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Hynix announces its Eugene memory chip plant will be closed

Hynix Semiconductor said July 23 it plans to shut down its chip plant in west Eugene in the next two months, amid a poor market and low prices for computer memory chips.

The closure affects 1,113 employees and 300 contractors. Hynix is the single largest taxpayer in Eugene, and the closure will affect local governments, the utility company and businesses throughout Eugene.

Hynix officials confirmed they were shutting the plant after reports of the planned closure were published on The Register-Guard Web site.

Hynix said it plans to look for other ways to use the facility, whether that is pursuing a related business themselves, selling the complex to another semiconductor manufacturer, or moving the equipment and selling the building and land.

Counties may need tax hikes, increased logging, governor says

SALEM - With two-thirds of Oregon county governments, including Lane County, facing financial crises, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski urged residents to accept modest local property tax increases and more logging on federal forests to help stave off deep cuts in county law enforcement and other critical services.

Those steps are just two of 54 recommendations in a task force report delivered to the governor.

Kulongoski commissioned the report last year to address the imminent loss of about $238 million in annual federal timber payments, including $47 million a year to Lane County.

The top recommendation was for Oregon to press Congress and President Bush to keep the subsidies coming for four years or more to give counties time to develop solutions.

However, Congress and the White House are increasingly resistant to prolonging the nationwide timber-county aid program, given other demands on the federal budget.

Eugene council studying ways to fix deteriorated streets

The Eugene City Council discussed how it might accelerate improving deteriorated neighborhood streets. Councilors took no action but agreed to continue studying the topic.

The city requires adjoining property owners to pay for a share of the work, a monetary roadblock to improving 63 miles of neighborhood streets and 12 miles of so-called arterial and collector streets.

In most cases, the city doesn't order the work to be done; instead, adjoining property owners may initiate a project by agreeing to be assessed for a portion of the construction cost.

But at an average assessment of $9,000 for a 50-foot-wide lot, "people are surprised at the cost," City Engineer Mark Schoening told councilors.

Most of the unimproved streets were built while they were in the county, and the streets don't meet city standards because they lack sidewalks, curbs, gutters and other features.

St. Vincent project in Springfield asks for urban renewal funding

SPRINGFIELD - The Royal Building is up and running - and St. Vincent de Paul is hoping for urban renewal funding to make sure businesses will come.

The nonprofit agency asked the Springfield Economic Development Agency for $30,000 in funding to add finishing touches to its commercial space on the ground floor of the Royal Building, located at Fifth and Main streets.

The five-story, $7.4 million project, which opened in November, has 4,400 square feet of commercial space. The top floor contains thirty-three affordable housing units.

Two businesses, a diner and a Cricket Wireless outlet, have signed leases, St. Vincent de Paul Executive Director Terry McDonald said. He declined to identify the diner.

But the agency, he said, needs help attracting renters to the rest of the space, and hopes to draw them by adding amenities such as walls, ventilation systems and toilets.

UO to appeal decision that it needs new permit for basketball arena

The University of Oregon is contesting the city of Eugene decision that requires the UO to get a conditional use permit to build its new basketball arena. But the UO says it will not try to avoid the permit requirement.

Rather, the university said it is appealing the requirement in hopes of overturning a precedent that could limit its ability to develop other property it owns near the arena site.

University officials say they will seek a ruling from the state Land Use Board of Appeals overturning the local hearings official who said the conditional use permit is required.

Getting the conditional permit adds an extra step that could delay the start of arena construction and probably require the UO to take additional measures to alleviate any neighborhood problems the arena might cause.

City shuts down BowTech briefly citing fire, building violations

City inspectors temporarily shut down Eugene bow and archery equipment maker BowTech's Highway 99 factory, citing numerous fire and building violations there.

The violations included having far too much paint, solvents and other flammable liquids stored indoors, said Stuart Ramsing, Eugene's buildings official.

The city's inspection and enforcement led BowTech to "lose a day of their spray-paint operations," he said.

The company quickly fixed the most serious violations and was allowed to resume most operations, Ramsing said.

Advertising firm boosts use of digital signs at Valley River Center

Wildfire Advertising, owned by Shane Riddle and his brother-in-law, former University of Oregon basketball star Luke Jackson, has started up in a new advertising medium - digital signage - that is emerging around the world, from shopping malls to airport shuttles.

Jackson contacted Valley River Center officials with the advertising idea last summer, and by September he and Riddle had installed their first three video screens in the mall's food court and theater areas as part of a trial run.

They have now launched a full-coverage version of the system, with a total of 20 screens at eight locations around the mall.

Revenue to feed the venture comes from advertisers who pay to have their businesses, products or services touted in an eight-minute video loop - updated frequently - that is shown on the closed network of screens.

June foreclosures in Lane County up 12 percent over last year

Foreclosure filings against homeowners in Lane County continued to climb in June, but the local situation remains considerably better than the state as a whole, or the nation.

Lane County had 145 foreclosures in June, up 12 percent from June 2007, according to figures released today by RealtyTrac.

The firm, based in Irvine, Calif., monitors not only auction sale notices, but default notices and bank repossessions. The company estimates that one out of 1,021 households in Lane County received some type of foreclosure notice in June.

By comparison, Oregon as a whole had 2,047 foreclosures in June, up 133 percent from June 2007. One out of 775 households throughout the state was in some stage of foreclosure.

Nationwide, 252,363 homeowners received foreclosure notices, up 53 percent from June 2007.

One out of 501 households nationwide received a foreclosure filing in June.

Governor preparing bill to phase out field burning

Under the orders of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the state Department of Environmental Quality is drafting a bill for the 2009 Legislature calling for annual reductions in field burning and a near-phaseout in four or five years.

"It essentially continues the phase-down that stopped in 1998," said Andy Ginsburg, who oversees the state's air quality division.

About 150 farmers - many of them concentrated in the flat lands north of the Eugene-Springfield area - ordinarily burn about 50,000 acres of seed fields after the harvest each year. The flames are a means of guarding the purity of the lawn seed they produce, of ridding their land of mice, and of disposing of tons of straw stubble.

"If and when a bill comes forward, we will either work against it or try to make it reasonable," said Roger Beyer, a former state senator and head of the Oregon Seed Council lobbying group.

Council looking at stricter rules for apartment buildings

The Eugene City Council indicated that it may lower building heights and require more off-street parking for new apartment projects in a residential area south of the University of Oregon.

The proposal came about at the instigation of south university neighborhood residents, who had objected to a proposed seven-story apartment building on the northeast corner of East 19th Avenue and Alder Street, one block south of the university campus.

Zoning in the area allows apartment buildings as tall as 12 stories within 1' blocks of single-family homes.

Planning commissioners OK Florence timeshare project

FLORENCE - Though wary of the building height debacle that plagued the developers of the nearby Stillwater Condominium project, planning commission members signed off on a major design review permit for a four-story, luxury timeshare resort.

Developers of the 120-unit project already have started marketing the offerings to members of the Wyndham Worldwide vacation owner ship network, which they bill as the largest on the planet.

The project will be built on a 12-acre site at Quince Street, across the street from the Florence Events Center, now occupied by the dilapidated remains of the former Siuslaw Middle School.

The main building is planned at 47,000 square feet, including a pool and spa pavilions.

The project's applicants still must obtain a building permit from the city.

The approval process does not require City Council review, however.

Committee to begin discussing plan for riverfront EWEB property

The nine members of the Riverfront Master Plan Community Advisory Team - many with real estate or business backgrounds - began discussion that will lead to a development plan for Eugene Water & Electric Board property next to the utility's headquarters along the Willamette River.

EWEB is moving its operations building, vehicle shops, warehouse and storage yard to the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Belt Line Road, and will finance the move and facility construction in part with the sale and development of the 12 to 14 acres adjacent to its headquarters, project manager Mark Oberle said.

The team will meet twice a month for the next 12 to 18 months and during that period will hold four forums to gather public comment. All of the group's meetings will be open to the public.

Dunham Motors getting out of car sales, will do RV repairs

FLORENCE - Dunham Motors, a Lane County fixture for more than a half-century, exited the new and used car sales business to focus instead on recreational vehicle repairs at its last location, on Highway 101 in Florence.

"It's (due to) the death of the truck and SUV market, and the failure of domestic automakers to have a product that's competitive with imports in this market," said Blake Brewster, general manager of Dunham Chevrolet Buick in Florence.

Brewster cited high fuel costs, a dramatic decline in sales of trucks and SUVs, lack of fuel-efficient domestic car models and an industrywide tightening of credit.

UO economic index shows Oregon probably in a recession

The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators declined in May for the third straight month. The index's slide confirms a feeling that many Oregon families have had for months: The state probably has been in at least a mild recession since March, said Tim Duy, author of the index.

"Even if the numbers aren't perfectly showing it yet, the rise in inflation has whittled away enough income that (people) feel as if they're in a recession," he said.

The nation probably slid into recession before Oregon, Duy said. A national recession is commonly defined as at least two consecutive quarters of decline in gross domestic product. The National Bureau of Economic Research hasn't officially dated a recession, and typically doesn't do so until six to 18 months after a recession has started.

US Airways plans to end Eugene-to-Phoenix flights

US Airways will end its nonstop flights to Phoenix on Sept. 30, Eugene Airport spokeswoman Cathryn Stephens said.

US Airways previously announced that it was ending its service from Eugene to Las Vegas.

With its Phoenix service also ending, the airline will no longer have a Eugene Airport presence, Stephens said.

Stephens said the airport hopes to entice another carrier to pick up the Phoenix route.

"Of course, we're disappointed, but we're not really surprised because of the state of the industry right now," Stephens said.

As recently as April, US Airways had added another daily nonstop flight to Phoenix and increased service to Las Vegas to six days a week.

Delta to cut its direct?Eugene-to-L.A. flights

Delta Air Lines will terminate service from Los Angeles International Airport to Eugene, effective Sept. 1, a company spokesman said.

The twice-daily flights are the only nonstop flights from Eugene to Los Angeles.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black said the Atlanta-based airline would cancel service from Los Angeles to 13 cities, including Eugene, after ending its partner ship with ExpressJet, which operates the flights. ExpressJet also operates Delta flights out of Salt Lake City, including two flights a day to Eugene, and Delta plans to find another carrier to operate those flights, Black said.

Delta decided to end its relationship with ExpressJet, and terminate service out of LAX, in an effort to cut operating costs that have risen with the cost of fuel, Black said.

Insurance deductibles linked with failure to take medication

Health insurance plans that require enrollees to pay up-front deductibles before coverage kicks in have an alarming side effect, according to two studies released by health policy researchers at the University of Oregon.

People enrolled in these plans were two to three times more likely than enrollees in other types of plans to quit taking drugs to control cholesterol and high blood pressure, said Jessica Greene, professor of health policy in the UO's department of planning, public policy and management.

She and Judith Hibbard, a professor in the same department, were co-authors of the papers, which were published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs.

Springfield annexes state land near Glenwood Bridge

SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield City Council has expanded the city limits to include the Glenwood Bridge area, and officials hope that will go a long way toward ending the constant presence of transients trespassing and drinking around the bridge and illegally living in vans by the river there.

The unanimous vote by the council brought into the Springfield boundary a slice of state-owned land located under and next to the dual bridges over the Willamette River that link Glenwood and Springfield.

With that comes the ability of the Springfield police to enforce city ordinances against drinking in public, trespassing and illegal camping.

Slump in housing construction leads to timber industry slowdown

The poor housing market hit the Oregon timber industry last year, contributing to a 12 percent decline in the statewide harvest after more than six years of slow but steady gains, and economists expect an equally rough 2008.

It could have been worse. Commercial construction, big transportation projects and the relatively weak dollar offset the pains in the residential market, economists said.

"With relatively strong plywood demand and nonresidential construction and fewer log imports from adjacent states, Oregon timber harvests declined less than half of the percentage drop in national housing starts," Gary Lettman, forest economist with the state Department of Forestry, said.

Statewide the timber harvest dropped to 3.8 billion board feet in 2007, the smallest Oregon timber harvest since 2001.

Lane County's percentage decline exceeded the state's, a 15 percent drop, but its 504 million board feet was still the largest harvest of any Oregon county last year. Douglas County followed with 479 million board feet, while Clatsop and Coos were third and fourth, respectively, with 338 million board feet and 303 million board feet.

Developer to begin 53-lot Springfield housing project

Developer Mark Vukanovich is launching a 53-lot project in Springfield this summer.

The proposed subdivision is part of the 223-acre MountainGate development on Potato Hill in southeast Springfield. Vukanovich's SunTrust Land Co. bought the land and began work in 2006. When completed, it will be the largest single housing development in Lane County.

Over the past two years, SunTrust has developed 120 lots averaging 14,000 square feet and sold half of them to individual builders who put up houses that have sold for $500,000 to $1 million.

The 60 remaining bare lots (with utilities) are unsold, and their list price is $121,000 to $202,500.

The newest phase represents a change in housing types. Unlike the large-scale homes with one-third-acre yards, the latest batch will be 53 two- and three-story houses built side by side - the whole batch of them on less than 8 acres.

The phase is one of two "cluster" developments that SunTrust is planning. It has dubbed the project "The Cottage Collection at the Heights," according to documents submitted to the Springfield planning department.

The "cottages" are expected to sell for between $290,000 and $350,000, Vukanovich said. They're detached single-family houses built close together that are designed to appeal to buyers without time or patience for maintaining yards.

Creswell voters likely to see gas-tax proposal on ballot

CRESWELL - A measure creating a 3-cents-per- gallon fuel tax to finance street repair and maintenance will most likely go before city voters Nov. 4, the City Council decided unanimously.

The decision drew little public reaction - only six people turned out to testify at the city's second town hall meeting to hear what residents think of the idea. Even fewer attended a previous session held the night before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Springfield council asks state to reject strip club's liquor license

SPRINGFIELD - In a meeting that packed the council chambers to standing-room-only capacity, the City Council unanimously voted to ask that the Oregon Liquor Control Commission reject a license for Shakers Bar and Grill.

While the council debated for only about 10 minutes before casting a vote 5-0 against recommending a liquor license, supporters and detractors of owner Jack Dugger's proposed exotic dancing club at 535 Main St. battled for more than an hour during public comment.

City officials and protesters expressed concerns about the addition of another bar in an area that lies directly in the center of an urban renewal district and within 500 feet of both the Academy of Arts and Academics high school and the Gateways Learning Center.

Dugger and his supporters called the meeting a "witch hunt" and the information provided by the city "inaccurate."

LCC reaches labor contract with classified workers

Lane Community College is halfway through this year's labor negotiations with the approval of a new seven-year contract for its classified workers union.

Union members will receive a 1 percent cost of living increase this year, and members eligible to move up one step on the salary scale will instead move up a half step. The employee share of insurance costs will increase 1.5 percent, but workers will get a $150 lump sum payment that they can use to help cover the higher cost.

Workers also will get an extra 81 hours of paid leave, which works out to about two weeks of time off. Also, the college agreed not to lay off any more workers for the term of the contract.

Greg Morgan, LCC's associate vice president for finance, said the deal will cost the college $460,000 this year.

Although it's a seven-year deal, the sides will renegotiate a pay and benefit package next year and again in 2011 and 2013.

That allows the college to align bargaining with the Oregon legislative session, when its budget is determined.

OSU looking for bee experts to study `colony collapse'

CORVALLIS - Oregon State University has begun a nationwide search for honeybee experts as it launches an investigation into the health of the state's bee population.

There has been nationwide concern among beekeepers, and among farmers who depend on bees for pollination, about a phenomenon called "colony collapse disorder" that OSU researchers said began appearing in late 2006 on the East Coast. The bees of entire hives have disappeared, or died, with no known cause.

The state has approved $215,000 in emergency funding for the project. The university said the money will be used to hire a lead scientist to identify and work to resolve problems facing honeybees in Oregon and also a research and extension assistant to help the scientist and OSU entomologist Jim Young research problems facing the bees. The money also will increase the university insect lab's diagnostic capabilities.

The funding is for 10 months, but OSU said it hopes the Legislature will renew funding.

Halsey pulp mill back up and running

HALSEY - The former Pope & Talbot pulp mill in Halsey is back in business after Wayzata Investment Partners bought the mill at auction for $31.2 million and set up a new company, Cascade Pacific Pulp, to run the mill.

It employs 150 people, 17 percent fewer than before, and the hourly wage rate has been cut by about 12 percent. A journeyman earns about $27 an hour now.

Cascade did not assume Pope & Talbot's former union contracts.

Two Springfield councilors step down from planning group

SPRINGFIELD - Citing a need to "avoid any appearance of partiality," Springfield City Councilors John Woodrow and Dave Ralston have stepped down from a nonprofit group planning a conference center in the Gateway area.

The move followed the resignations of two Springfield city employees from the Springfield Conference Center Consortium in May, when residents of the seniors-only Patrician Manufactured Homes park - the site favored for redevelopment by the consortium - threatened to take the issue to the state Government Standards and Practices Commission.

Residents argued that it was impossible for city employees and elected officials to act objectively with regard to conference center development if they also held volunteer spots on the conference center panel.

The departure of the councilors leaves 11 active members on the consortium board, including one city employee, Finance Director Bob Duey.

Pacific Continental added to Russell 2000 stock index

Pacific Continental Corp., the parent of Pacific Continental Bank, has been added to a widely used stock index, giving the company a higher profile with investors and guaranteeing that a number of investment funds will buy Pacific Continental's stock.

The company was added to the Russell 2000 Index when its market capitalization - the number of shares of company stock times the price of each share - hit $178.5 million, well over the Russell 2000 threshold.

The Russell 3000 index is made up of the 3,000 largest companies in the country, as measured by market capitalization. The Russell 2000 is made up of the bottom 2,000 companies in the Russell 3000 index. It is revised once a year.

Developers look to build apartments in Whiteaker area

A pair of developers are dusting off plans to build a four- or five-story residential building on a half-acre parking lot next to the Red Apple Market in the Whiteaker neighborhood in central Eugene.

Two years ago, developers Roscoe Divine and Gordon Jones launched the project with plans to build condominiums. But the cost of insurance to guard against litigious condo buyers was too high, Divine said recently. So they let the plan rest for a couple of years.

"(Now) we think there's an opportunity to build some apartments," Divine said. "We think that neighborhood could stand some really nice apartments."

Seneca Sawmill looking at turning bark, chips into electricity

Eugene's Seneca Sawmill is looking into turning the low-grade chips, bark and dust left over from its milling operations into power that would flow into local utility lines.

The project, which would cost as much as $30 million if the company decides to go ahead, would involve installing a large wood-fired boiler, a turbine and a cooling tower.

The proposed system could generate 15 megawatts, or enough to light up about 12,000 homes.

County backs off of its rejection of population estimates

Attempting to sidestep a threatened legal challenge by several local cities, the Lane County Board of Commissioners overturned its April 30 resolution rejecting a coordinated population projection developed last year by the Lane Council of Governments.

The projections had been commissioned by several small Lane County cities anticipating an increase in their growth rate.

Such estimates are used by cities in seeking grants to expand services or to justify expansion of their boundaries.

While the commissioners formally adopted no alternative plan for creating the growth forecast, their direction to the county's land management staff made clear that a majority of the five-member board hopes to commission Portland State University to conduct a new population study.

And, in a year when the loss of federal safety net payments to timber counties forced the commissioners to slash public safety and other services, they voted to make $200,000 available for the new forecast.

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Publication:	The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Geographic Code:	1USA
Date:	Aug 1, 2008
Words:	4052
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