Tag Archives: Mid-Willamette Valley

Optum purchase of Corvallis Clinic dodges state review

To avoid insolvency, the business needs to be bought quickly by UnitedHealth Group without the service guarantees that the state had earlier sought, officials say. The Corvallis Clinic is on the brink of insolvency and can proceed immediately on its sale to giant UnitedHealth Group without state-imposed conditions, the state’s mergers review program ruled on Wednesday. […]
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Cross-Laminated Timber Industry to Gain New Manufacturing Facility in Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley

Timberlab Inc. (Timberlab), a subsidiary of Swinerton Incorporated (Swinerton) and leading national provider of holistic mass timber systems, unveils its plans to construct and operate a state-of-the-art cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing facility in Oregon’s mid-Willamette region. This strategic initiative represents a significant milestone in the firm’s mission to accelerate the mainstream adoption of mass timber […]
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Staffing problems plague small town restaurants in Mid-Valley

Restaurants, bars and cafes in the Mid-Valley are returning to operating hours similar to or the same as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two and a half years ago. Customers have come back with optimism for a “return to normalcy. “But one thing continues to prevent a full rebound: adequate staffing. […]
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Editorial: If farms pass regulatory muster, let them operate

Three new, large-scale chicken farms have been proposed in Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley, and face opposition from neighbors and environmental groups. Members of the industry say the farms are needed to make up for lost production as more growers have retired in recent years, and to keep up with Americans’ appetite for chicken. However, the proposals […]
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Poultry debate: Large chicken farms raise concerns in rural Oregon

A steady mid-June rain fell as Christina Eastman drove her UTV past fields of grass and yellow-flowering dill at her family’s farm outside Scio, Ore. Eastman stopped along the North Santiam River near Wiseman Island, a reach known for high-quality salmon and steelhead habitat. From here, the river flows past an adjacent property that could […]
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New large scale industrial chicken farms draw fierce opposition – OPB’s Think Out Loud

Three new industrial chicken farms proposals in the Willamette Valley have drawn grave concerns from residents and smaller farmers in the region. They say the chicken operations on prime farmland pose a serious threat to already limited water supplies and the environment. Eric Simon grows chickens at Simon Range, a chicken farm in Brownsville, and […]
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Oregon ag officials give tentative approval to controversial Foster Farms chicken facility

Neighbors have mounted a campaign against the operation which will raise 3.5 million birds a year for slaughter. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has approved a controversial industrial chicken farm in Linn County, provided it meets a few conditions. The department said plans for J-S Ranch, which projects raising 3.4 million chickens a year for […]
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Oregon DEQ cracking down on Halsey pulp mill

A large mid-valley employer and wood pulp producer has entered a formal enforcement process with the state’s clean air regulator after failing to record accurate emissions figures for three weeks in the fall. Halsey-based Cascade Pacific Pulp LLC could face fines or corrective orders after an apparently leaky monitoring system recorded invalid data and caused […]
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Proposed chicken farms ruffle Oregon neighbors’ feathers

Drive through the little towns of Scio, Aumsville and Jefferson near Salem and no doubt you’ll see the signs: Farmers Against Foster Farms. Neighbors say farmland was purchased by people and private equity firms from outside the community with the specific intent to grow chickens for companies like Foster Farms. There are concerns about the […]
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The federal government is sending millions to the Mid-Valley. Here’s who’s getting it

The future community center in Detroit, veteran housing programs in Salem and Marion County’s public safety program have millions of dollars earmarked for them in the spending package signed into law Friday by Pres. Joe Biden. The Senate passed the $1.5 trillion spending package to fund the government through September and provide $13.6 billion to […]
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