News and Events

September 8th, 2010

Newport Bay lets customers pick price for fish.

The Desk wrote recently of the perks and pitfalls involved with the many pay-what-you-will deals popping up nationwide. Now, the local Newport Bay restaurant chain is asking customers to name their price today -- as long as you order fish and chips.

The deal on its Alaskan Cod Fish & Chips is part of a promotion to introduce new menus at the chain's restaurants.
-- Laura Gunderson, The Oregonian; 503-221-8378.

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Oregon employers won't see a cost reduction for the first time since 2003 - a symptom of lower payroll tax revenues.

Oregon employers on average will see no change in workers' compensation insurance costs next year -- the first time costs haven't dropped since 2003, state officials said today.

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services said costs on Jan. 1 will average $1.48 per $100 of payroll, same as the current year, under its proposed rate. Costs last stayed flat between 2003 and 2004.

The largest portion of workers comp insurance costs -- called the pure premium -- will drop 1.8 percent to $1.27. But a smaller portion, the premium assessment, will increase 39 percent to 10 cents per $100. The tax on payrolls covers the cost of state administrative staff and workplace safety inspectors.

A third portion -- a tax paying for worker benefit programs -- remains unchanged at 11 cents per $100.

The premium assessment increase is needed to protect worker safety in a weak economy, state officials said. Revenue from the payroll tax has dropped from $54.8 million in fiscal 2007 to $34.7 million this year, said Cory Streisinger, the department's director.

Streisinger said the workers' compensation division has reduced staff by 20 percent, imposed pay freezes and furloughs and made other cost-cutting moves.

"We've probably had more layoffs than anywhere else in state government," Streisinger said.

Individual employer rates will vary based on injury rates and industry. Manufacturers are more likely to see rates decline slightly while heath providers, on average, will see rates increase by at least 1 percent.

A public hearing on the proposed rates is scheduled at 2 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Labor and Industries Building in Salem. 

-- Brent Hunsberger

 
¶
    

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

A schedule of vessels in port, vessels due and inactive ships in repair.

VESSELS IN PORT

GRAIN VESSELS     

Clipper Ichiban: Portland CLD Irving
Eastern Queen: Portland CLD O'dock
Emerald Indah: Portland Columbia Grain
Energy Pyxis: Astoria anchor
Hellenic Sky: Astoria anchor
Leo Advance: Astoria anchor
Lupinus: Astoria anchor
New Concord: Vancouver anchor
Pan Voyager: Astoria anchor
Pinamar: Vancouver United Harvest
Pine Hurst: Astoria anchor
Selaras: Vancouver anchor
Sun: Astoria anchor

     OTHER VESSELS    

Ansac Kathryn: Astoria anchor
Benete Bay: Longview Berth 5
Celestial Wing: Portland Berth 607
Cl Antwerp: Longview anchor
Dodge Island: Astoria Pier 1 West
Dry Beam: Longview Weyerhaeuser Log B
Elliott Bay: Longview anchor
Grebe Bulker: Portland Bulk Terminal
Hanjin London: Portland Berth 605
July M: Vancouver anchor
Katherine: Portland Berth 411
Matakana Island: Longview Weyerhaeuser Log A
New Laurel: Vancouver 2, Berth 1
Orient Bulker: Longview Berth 8
Santa Pacifica: Longview Berth 6
Seaspan Barge 250: Astoria anchor
Seaspan Barge 251: Portland Ashgrove
Terrapin Island: Astoria Pier 1 Face

PORTLAND SHIP REPAIR
YARD AND INACTIVE VESSELS

Beaver State: Portland Berth 301
Noaa Rainier: Portland Dry Dock No. 5

VESSELS DUE     
Wednesday

Energy Pyxis, from Japan, Onahama at Astoria anchor

Hellenic Sky, from China, Nantong at Astoria anchor

Matakana Island, from China, Huangdao at Longview

Weyerhaeuser Log A

Mercury Leader, from New Westminster, B.C. at

Vancouver 2, Berth 10

Thursday

Arnica, from Japan, Chiba at Astoria anchor

Atlantic Diana, from South Korea, Onsan at Vancouver

Anchor

Chavin Queen, from China, Nanjing at Astoria anchor

Dyvi Pamplona, from Los Angeles at Portland Berth

607

Happy Clipper, from Japan, Kinuura at Astoria anchor

Kamogawa, from Vancouver, B.C. at Vancouver 2,

Berth 5

Michele Bottiglieri, from China, Dalian at Portland

Berth 206

Pacific Flores, from Los Angeles at Kalama Bhp

Peace Lucky, from Alaska at Portland International

Terminals

Theoskepasti, from China, Tianjin at Astoria anchor

Friday

Fuji Galaxy, from San Francisco at Vancouver 2,

Berth 5

Green Island, from New Westminster, B.C. at Longview,

Wa Weyerhaeuser Log A

     TO DEPART     
Wednesday

Celestial Wing, for Japan, Yokkaichi from Portland

Berth 607

Hanjin London, for Vancouver, B.C. from Portland

Berth 605

Jay, for Brazil, Santos from Portland Bulk Terminal

Thursday

Benete Bay, for Vancouver, B.C. from Longview

Berth 5

Clipper Ichiban, for Colombia, Buenaventura from Portland,

Or CLD Irving

Dyvi Pamplona, for Tacoma from Portland Berth 607

Eastern Queen, for South Korea, Inchon from Portland

Cld O'dock

Emerald Indah, for Indonesia, Jakarta from Portland

Columbia Grain

Mercury Leader, for Japan, Nagoya from Vancouver 2,

Berth 10

New Laurel, for Malaysia, Port Kelang from Vancouver 2,

Berth 1

Pinamar, for Taiwan, All Other Ports from Vancouver

United Harvest

Santa Pacifica, for Japan, Chiba from Longview Berth 6



 

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Stocks recovered from an early slump and ended higher after traders picked through the market for beaten-down stocks.

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

The one-day summit will include marketing information and how to translate sustainability into savings and profits

A Sustainability Summit will be held 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, at Hayden's Lakefront Grill, 8187 S.W. Tualatin Sherwood Road.

Sponsored by the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN), the one-day event is designed for nursery owners and professionals who want more data about sustainability, how to enter the developing market and how sustainability can result in profits through improving efficiency.

The summit is one of several projects in the OAN's Sustainability Initiative, begun in July 2009.

The initiative targets identification and promotion of sustainable practices, as well as assisting growers with resources and improving marketplace positioning for sustainably-produced Oregon plants.

"The sustainability tide is rising locally, nationally and globally," said Whitney Rideout, business development manager for the OAN. "It is real, it is significant, and it influences the actions of the individuals and organizations upon whom we all depend for our continued success."

For more details or to sign up, send an e-mail to Rideout at wrideout@oan.org or call 503-682-5089.

Online registration is also available at www.oan.org.

 
– Roger Gregory

 

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Applications for home loans dipped last week as mortgage rates ticked up slightly from the lowest level in decades.

WASHINGTON  — Applications for home loans dipped last week as mortgage rates ticked up slightly from the lowest level in decades.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says overall applications fell 1.5 percent from a week earlier. Applications to refinance home loans fell 3.1 percent, the first drop in six weeks. Those taken out to purchase homes, however, rose 6.3 percent to the highest level since May. The numbers are adjusted for seasonal factors.

Applications to refinance loans made up about 82 percent of all home loan activity, down from nearly 83 percent a week earlier.

Rates have been at or near the lowest level in decades since spring as investors have shifted money into safer Treasury bonds. That has lowered their yields, which mortgage rates tend to track.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan rose to 4.5 percent from 4.43 percent a week earlier. Rates on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a common refinancing option, increased to 4 percent from 3.88 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey covers more than 50 percent of all applications nationwide.

--The Associated Press

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Battling its Japanese gaming rivals on their home turf hasn’t been easy for Microsoft Corp. But the company is armed with a new weapon — its new controller-free Kinect game technology for Xbox 360

TOKYO — Battling its Japanese gaming rivals on their home turf hasn’t been easy for Microsoft Corp.

Its Xbox 360 game console runs a distant third in sales here behind Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 console and Nintendo Co.’s Wii.

But the Seattle-based company is armed with a new weapon — its new controller-free Kinect game technology — that it hopes will convince Japanese consumers to embrace the Xbox 360.

The company introduced the highly anticipated Kinect to the Japanese media today, touting its ability to broaden the Xbox’s appeal to the entire family.
    
Once known as Project Natal, Kinect stretches the concept of motion capture that propelled the Wii’s global success. But Microsoft eliminated the controller completely. Kinect relies instead on a camera system that recognizes gestures and voices, enabling players to control on-screen avatars in action and sports games simply by moving their own bodies.
     
“All you have to do is play (Kinect), or watch people play it,” said Takashi Sensui, head of Microsoft’s home and entertainment division in Japan. “It’s nothing you’ve seen, and it’s a brand new experience that I think a lot of people will be attracted to.”
     
Until now, the Xbox has been known as the device to play hard-core shooter games such as “Halo.” In the U.S., Microsoft ranks second in console sales after Nintendo, just ahead of Sony.
     
Microsoft has some catching up to do in Japan. As of last week, it had sold some 150,000 Xbox 360 console this calendar year, according to Media Create Co., a Tokyo-based gaming market research company. Nintendo sold about a million Wii units during the same period, while Sony sold just under a million.
     
Sensui said Kinect would help Xbox close the sales gap and maybe even surpass rivals “eventually.”
     
Microsoft said Kinect will launch in Japan on Nov. 20. It has previously announced that its global launch will begin Nov. 4 in North America, followed by Europe on Nov. 10.

Microsoft will release 10 Kinect-compatible games by the end of the year in Japan, including a brain-training game that requires players to use eye-brain-body coordination to answer various math and game puzzles. The game was developed with Japanese neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, who appears in a popular series of brain- training video games that drove sales of the Nintendo DS.

Kinect will be sold bundled with the Xbox or as a stand-alone system, which can be connected to existing consoles. It will cost $150 in the U.S. and 14,800 yen in Japan.

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s games division, is scheduled to speak next week at the Tokyo Game Show, where the company is expected to make additional announcements.
 
--The Associated Press

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service’s code of conduct by publicly declaring he’s from Fort Gay — a name the company considered offensive.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  — Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service’s code of conduct by publicly declaring he’s from Fort Gay — a name the company considered offensive.

The town’s name is real. But when Josh Moore tried to tell Seattle-based Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live, they wouldn’t take his word for it. Or Google it. Or check the U.S. Postal Service website for a ZIP code.

Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges for a few days until Moore could convince them the location in his profile, “fort gay WV,” wasn’t a joke or a slur: It’s an actual community of about 800 in Wayne County, along West Virginia’s western border with Kentucky.

“At first I thought, ’Wow, somebody’s thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something.’ I was mad. ... It makes me feel like they hate gay people,” said Moore, an unemployed factory worker who plays shooters like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Ghost Recon under the gamertag Joshanboo.

“I’m not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating,” said Moore, who missed a key Search and Destroy competition because of last week’s brief suspension. His team lost.

Angry and incredulous, Moore contacted customer service.

“I figured, I’ll explain to them, ’Look in my account. Fort Gay is a real place,’” Moore reasoned. But the employee was unreceptive, warning Moore if he put Fort Gay back in his profile, Xbox Live would cancel his account and keep his $12 monthly membership fee, which he’d paid in advance for two years.

“I told him, Google it — 25514!” Moore said, offering up the town’s ZIP code. “He said, ’I can’t help you.’”

Mayor David Thompson also tried to intervene, but with little success. Thompson did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press but told television station WSAZ, which first reported the dispute, that he was informed the city’s name didn’t matter. The word “gay,” he was told, was inappropriate in any context.

Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live said that was a miscommunication.

“That is absolutely incorrect” and is not Xbox Live policy, he told the AP late Tuesday.

Xbox Live received a complaint, which was directed to an agent for review.

“Someone took the phrase ’fort gay WV’ and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner,” Toulouse said. “Unfortunately, one of my people agreed with that. ... When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.”

Complaints, he notes, come to agents with no contextual information, including who the suspected offender is or what games they play. The agent simply looks at the language and determines whether it complies with policy.

The Xbox Live player’s contract says users cannot “create a gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members,” and lists potentially dangerous topics such as drug use, hate speech and racial, ethnic or religious slurs.

The Code of Conduct, however, says players may use words including lesbian, gay, bi and transgender to express relationship orientation in their profile or gamertag.

Toulouse contends his team rarely makes mistakes but acknowledged, “Absolutely, a mistake was made here, and we’ve updated our training to account for that.”

Fort Gay has been a community since 1789, when 11 people tried to establish a settlement at the junction of the Tug and Big Sandy rivers, across from what is now Louisa, Ky. It was incorporated as Cassville in 1875 but was simultaneously known as Fort Gay until 1932, when town leaders changed it to the latter for good.
 
Wayne County historian Herb Dawson said there are several theories about the reason for the change, including the railroad company’s insistence that it couldn’t have two Cassvilles on the same route. There was already one in Monongalia County.

One newspaper claimed the post office found itself in a similar situation, while some locals offered a romantic theory about a Civil War nurse named Gay who won the heart of the townspeople while caring for wounded soldiers.

There is no evidence to support any of the stories, Dawson said, and no consensus on which is true.

But one thing is clear: The word “gay” was not always politically charged. In both the 1800s and the 1930s, “gay” was commonly understood to mean happy, lively or merry.

Nor is Fort Gay the only town in West Virginia with “gay” in its name: There’s a Gay in Jackson County and a Mount Gay in Logan County.

None of that, however, matters to Josh Moore, who just wants Microsoft and Xbox Live “to acknowledge this is a real place with real people in it.”

Toulouse said he will contact Moore and apologize. Staying ahead of slang and policing Xbox for offensive is a constant challenge, he said.

“In this very, very specific case, a mistake was made,” he said, “and we’re going to make it right.”


--The Associated Press

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

Kelsey Grammer is an investor and public face supporting a new network that launched today with entertainment designed to appeal to political conservatives.

NEW YORK  — Kelsey Grammer is an investor and public face supporting a new network that launched today with entertainment designed to appeal to political conservatives.
    
 RightNetwork, whose first series, “Running,” follows the fortunes of some Tea Party-backed candidates for public office, is also trying a new model to establish itself. It is initially making programming available through video-on-demand services, the Internet and through mobile phones, bypassing the approach of a traditional television network with a spot on channel lineups.
     
Investors hope the support of a conservative audience that has made Fox News Channel and radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh successful could also work for entertainment programming, said Kevin McFeeley, RightNetwork’s president.
     
“We feel the precedent has been set,” he said.
     
Grammer, the Emmy-winning star of “Frasier,” said the network represented a desire by him and some political friends “to stop allowing people who hate us to define us.”

“If you have NBC, ABC, you have entire networks flooded with a very particular point of view,” he said. “They won’t admit it, but it’s clearly the way it is. There’s plenty of room for us.”
     
Initial programming also includes “Right2Laugh,” with standup comedians; “Politics and Poker,” with card players sitting around talking politics; and an entertainment newsmagazine. New episodes are made available every few weeks, McFeeley said. Some of the candidates featured in “Running” have already lost primary bids.
     
In the works is a sitcom called “Moving Numbers,” about quirky political consultants trying to elect a candidate to the U.S. Senate. McFeeley said RightNetwork will also offer some vintage programming, like old episodes of William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line.”
     
“We’re not out to vilify or accuse or identify anybody as an enemy,” Grammer said. “We’re out there to encourage people to open their minds and take a look at some things that we as a group of people believe is the right direction for the country.”
     
While Grammer narrates a programming highlight reel available on RightNetwork’s website, he hasn’t participated as an actor or producer in any of the network’s programming. The only other investor the privately held company has identified is Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor and owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers.
     
That led to initial false reports this spring that Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable company, was a backer of RightNetwork. In fact, the network doesn’t even have a deal to distribute its programming through Comcast, which aggressively markets video-on-demand offerings. Thus far, Verizon FiOS subscribers are the only people who can access the shows on demand, McFeeley said. Similarly, Nokia is the only mobile phone outlet.

It illustrates the huge challenge RightNetwork faces in trying to build its brand at a time cable and satellite companies have little space to offer new networks, said Derek Baine, a senior analyst at SNL Kagan. Only Anime, which had some limited success with a specialized lineup of Japanese animation, and Fearnet, which offers horror films and has the backing of Comcast and movie distributor Lionsgate, have gone this way, he said.

“The problem is, you’ve got to get a way for people to find you,” Baine said. “Without big marketing dollars, how are people going to know you are on the air?”

McFeeley said the video-on-demand approach will mirror the way people are increasingly watching television, by picking and choosing from programming and making their own schedules. He said the company will specially target potential conservative viewers with e-mail messages touting the product.

With billboards, “we’re trying to hit some of the major media markets to let people know that we’ve arrived,” he said.

Grammer said it’s not “right-wing nuts” who are behind the network.

“We’re middle-of-the-road people who have a fairly conservative approach to government, that’s all. Less government,” he said. “It’s not some insidious group of people who are plotting some horrible takeover.”
 
–The Associated Press
 

View this article »

September 8th, 2010

OpenSkies, an all-business class airline owned by British Airways, thinks customers will love its luxury service so much it’s offering a money-back guarantee.

NEW YORK  — OpenSkies, an all-business class airline owned by British Airways, thinks customers will love its luxury service so much it’s offering a money-back guarantee.
    
 he “Try OpenSkies, Love Everything or Pay Nothing” is a way to lure customers willing to pay extra with promise of better service. The airline flies between New York or Washington, D.C. to three French cities — Paris, Lyon and Nantes.
     
 Sale fares this fall start at $700 one-way for a seat, excluding taxes — generally cheaper than business class seats on major airlines — or about $1,700 one-way for a lie-flat bed.
     
 OpenSkies was launched in 2008. It dropped its service to Amsterdam last year as demand for premium air travel plunged.
     
Money-back guarantees are extremely rare in the airline industry, but some airlines have used similar gimmicks to ease passengers booking worries. JetBlue last year offered refunds to passengers who lost their jobs after buying tickets.
 
--The Associated Press

View this article »