7/31/2007 - Jolly Green Giant Left Town, But His Image Remains

There was a time when almost all canned asparagus with the Green Giant label came from Dayton, Washington.

In fact, for about 70 years, this tiny town 30 miles northeast of Walla Walla was home to the world's largest asparagus cannery. But in 2005, the cannery was moved to Peru and the town lost 50 full-time positions and nearly a thousand seasonal jobs.

Now, one of the questions people in Dayton are facing is what to do with the 300-foot-tall Jolly Green Giant. Harriet Baskas went out to southeast Washington and filed this report.

Complete article...

Also on Tuesday's Oregon Considered
Kulongoski Threatens Veto Of OMSI Bail-Out Bill
House Panel Probes Cheney's Role In Klamath Fish Die-Off
Bend Realtors Feel Pressured By City Ban On Signs
Land Deal Marks The Beginning Of The End For The New Carissa Saga

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/30/2007 - Oregon Farmers Find Their Thrill With Blueberries

Summer in the northwest is a time for fruits and vegetables. Fans of fresh produce love to browse farmers markets and roadside stands for their favorites.

An increasingly popular choice is the blueberry. And Oregon is becoming one of the nation's leading producers.
Complete article...

Also on Monday's Oregon Considered
Hanford Officials Forming Clean-Up Plans For Friday's Leak
19-Year-Old Grants Pass Soldier Oregon's Latest Loss In Iraq
Philips Moves On To Gates Foundation, Leaves Her Mark On Portland Schools
City of Bend Anticipates 113,000 Residents By 2027

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/26/2007 - Portland Turns Into 'Beertown' For Four-Day Brewfest

Everyone knows Oregon's a big beer state, and today, the 20th annual Oregon Brewers' Festival got under way.
A parade kicked off the four-day beer bonanza, led by Portland Mayor and Honorary Mayor of Beertown, Tom Potter.
Casey Negreiff attended, and did not imbibe, so that he could send us this audio postcard.
Complete article...

Also on Thursday's Oregon Considered
Governor Signs $28 Million In Grants For Research and Innovation
Rural Voters Still Looking For Candidate Who Knows Their Issues
Confiscated Nail Clippers? You Can Buy Them Back

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/25/2007 - Celilo Residents Move Into Temporary Houses

The Army Corps of Engineers is making good on a 50-year-old promise to build new housing at an historic tribal village.
This July, a small band of Columbia River Indians are moving into temporary homes. It's happening at Celilo Village, a legendary gathering place for Northwest Tribes near The Dalles, Oregon.
Correspondent Anna King visited with the residents of Celilo, on moving day.
Complete article...

Also on Wednesday's Oregon Considered
Sellwood Bridge Project Still Moving Forward
Oregon's Foster Care Rate Above National Average

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/24/2007 - Brick By Brick: Demolition With Dignity In New Orleans

In post-Katrina New Orleans, a project with northwest roots is making its mark on the rebuilding effort.

It aims to preserve more of the original by rethinking how damaged buildings get taken apart.

In the process, familiar conservation concepts like "re-use" and "recycle" serve a purpose well beyond environmentalism. Correspondent Elizabeth Wynne Johnson went to check it out.
Complete article...

Also on Tuesday's Oregon Considered
Dust-Up Over DA Pay In Clatsop County Has Statewide Implications
Some Oregon Blazes Under Control, But Fire Season's Still In Full Swing
Washington's Bar Exam Now Tests Knowledge Of Indian Law
Farm Bill Advances To House Floor Vote
Hotter NW Summers Consistent With Global Warming

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/23/2007 - Drugstore Cowboys: Feds Crack Prolific NW Pharmacy Burglary Ring

Federal authorities have cracked the most prolific pharmacy burglary ring in the Northwest, if not the nation.

The break-in artists hit dozens of drug stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California between 2004 and 2006.

Their target: heavy-duty painkillers like OxyContin that can sell for three times their value on the street. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has the story of one the ringleaders.
Complete article...

Also on Monday's Oregon Considered
Administrators Scramble To Grow Head Start Programs Across State
Rodeo Is More About Guts Than Bucks
Portland Popular With Open Source Aficionados
State Settles MacLaren Sex Abuse Cases
Northwest Potato Harvest Gets Off To A Hot And Dusty Start

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/19/2007 - Medical Pot Plants Seized, And The Debate Rages On

Salem police have arrested three people in a major pot bust.
Two of the suspects had medical marijuana cards. Oregon voters legalized the medical use of pot in 1998.
But arrests like the one in Salem this week have become fodder for a debate that's quietly raging over the future of the medical marijuana law.
Complete article...

Also on Thursday's Oregon Considered
Soldiers' Kids Get A Little Normalcy At 'Operation Purple' Summer Camp
Redmond's RV Rally Is A Small Town On Wheels
Naomi Pomeroy: Fresh Ingredients, Fresh Start
Entrepreneurs Strike Oil In Winery Waste

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/18/2007 - More Than Medicine: Bio-Tech's Increasing Role

It's probably no surprise that bio-technology has become big business in Oregon. But you might be surprised by just how many aspects of everyday life are touched by bio-tech.

Moira Gunn's new book "Welcome to BioTech Nation," chronicles her journey of discovering BioTech and starting a weekly segment on her public radio program, Tech Nation.
Download an extended version of this interview
Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Wednesday's Oregon Considered
Got Your Allen Wrench Handy? Portland's IKEA Opens Next Week
Residents Of St Helens Debate Immigrant Ordinance
Land-Use Planning Head Lane Shetterly Stepping Down

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/17/2007 - NW Troops Repay A Debt By Sponsoring Iraqi Refugees

Iraqi refugees have begun to trickle into the Northwest. They're mostly translators who assisted Northwest soldiers on deployments in Iraq.

In some instances, local troops are repaying a debt by sponsoring the Iraqi immigrants.

Correspondent Tom Banse has a profile of one Iraqi whose arrival could be a sign of things to come.
Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Tuesday's Oregon Considered
Next On The List? Another Dem Considers Senate Run Against Smith
With Store's Closure Portland's A Little Sadder, A Little Less Weird
There's No Substitute For the Lessons Of Predator And Prey

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/16/2007 - 'Fishtrap' Is Like A Summer Camp For Adults

When you think book readings and literary salons, usually that means fancy bookstores or wine-and-cheese platters. But one of Oregon's most famous literary gatherings happens in a remote part of the state.

And to reporter Ethan Lindsey it seemed less like a book group, and more like summer camp. Ethan sent us back this audio postcard from his bunk bed.
Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Monday's Oregon Considered
Court Upholds Endangered Species Protection For Coast Coho
'Big Look' Land-Use Review Headed For The Big Sleep
Sen. Gordon Smith Looks Ahead To 2008 Race
Threemile Canyon Farms Signs Union Agreement

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/12/2007 - Shadow Project Helps Special Needs Kids Earn And Learn

Educating kids with special needs and learning disabilities can be difficult.

They take more time and attention -- which many teachers never seem to have enough of. But one Oregon mom has developed a remarkably simple and effective program.

The idea is that kids earn points for doing well -- they can use those points to buy toys for themselves or gifts for others.

As simple as it sounds, "The Shadow Project" is thought to be the only nonprofit of its kind in the country. And it's growing.

Next week, the charitable foundation Social Venture Partners will announce a major grant to help get the program outside of Portland. Allison Frost checked out some places where the Shadow Project has been working wonders.
Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Thursday's Oregon Considered
Biscuit Fire: Five Years Later
New Measure, Same Old Land Use Battle
ODOT Seeks Cheaper Way To Get From Corvallis To Newport

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/11/2007 - A Tale of Two Interstates

Interstate 15 runs from Canada to Mexico through the American West, while Interstate 86 runs west to Portland and then Seattle.
The two highways intersect at Pocatello, Idaho.
We hear from truckers, traveling teenagers and a hitchhiker about the culture of the interstates.
Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Wednesday's Oregon Considered
Beef Or Bison? How 'Bout Both In One Bite
Elections Division Still Trying To Get Money Out Of Former Rep. Doyle

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/10/2007 - A Fresh Look At The Roads Most Traveled

If you're an Oregonian or Washingtonian, and you want to see much of your state at all, it usually means driving.
If you've ever made the five-hour drive between Spokane and Seattle along Interstate 90, you'd be forgiven for gritting your teeth, twirling the radio dial and hoping the time passes quickly.
Fortunately there's now another option. A new audio heritage tour could open your eyes to a new way of seeing that seemingly unremarkable stretch of road. Correspondent Elizabeth Wynne Johnson takes us on the journey.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Tuesday's Oregon Considered
Smith Co-Sponsors Troop Withdrawal Bill
Heat Wave Threatens Pets Too
Bend, Portland Named Best Places To Live
Physicians' Groups Decry Proposed Medicare Cuts

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/9/2007 - Kate Brown To Run For Secretary Of State

State Senator Kate Brown announced Monday she's running for Secretary of State next year. The Portland Democrat stepped down as majority leader in the Oregon Senate just last month. As Colin Fogarty reports, Kate Brown isn't the only Democratic state Senator seeking the post.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Also on Monday's Oregon Considered
Summertime Is Bottling Time At Northwest Wineries
Kaiser Patients Eager To E-mail Doctors
NW Teens Vie For Jobs Collecting Roadside Trash

Posted by Casey

7/5/2007 - A Doctor In Darfur

Dr. Jonathan Bird returned recently from month in the Darfur region of Western Sudan. He lives near Farmington, Missouri, but he was working as part of the Oregon relief agency, Medical Teams International.

The situation in Darfur has been called the worst humanitarian crisis anywhere on the globe. It's also been called genocide.

The most conservative estimates puts the number of dead at 200,000, and others say it's at least half a million.

More than two a half million people are without homes.
Complete article....
Dr. Bird gives some of his impressions of the country in this audio slideshow.

Also on Thursday's Oregon Considered
Movie Documents 162nd Infantry's Time In Iraq
Using Bull Run Water To Help Wild Salmon

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/3/2007 - 'And The Rockets Red Glare...'

Today on Oregon Considered we bring you a couple of views of Independence Day.

First commentator Bob Balmer with some thoughts about the 4th of July picnic food hierarchy.

And Vancouver poet Scott Poole remembers a 4th that ended with a pizza 'chucked' at a horse.

And we couldn’t let the show end without explaining, in case you were wondering, and even if you weren’t, that the music you’ve been hearing on today’s show is all from musicians who will be appearing at the 20th annual Waterfront Blues Festival. It’s as always, a benefit for the Oregon Food Bank. And it starts at noon on the 4th at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland.

www.waterfrontbluesfest.org

Also on Tuesday's Oregon Considered
Assessing The State Of Portland's Wi-Fi Cloud
Federal And State Funds Bring MAX To Clackamas County
More Money Spent Than Saved In City's Bulk Purchasing Program
Biofuels' Raw Material To Get Financial Boost
Oregon's Higher Ed Looks Forward To Improvements

Posted by Michael Clapp

7/2/2007 - Jockeying Among LNG Developers Picks Up

The jockeying among developers wanting to build natural gas import terminals near the coast is heating up. Four companies have their eyes on the lower Columbia River and another likes Coos Bay.
Insiders say the region probably can support only one tanker terminal. And opponents aim to make it none. Correspondent Tom Banse has the latest on a brewing showdown from Astoria.
Complete article...

Also on Monday's Oregon Considered
Assessing The State Of Portland's Wi-Fi Cloud
Oregonians Get More 'Bang For The Buck' In Washington
Portland Schools' Vicki Phillips Off To Gates Foundation
Volunteerism: Feels Good, Sounds Good

Posted by Michael Clapp