4 means we had 40 percent of petroleum and coal manufacturing employment relative to the whole pie. (Okay, I’ll drop the unappetizing metaphor.) Since the formula is a simple ratio, LQs are flexible enough to apply to any geography, job, or sector for which you can find data. For example, the graph below looks at the occupations with the highest location quotients in Lane County.
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The role of forestry, logging, and wood products is evident. Logging equipment operators, saw sharpeners, woodworking machine operators, foresters, and conservation technicians were some of our most concentrated occupations. It’s not surprising to find timber-related jobs that are 10 times more prevalent here than the nation, given the history of wood products and the world class natural resources in our region. Also unsurprising are concentrated jobs in education and health care. Social science research assistants may work at U of O or related research institutions. Interviewers are often employed in health care settings, in university research, or in business support, all local strengths. Psychiatric aides, who might be employed in private facilities or the Junction City campus of the Oregon State Hospital, also make the list.
We live the good life in Lane County, and that’s obvious from our concentrated occupations, too. I was intrigued to find that musicians and music directors are quite prominent here, which is exciting for an area that prides itself on art and culture. There are more than three times as many filtering, clarifying and still machine operators – which humans would call brewers – as expected, confirming we punch above our weight when it comes to beer. Although most of these occupations aren’t very large, LQs still allow us to point to the local jobs that are relatively unique. If your passion is forestry, woodworking, education, health, music or beer, it’s safe to say you’re not alone in Lane County.
Henry Fields Workforce Analyst Lane County
henry.l.fields@oregon.gov 1401 Willamette Street Eugene, OR 97401
Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Ocean Expedition To Study Salmon in Winter Was a Unique Experience for Scientist, In Many Ways
The Professor Kaganovskiy in Vancouver, BC, before the cruise. Photo: Laurie Weitkamp
To listen to Laurie Weitkamp compare life on a Russian fisheries research vessel to life on an equivalent American research boat, is to conjure images of a cozy, cluttered cabin on the one hand, and the clean room of a research facility on the other.
For example: The cozy, if rusty, Russian boat, the Professor Kaganovskiy, had lace curtains on its porthole windows. No lace curtains on an American research vessel. The closet-sized lab of the Kaganovskiy had what only could be called a cluttered look, a disarray of lab tools, measuring devices, containers, and so on. In her experience, laboratories on American research boats are more precisely organized, Weitkamp said. On the Kaganovskiy, the laboratory refrigerators for fish tissue specimens also held food and drink left there by the scientists and crew. Southern Oregon Business Journal
It was a unique experience to be sure, five weeks last February and March for Weitkamp, a fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. She was part of the first-ever international research expedition to study salmon in the Gulf of Alaska in winter. The vast research area encompassed roughly 10 degrees of latitude by 10 degrees of longitude. The purpose was to gather information on a fundamental mystery of Pacific salmon -where do they go, and what determines whether they live or die? The winter lives of salmon have been particularly mysterious, but the expedition shed new light on the question. She recounted her unique experience at the Council’s April meeting. The expedition was envisioned as a means of showcasing 2019 as an International Year of the Salmon. Dr. Dick Beamish a retired fisheries biologist for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and 36
Dr. Brian Riddel, Executive Director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation in Vancouver, BC, led an effort that raised $1.2 million to charter the Russian vessel. Salmon from Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States mix in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Scientists from those countries were among the 21 scientists on the cruise. A link to the expedition homepage is:
https://yearofthesalmon.org/gulf-of-alaskaexpedition/
Scientists believe that one third of all Pacific salmon spend winters in the Gulf, where salmon abundance can be highly variable, but it is not clear why. So DNA tests of fish tissues collected during the cruise should help improve this knowledge. It will be the first time so much genetic information from salmon in the winter Gulf will be available, and it will be shared with the public. When she first saw the ship at its dock in Vancouver, BC., “I had some serious reservations about going out to the Gulf of Alaska on it in the middle of winter,” Weitkamp said at the Council meeting. She said an associate, told of her impending journey, said, “are you nuts?”
Working in the cramped laboratory. Photo: Laurie Weitkamp.
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“And this ship doesn’t have a great reputation,” Weitkamp said. “At times the crew has gotten scurvy because the food was so bad,” she said, adding, “this also was the rustiest ship I have ever been on. I am happy to report, however, that we had reasonable food, it was clean, and we had no breakdowns for 30 days. We went almost 5,000 miles, we sampled at 60 stations, and we had absolutely fantastic weather. The crew and officers were helpful, my fellow scientists were fantastic people, and so overall it was a very successful expedition.” Unlike the highly structured, highly polished, pinpoint precision of the research vessels she was used to, Weitkamp wrote in a NOAA blog that the Kaganovskiy had a vibe that was “homey, lived-in -our comfortable home away from home,” made all the more enjoyable by the helpful and friendly crew – most of whom spoke only Russian. It wasn’t just the lace curtains, or the even the ship’s cat, which had the free run of the boat, but the very lived-in feel of almost every hallway, corner, nook, and cranny that made the experience at once so foreign and also familiar. In her blog, she wrote about the “interesting mix of equipment for science and for living, such as hot-water kettles and tea and coffee-making supplies in every lab and on the bridge.” She wrote that the back room of the fish laboratory “had two electric frying pans, various cooking utensils, and three cases of pasteurized milk, in addition to totes of scientific supplies, boots and rain gear, and a stock of drinking water.” And there was the cognitive dissonance of time -- as in the time of day. Upon departing from Vancouver, BC, the scientists discovered that they no longer were on Pacific time, but on Vladivostok time, the home port of the boat. That meant they were two hours behind but one day ahead of Vancouver, which at that point must have still been in sight. 37
The unique cruise had some unique goals:
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For the first time, identify Pacific salmon distributions and abundance in the Gulf of Alaska in winter
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Document the health and condition of salmon Test key hypothesis regulating salmon production such as distribution in various water temperatures and competition among species
The initial results were unique, too.
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Coho salmon were the second-most abundant species caught on the expedition (behind chum), but coho are considered a near-coastal species not usually found in large numbers so far out in the ocean.
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Chum salmon, while they were the most plentiful of the salmon caught, showed a big variation among sizes. In the same haul, some fish were large and appeared wellfed, while others were scrawny with empty stomachs, suggesting they came from different, so far unknown, places.
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Almost no pink salmon were caught, and they are considered the dominant species in the open ocean. So, where were all the pinks? They also are considered coldwater fish, but all were caught in the warmest water of the cruise.
Much more science will come as the shore-based research teams that supported the scientists on the cruise analyze the tissue, stomach contents, water chemistry, plankton, and other samples collected on the cruise. Laurie Weitkamp Division: CB Federal, NOAA Fisheries Research Fisheries Biologist Phone: 541-867-0504 https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov Laurie has been a Research Fisheries Biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center since 1992, moving from the Montlake lab to the Newport Field Station in 2004. Laurie’s initial responsibilities at the Center focused on nearshore studies in Puget Sound, but switched to the scientific basis for Endangered Species Act listings beginning in 1994, when she led the West Coast Coho salmon status review. Laurie has led a joint Conservation Biology/Fish Ecology Division study of juvenile salmon and steelhead in migratory corridors of the lower Columbia River estuary since 2006.
Photos by Laurie Weitkamp, NOAA Federal Southern Oregon Business Journal
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Let’s have an honest discussion about the Rose Quarter freeway widening project By Joe Cortright
Good decisions result only if state officials are transparent and honest City Observatory has been closely following the proposal to spend $500 million widening the I-5 freeway at the Rose Quarter in Portland. In the process, we and others have repeatedly uncovered instances of state agency officials misrepresenting facts, suppressing key data, denying the existence of plans, concealing important assumptions and misleading the public about safety.
City Observatory director Joe Cortright testified to the Oregon Transportation Commission on April 18, 2019, about these issues. While there’s much to be debated, pro and con, about the merits of freeway widening, there’s a more fundamental point must be resolved before we can have that necessary discussion. If our democracy, if our system of government is going to work, it depends critically on the honesty, transparency and good faith of those who work for the government, in this case the Oregon Department Southern Oregon Business Journal
of Transportation. Objectively, the conduct of the Oregon Department of Transportation has failed to conform to the most minimal expectations of professional conduct. This agency produced an environmental assessment with no data on average daily traffic (ADT) the most fundamental and widely used measure of traffic volumes; essentially the equivalent of presenting a financial report with no dollar figures. This agency concealed the assumption that its traffic projections assumed that the region would build the $3 billion Columbia River Crossing (in 2015). The agency denied its was widening the freeway, but engineered a 126-foot wide right of way, sufficient for an eight-lane freeway. The agency denied it had any engineering plans for the project, and was subsequently forced to release 33 gigabytes of such plans. The agency made false claims that this freeway was the number one crash location in Oregon, when other ODOT roadways in Portland have higher crash rates and fatalities. These are not random or isolated acts; they’re part of a pattern and practice of concealing, obscuring and distorting essential facts. If Oregon is to make a reasoned decision on a half-billion dollar investment, it needs a more honest, transparent state Department of Transportation. While the citizen commissioners of the Oregon Transportation Commission aren’t expected to be experts secondguessing arcane engineering details, they can and should insist on basic standards of openness and truthfulness from their staff. http://cityobservatory.org/lets-have-an-honestdiscussion-about-the-rose-quarter-freewaywidening-project/
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Southern Oregon Business Journal 703 Divot Loop Sutherlin, OR 97479
Springfield Chamber - THE LIVABILITY ISSUE
We live in a highly interconnected world. Not only are we connected with one another across the globe, but the many varied aspects of our daily lives – environment, recreation, wellness, education, transport, community, etc. – are woven together in a fabric of ‘livability’ as barometer of Springfield’s progress.
