DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 'Way too low for way too long': Local business owners applaud July 1 minimum wage increases
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Isabel Engel | In Isabel--Engel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"As far as minimum wage, it's been way too low for way too long," Saginaw says. Some oppose minimum wage increases, as they boost overall costs. That said, here's how much minimum wages are increasing across the U.S., and why these two small business owners applaud the change. A statewide minimum wage increase to $12 for all employees (regardless of benefit status) will take place in July 2024. Minimum wage is also increasing in Chicago and San Francisco, among other cities and counties.

Persons: Paul Saginaw, Gina Schaefer, Schaefer, Tom Williams, it's, — Organizations: CNBC, Hardware, Capitol Visitor Center, Cq, Inc, Getty, D.C, DC, Logan Locations: Nevada , Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Virginia, Las Vegas, Saginaw, Nevada, U.S, Portland, Montgomery County , Maryland, Chicago, San Francisco

☆ 'World's first radio station with an AI DJ': Oregon's Live 95.5 uses a cloned human voice to host segments
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On Tuesday, a Portland, Oregon radio station announced that an AI DJ would become a part-time host of the broadcast. Listeners to Live 95.5, a radio station in Portland, Oregon, can now tune in to hear a part-time AI DJ hosting for five hours every day. On Tuesday, KBFF, Live 95.5 introduced its audience to "AI Ashley," a cloned version of the station's midday host named Ashley Elzinga. Although the station asserts it's the "world's first radio station with an AI DJ," it's unclear whether this has been attempted before. According to TechCrunch, the station has already planned out ways Elzinga and AI Ashley can both contribute to Live 95.5.

Persons: Ashley, Media's, Ashley Elzinga, Taylor Swift, isn't, Phil Becker, Becker, Jackson Organizations: Morning, TechCrunch, Alpha Media, Portland's, Media, Apple Locations: Portland , Oregon

☆ This could be the most beautiful homeless shelter you have ever seen, and it’s getting results
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kathleen Toner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“I had never been to a homeless shelter. I had never talked to someone who was experiencing homelessness,” Tuck said. “And I realized that these women are just like my mom.”Brandi Tuck, left, as a college junior, volunteering at a homeless shelter on spring break Courtesy Brandi TuckAt one shelter, Tuck was entertaining children while their mothers were in a GED class. Specialists help families find permanent housing, while case managers help people access the services they need. She was determined to make it an environment that would help families recover mentally as well as physically.

Persons: Oregon CNN — Brandi Tuck, ‘ Nobody’s, ’ ”, Tuck, She’d, ”, “, ” Tuck, ” Brandi Tuck, Brandi Tuck, ’, agonized, Kitty Hernandez, Hernandez, ” Hernandez, “ It’s, ” Kitty Hernandez, Brandi Tuck's, you’ve Organizations: Oregon CNN, University of Florida, CNN Locations: Portland, Oregon, New York City, Atlanta , Georgia, Portland , Oregon, ” Oregon, United States

☆ West Coast unemployment is the worst in the US as tech firms slash headcount
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

California, Oregon, and Washington were all in the top 10 states with the highest unemployment rates in April. The West Coast has borne the brunt of tech layoffs in recent months. California's 4.5% rate, Washington's 4.3%, and Oregon's 4.0% were all well above the national unemployment rate of 3.5% that month. Nevada came in with the highest unemployment rate in April at 5.4%. Still, the rest of the year will show whether or not the recent wave of tech layoffs spreads to the broader economy and leads to a long-awaited recession.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: California, Oregon, Washington, West, San Francisco, Seattle, California's, Nevada, Texas, New York

☆ Strange, 7-foot-long cannibalistic fish with fangs that live in the deep sea are washing up on the West Coast and scientists don't know why
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lancetfish live in the deep sea, have fanged jaws and long scaleless bodies, and eat their own. The cannibalistic fish has been washing up on the West Coast, but scientists can't explain why. Video taken in California in 2021 shows a lancetfish flapping its jaw and writhing on the sand. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. The video shows the lancet flapping its fanged jaw and writhing wildly on the sand.

☆ This couple spent $48,000 to convert their Portland, Oregon, home to 'net zero': 'The future is efficient and renewable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Zachary Green Celia Fernandez | Zachary Green | In Zachary-Green-News | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When Ryan Shanahan, 41, decided to buy a house in Portland, Oregon, he knew from the start that he wanted his future home to be "net zero." To be net zero is to cut greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions reabsorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests, for instance, according to the United Nations. "My mantra is that the future is efficient, electric, and renewable," Shanahan tells CNBC Make It. To buy the house, Shanahan took advantage of a $15,000 forgivable loan from Oregon's Down Payment Assistance program. Shanahan purchased the house because it had design features needed to help reach his goal of making the house net zero.

☆ Why Amazon quashed an Oregon bill that aimed to curb data center emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On what was recently farmland, Amazon data centers have been built as close as 50 feet from residential houses in the Loudoun Meadows neighborhood on January 20, 2023, in Aldie, VA. Amazon's opposition to the clean energy measure is at odds with its broader push to improve its environmental impact. Amazon says it's on a path to using 100% renewable energy across its business by 2025, and is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy. Experts have said the nation's out-of-date electrical grid remains a barrier to accelerating the transition to clean energy sources. Amazon has pledged to get all of its data centers running on renewable energy, but it has yet to divest completely from fossil fuels.

☆ Nike's aggressive use of noncompetes is stifling hiring at rivals and startups sneaker brands, insiders say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

President Biden and the FTC want to get rid of noncompete agreements. Some former Nike workers remain subject to them. The same could be said of sportswear workers in Portland, Oregon. The same day Biden spoke to the nation, at least three former Nike workers were waiting for their noncompete agreements to end, according to a search of LinkedIn profiles. In sportswear, noncompetes have historically been used to guard industry secrets, which brands fight to protect.

☆ Oregon bill would make it easier for homeowners to remove racist language from deeds and property documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A bill in Oregon's state legislature would make it easier to remove racist language from house deeds. A 2018 version of the bill that was passed has been criticized for not fully removing the language. Residents who testified in support of the bill said they feel uncomfortable signing documents with racist language. The new bill would create an archive for old versions of the property documents, allowing them to be entirely replaced with new versions that don't have the offensive language, KVAL reported. Koepping told The Oregonian that he and his wife were stunned to find a clause forbidding people of color from owning property in their neighborhood while signing documents for the house they bought in 2018.

☆ Nike's use of noncompetes threatens to stifle hiring at rivals and startup sneaker brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

☆ Idaho lawmakers are seriously considering absorbing Oregon's conservative rural counties if they can secede from the blue state
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Greater Idaho movement seeks to redraw state boundaries so rural Oregon can join Idaho. Moving the state boundary would require the approval of Oregon, Idaho, and the US Congress. Matt McCaw, a spokeperson for the group behind the Greater Idaho movement, told Insider they were confident the bill would pass Idaho's Senate in the coming weeks as well. McCaw said the Greater Idaho proposal would be a solution to the "longstanding problem" of the urban-rural divide. Proponents of Greater Idaho have said their plan is a way to avoid conflict, but it's unclear the impact moving the border would actually have.

☆ Democratic attorneys general sue FDA to drop all remaining restrictions on abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A coalition of a dozen Democratic attorneys general sued the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to force the agency to drop all remaining restrictions on the abortion pill, the latest case in an escalating series of legal battles over access to the medication. The attorneys general asked a federal court in the eastern district of Washington to declare that the abortion pill, mifepristone, is safe and effective and that all remaining restrictions on the medication are unconstitutional. The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont were also part of the suit. The attorneys general also asked the court to prevent the FDA from taking any action that would remove mifepristone from the market or reduce its availability. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, but imposed restrictions on how the medication is dispensed.

☆ A woman who thought she could work remotely bought a house 1,000 miles from home. Now she's been called back to the office.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jamie Sexton, 44, bought a house in Oregon when she didn't think she could afford San Diego prices. Sexton was told she could work remotely but is now being asked to return to her California office. She was paying $4,000 a month to rent a two-bedroom home in La Jolla, a coastal suburb 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego. She didn't think she could afford to buy in San Diego, where homes cost $900,000. Did you buy a home with remote work in mind, and have since been called back to the office?

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., was briefly hospitalized Friday night after she and her husband were hit by a car in Portland, according to her spokesperson. Natalie Crofts, Bonamici's communications director, said in a statement shared to Twitter that the incident occurred as the lawmaker and her husband, Michael Simon, were walking across a street after leaving an event. A woman turned into Bonamici and her husband "at low speed and knocked them down," according to Portland police. Bonamici was treated at a hospital for a concussion and laceration to her head while Simon was treated for minor injuries, Crofts said. The lawmaker is a leader on the Education and Labor Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human services.

☆ Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commutes sentences of all 17 inmates on death row in her final month in office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Oregon is one of 27 states in America that allows for the death penalty. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 inmates on death row. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all of the state's 17 death row prisoners to life in prison without the chance of parole. Brown added that the commutation "is not based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row" but instead "reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral." She is the seventh US governor in the past 50 years to commute all death sentences in a state.

☆ Portland store is reportedly selling psychedelic mushrooms – but they're not legal in Oregon yet: 'They're breaking all sorts of laws over there'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Portland herbal shop is selling magic mushrooms to locals in spite of state laws, KPTV reports. Shroom House offers 'Penis Envy,' 'Albino Golden Teacher,' 'Knobby Tops,' and more in the selection, Willamette Week says. Although the process sounds lengthy, a reporter from Willamette Week said they were able to order fungi about five minutes after submitting the documents. Shroom House reportedly has a variety of mushrooms to choose from – including "Knobby Tops," "Penis Envy," and "Albino Golden Teacher." Nothing in Measure 109 or any other law allows the sale of psilocybin mushrooms today or in the future," Chapman said.

☆ Children's hospitals call on Biden to declare emergency in response to 'unprecedented' RSV surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The president should declare an emergency under the Stafford Act or the National Emergencies Act, and the health secretary should declare a public health emergency, Wietecha and Del Monte wrote. ACEP described the situation as a public health emergency. Oregon this week became the first state to declare on emergency in response to the RSV surge. A national public health emergency would be determined based on countrywide data, science trends and the insight of public health experts, the spokesperson said. UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh has faced a huge surge in respiratory illnesses since September, said Dr. Raymond Pitetti, director of the hospital's emergency department.

Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer has made history as Oregon’s first Hispanic member of Congress, according to NBC News projections. "I am excited and ready to serve the people of Oregon," Chavez-DeRemer tweeted Monday alongside a photo standing in front of the U.S. Capitol building. Chavez-DeRemer became the first Latina and first female mayor of the city of Happy Valley in 2010 and was re-elected 2014. Before that, she served on the Happy Valley Parks Committee and the Happy Valley City Council. From having never elected a Hispanic to Congress, another Latina in Oregon could be elected and make history alongside Chavez-DeRemer.

☆ Google settles with 40 states over location tracking practices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Google agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states over its use of location tracking, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Monday. Even when users thought they'd turned off location tracking in their account settings, Google continued to collect information regarding their whereabouts, Oregon's AG office said. The settlement requires Google to be more transparent with users and provide clearer location tracking disclosures beginning in 2023. Consumers thought they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers." Google settled a similar lawsuit with Arizona for $85 million last month, and the company faces additional location tracking lawsuits in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Texas and Washington state.

Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer defeated Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer defeated Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsOregon's 5th Congressional District candidatesChavez-DeRemer is one of several Hispanic conservative women who ran for office in 2022. McLeod-Skinner defeated the seven-term Schrader in the Democratic primary for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, securing 56.9% of the vote to his 42.7%. Voting history for Oregon's 5th Congressional DistrictOregon's 5th Congressional District is situated to the west of the state and encompasses Bend and the Portland suburbs.

☆ 8 states and D.C. will make sure wages go up when inflation does—see where pay is rising
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

If the measure was applicable for a January 2024 increase, the minimum wage would go up about 8%, for example. So despite record-high inflation sitting well above 5% this year, those earning minimum wage in Vermont won't see fully corresponding raises. If tips do not bring worker's wages to the full minimum wage, businesses are required to pay out the gap. The federal minimum wage remains unchanged at $7.25 since 2009, though President Biden did give a boost to federal employees earlier in his presidency, raising their minimum wage to $15. Don't miss: Minimum wage workers in New York City need to clock over 100 hours a week to afford rent

☆ Nike co-founder Phil Knight on election donations: I do not expect everyone to agree with me
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNike co-founder Phil Knight on election donations: I do not expect everyone to agree with meNike co-founder Phil Knight joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss why he donated millions to candidates running in Oregon's gubernatorial race and more.

☆ Live results: Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner faces off against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon's 5th Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Hanna Kang | Dorothy Cucci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner is running against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner faces off against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsOregon's 5th Congressional District candidatesMcLeod-Skinner is a small business owner and emergency response coordinator. McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in the Democratic primary for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, securing 56.9% of the vote to his 42.7%. Voting history for Oregon's 5th Congressional DistrictOregon's 5th Congressional District is situated to the west of the state and encompasses Bend and the Portland suburbs.

☆ Midterm elections 2022 come amid political panic and anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Whitney Phillips | Whitney Phillips Is An Assistant Professor In The University Of Oregon'S School Of Journalism | Communication. She Studies Political Communication | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

They post and repost lots of partisan content, argue with people on social media and generally are edgy and defensive. Individually, when we are stressed out and anxious, we shift into the “downstairs brain,” a term introduced by neuropsychiatrist Dan Siegel and psychotherapist Tina Payne Bryson. On social media, such individual experiences can have significant collective consequences, too. Research suggests that the more anxious and overwhelmed we are, the more likely we are to share false information on social media. What these strategies can do, however, is help people regain the perspective they lose when they shift into downstairs brain mode.

☆ Democratic incumbent Sen. Ron Wyden faces off against Republican Jo Rae Perkins in Oregon's US Senate election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Ron Wyden is running against Republican Jo Rae Perkins to represent Oregon in the US Senate. Wyden has been Congress for more than 40 years overall — and in the US Senate since 1996. Democratic incumbent Sen. Ron Wyden faces off against Republican Jo Rae Perkins in Oregon to represent the state in the US Senate. Prior to his time as senator, Wyden represented Oregon's 3rd Congressional District in the House from 1981 until his election to the US Senate in 1996. Oregon's voting historyThe state voted forJoe Biden over then-President Donald Trump by a margin of 16 percentage points in the 2020 election.

Search resuls for: "Oregon's"

25 mentions found