The Oregon blog, Jan. 30, 2010
RECRUITING OREGON COMPANIES
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley wants to start poaching Oregon companies in the wake of the tax increase on businesses that Oregon voters recently passed, according to a recent story by the Portland Business Journal
Daley told the Chicago Sun-Times he plans to send economic development officials to Oregon to recruit businesses, the Journal wrote.
“It will help (Chicago’s) economic development immediately,” Daley told the Sun-Times. “You’d better believe it. We’ll be out in Oregon enticing corporations to relocate to Chicago. I’ll be very frank. I make no bones about that.”
A spokeswoman for Daley said Friday that the remarks were made in jest at the end of a press conference, and that Daley has not proposed a formal program to recruit companies in Oregon.
The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash., published an editorial trying to entice businesses to relocate after the Oregon tax measure passed.
“Our community has always been a great place to do business,” the editorial board wrote. “As of Tuesday, it just got better.”
NORTHWEST TRAINS GETTING BOOST
The Associated Press reports that the states of Oregon and Washington are to receive nearly $600 million for projects that will increase the speed of trains between Seattle and Portland. The goal is to cut an hour off the current 3.5-hour trip.
Washington is set to receive $590 million for the high-speed rail projects, and Oregon will get another $8 million for improvements to Portland’s Union Station. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said the projects would create an estimated 6,500 jobs in the state of Washington.
The money comes out of the $8 billion in grants President Barack Obama announced on Thursday for 13 major corridors in the U.S.
Washington’s trains run at 79 mph, and state officials said the goal is to reach speeds of 110 mph by 2017. Similar high-speed rail projects in California and Florida have goals of topping 150 mph.
ARRESTS MADE IN BEATING OF UO ATHLETE
Police have arrested two Lane Community College students in connection with the Jan. 24 beating of Oregon football kicker Rob Beard, according to The Associated Press.
Maurice Dion Peters, 20, of Eugene, and Kirby Taylor Hawkins, 19, of Portland, were arrested this week on a second-degree assault charge and lodged at the Lane County Jail in Eugene.
Beard, the Ducks’ kickoff specialist in 2009, was unconscious and initially in critical condition after he was beaten and kicked multiple times in the face early Jan. 24 after intervening in a fight to help UO teammate Mike Bowlin.
Both Peters and Hawkins were members of the Lane Community College men’s basketball team at one point, although neither is on the team’s current roster
Eugene Police said the case is still under investigation.
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