Salem-News.com Business articles

Protecting Yourself From Common Scams

Scammer or scamster (n.): a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud; chiseler, chiseller, defrauder, grifter, swindler, gouger

(SALEM, Ore.) - Most people believe that they would never be fooled by a scam artist, and that those who do fall for them aren't very bright.

The thing is, there are several different types of scams, from the subtle to the absurd, and scam artists spend a lot of time perfecting ways of separating people from their money and their identities.

City of Salem Considers New Streetlight Fee

The Salem City Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the streetlight fee in February.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Keeping Salem's more than 10,550 streetlights operating has squeezed funding for road repairs.

What's the crux of the problem? Streetlights and road repairs in Salem both depend on a shrinking pool of gasoline tax revenues. Money for basic road pavement maintenance has largely evaporated.

Oregon Gas Prices Keep Tumbling Down

Lower gas prices are a welcome relief for consumers across the U.S.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - U.S. motorists are paying an average price at the pump today ($2.13 per gallon) that is more than forty percent lower than the 2014 peak of $3.70 reached on April 28.

The national average continues to test lows not seen since May 2009 and has now dropped a record 109 consecutive days for a total decline of $1.22 per gallon during this span.

Silicon Forest: Oregon`s Untapped High Tech Gold Mine

A rising middle class in emerging markets is eager to import high tech products.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Oregon is known for many things: It has more ghost towns than anywhere else in the United States; Hell's Canyon is the deepest river on the continent; the Columbia River gorge offers the best windsurfing in the world; and Seaside Aquarium was the first place in the world where harbor seals were bred in captivity.

However, few people know that during the gold rush, the biggest reserves were found in 1958 at Sharp’s Creek in the Bohemia Mining District nestled in the Cascade Mountains.

Learn to Cope Carries a Lighted Candle of Hope in Massachusetts

First parent organization in the country that are also NARCAN trainers (used for acute opioid overdosage).

(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) - Ten years ago, Joanne Peterson founded an organization called Learn to Cope to help families deal with the prescription drug/heroin health crisis in Massachusetts.

Learn to Cope is solely peer to peer education, support, resources and providing hope for families thinking hope was no longer an option to them.

Liability Issues for Uber and Lyft Drivers

Lyft and Uber are steering very clear of Portland

(SALEM, Ore.) - Peer-to-peer, or ridesharing, is nothing new; just check any grocery store in the low-income parts of town and you’ll find “bootleg” taxis offering people rides home at a fraction of the cost of a traditional taxi.

In Salem, we have companies like The Cherriots, Ridester and other organizations that help people pair up for carpooling needs.

Follow The Sand To The Real Fracking Boom

The frac sand business is a huge element of the US oil boom but one that very few investors know anything about.

(LONDON / Oilprice.com) - When it takes up to four million pounds of sand to frack a single well, it’s no wonder that demand is outpacing supply and frack sand producers are becoming the biggest behind-the-scenes beneficiaries of the American oil and gas boom.

Demand is exploding for “frac sand”--a durable, high-purity quartz sand used to help produce petroleum fluids and prop up man-made fractures in shale rock formations through which oil and gas flows—turning this segment into the top driver of value in the shale revolution.

24th Annual Humboldt Harvest Party Hemp Fest a Successful 3-Day Event!

For all those that wish they'd made it to Humboldt....enjoy!

(HUMBOLDT, Calif.) - This year marked the 24th Annual Celebration of Cannabis and all things "Hemp" at the Mateel Center in Redway, California which ran November 14th, 15th, & 16th, 2014. This reporter has personally attended this event for more than 13 steady years and I HIGHLY recommend all consider attending future of these festivals!

The event featured various artists, vendors, speakers, and performers and a glorious time is reported to have been had by all in attendance as all turned out to exploration of cannabis-related issues, products and culture.

OSP F&W Troopers in Bend - Arrest Suspect in Trophy Mule Deer Kill

The illegal harvest of deer is taken very seriously.

(BEND, Ore.) - On November 24, 2014, Oregon State Police (OSP) Fish & Wildlife troopers in Central Oregon received information about a trophy class, 205" mule deer, killed the day prior under suspicious circumstances in the Metolius Wildlife Management Unit.

Members of the team began an investigation and as the investigation unfolded the hunter who shot the animal was contacted and ultimately provided a full confession to the illegal harvest of the buck deer.

Sweet Home Man Dies While Trimming a Tree

The victim fell from a fir tree, approximately 52 feet off the ground.

(SWEET HOME, Ore.) - Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley reports his deputies are investigating the death of a Sweet Home man that fell while trimming a tree.

Today at 10:21 a.m. deputies responded to R & L Excavating on Crescent Hill Road in Sweet Home, after being notified by Sweet Home Fire of a fatal tree-trimming accident.