LGBTQ flag burned in apparent Newberg hate crime
Police are investigating an alleged hate crime reported Monday morning after an arsonist set flame to a pride flag at a home on North Villa Road near George Fox University’s Roberts Center. A video captured by the residents’ security camera reportedly shows a man spraying a flammable substance on the flag and lighting it, then performing a Nazi salute. No one was injured and someone alerted the home’s residents before the fire spread. The incident comes amid increased tensions in the community after the Newberg School Board banned Black Lives Matter and pride flags. That decision led to lawsuits, the firing of the superintendent and attempted recalls of board members. (Gary Allen/Portland Tribune)
Lane County firms get grant for rural broadband
With the help of recent federal funding, two Lane County internet providers are expanding high-speed broadband connections to customers in rural areas. Siuslaw Broadband LLC, which got a roughly $10,700 loan, and Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, which got a grant close to $25 million. Siuslaw Broadband’s loan will allow them to connect 1,407 people; 28 businesses; 21 farms; and two educational facilities to high-speed internet. Pioneer plans to provide fiber-to-the-premises connections for 3,570 people; 558 farms; and 72 businesses in Benton, Lane, Lincoln and Polk counties. (Louis Krauss/The Register-Guard)
Port of Portland secures funding to upgrade Terminal 6
Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland is getting an upgrade. The port recently secured a $24 million federal grant to improve and expand Oregon’s only marine shipping terminal for agricultural exporters. Curtis Robinhold, the port’s executive director, said the grant will boost cargo storage while making operations safer and more environmentally friendly. “This federal investment will have positive ripple effects throughout the Pacific Northwest,” Robinhold said. (George Plaven/Capital Press)
I-5 bridge replacement officials learn from past, hope policy changes smooth path to new span
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program has moved closer to the starting point, following the failure of the previous attempt, known then as the Columbia River Crossing. A new process was implemented in 2014, the year after the Columbia River Crossing fell apart. It came in the form of a memorandum of agreement between the Coast Guard and the Federal Highway Administration to coordinate and improve bridge planning and permitting. What that permit will require is already a subject of heated speculation. (William Seekamp/The Columbian)
Salem-Keizer school board member under investigation for alleged OSAA violation at football game
A school board member for Salem-Keizer Public Schools is under investigation for reportedly violating the Oregon School Activities Association’s spectator conduct rules. Osvaldo Avila is said to have gotten “overly excited about a call by the officials” made at the end of the West Salem vs. Sheldon High School junior varsity game. (Natalie Pate/Statesman Journal)
Lebanon, Oregon-based Entek gets $200 million for a factory
An Oregon builder of lithium battery components has received a nine-figure grant from the Biden administration to build a new factory. ENTEK is based in Lebanon and learned recently it secured a $200 million grant from the U. S. Department of Energy to put toward the plant, which will make separators.
CEO Kimberly Medford told President Biden last month that these parts are a key component to separate the positive and negative ends of a vehicle battery. “It allows for ions to flow, but it protects those two components from touching, which we all know is a bad thing. It creates, at a minimum, a short and at maximum a fire. And so it’s a very important insulator.”
ENTEK is one of 20 companies receiving a share of $2.8 billion in federal funding. The money is part of the infrastructure law that Congress passed a year ago. Full disclosure: ENTEK is a sponsor of OPB. (Rob Manning/OPB)
