RAIN, the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network that aims to help businesses start, grow and create jobs in the southern Willamette Valley, is gaining traction and hopes soon to start tapping the $3.75 million the Oregon Legislature approved for the project nearly a year ago. Its executives and board are in place. It has filed … Read moreHelp for businesses takes new approach
Water is Portland’s secret problem. Not the Bull Run Reservoir water that runs out of your tap nor the contentious May ballot measure that will determine who controls it. No, the next big whack to taxpayers will, in fact, come in the fight against floodwaters, the kind that have inundated the city every few decades … Read moreWhen The Levee Breaks…Us
Oregon’s juniper advocates chalked up a sizable win that validates efforts to cultivate hardwoods from the invasive Eastern Oregon plants. The Oregon State Weed Board has crafted a policy backing “efforts to thin juniper to levels that are historically more in balance with protecting and restoring watershed function.”…
Representatives of a wide range of local, state and federal government agencies, private organizations and local businesses and residents gathered at the Jim Riggs Community Center Monday, March 10, to send the South Santiam Community Forest project forward to its next chapter. They signed a declaration of cooperation on the project, which essentially states the … Read moreSigning marks new stage for community forest
SWEET HOME — Speaking in Chinuk wawa, the native language of the Grand Ronde tribe, Michael Karnosh said Monday afternoon that “his heart was very happy to be standing here today.” Karnosh was one of several dozen stakeholders who formalized their commitment to the South Santiam Community Forest Corridor concept by signing a declaration of … Read moreSouth Santiam Community Forest Corridor members formalize land deal
The Linn County Board of Commissioners will sign a letter supporting the Sweet Home All Lands Collaborative project underway in east Linn County, but not without reservations by chairman Roger Nyquist. Nyquist and Will Tucker were present at Wednesday’s board meeting, but commissioner John Lindsey was not. On March 10, representatives of more than 40 … Read moreCommissioners OK support for All Lands Collaborative project
Leaders from around Malheur County formally committed to support the establishment of a career technical education program to provide students opportunities for good local jobs. A formal ceremonial signing of a Declaration of Cooperation document was held Wednesday morning at the Four Rivers Cultural Center…
The recent annual Oregon Business Plan Summit brought business and community leaders, the governor, and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley together in support of the three primary goals of the 2014 plan: job creation, raising Oregon’s personal income level and reducing Oregon’s poverty rate from 17 percent to 10 percent. A significant focus was … Read moreHow collaboration is helping fire-prone forests: Guest opinion
Earlier this month, residents of Milton-Freewater watched as flames destroyed paper, maps and photos. The town had gathered at the Lazy MF BBQ for a bonfire — a flood insurance paper-burning bonfire. Three years ago the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared virtually all of the city a flood zone. That designation was repealed in May … Read moreMilton-Freewater celebrates removal of flood zone designation
SWEET HOME — Three representatives from The Conservation Fund and the Federal Highway Administration will arrive in Sweet Home Sunday to begin a three-day look at the community’s strengths and weaknesses as a gateway community to public lands. In September, Sweet Home was named one of four communities in the United States — one in … Read moreSweet Home to begin 2-year livability initiative