Oregon’s winemaking season ends with palatable note after a worrisome cold spring
This year’s growing season in Oregon vineyards took winemakers on a rollercoaster ride that ended with a surprisingly smooth finish. The season got off to a slow start with an unusually cool and wet spring. Then, just as some vines began emerging from dormancy in mid-April, the region experienced a hard frost that damaged buds and threatened to kneecap the 2022 vintage. But then, Greg Jones of Abacela Winery south of Roseburg, said “a glorious summer with almost no rain, warm days but little heat stress, and cool nights continued through to late October allowing for a phenomenal ripening period.” He and other winemakers say the grape harvest yields performed better than expected after the chilly beginning. (George Plaven/Capital Press)
Workers harvest grapes at Ridgecrest Vineyards near Newberg, Oregon, after a tumultuous growing season that began with a chilly, wet spring but then turned into a warm, dry long summer that produced a better-than-expected crop.
Courtesy of Harry Peterson-Nedry / Capital Press
2 Oregon schools districts to get electric buses under federal grant
The U.S. government is awarding $1 billion to schools nationwide for electric buses. Oregon’s share of the grant will bring electric buses to two school districts: Banks and Prospect. The private company serving Banks schools west of Portland is being awarded $4.3 million for 11 buses. The Prospect School District in south-central Oregon is receiving $1.2 million for three electric buses. (OPB staff)
Camas considers a utility tax
The Camas City Council is considering various revenue-building options, including a possible 3% tax on the city’s utilities due to a structural deficit that is beginning to strain the city’s ability to pay for its most critical operating and facility needs. Mayor Steve Hogan has proposed a revenue package that would, if approved by the council, include a 1% property tax increase — the maximum increase allowed under Washington law — as well as the use of nearly $7 million in federal COVID-recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the new tax on the city’s utilities. (Kelly Moyer/Camas-Washougal Post-Record)
Multnomah County’s downtown Portland library location to reopen Nov. 1
Multnomah County’s Central Library in downtown Portland will reopen on Nov. 1, after a four-month closure for construction. Since the library closed in July, crews have built a new outdoor public terrace and begun work on several other projects. The work was partially paid for by a capital bond that voters approved in 2020. The Central Library could see another 6-month closure next year as work on the projects continues. As part of the library system upgrade, the Holgate Library is being rebuilt, and the Midland Library on 122nd Avenue is being expanded. Both will close this December and reopen in 2024. (OPB staff)
John Day could lose lottery funds if pool bond fails again
Interim John Day City Manager Corum Ketchum provided an update at a City Council meeting on Tuesday, that the city will likely lose the $2 million in lottery grant funding that would go toward the construction of a new community pool if the $4 million bond on the Nov. 8 ballot doesn’t pass. The city received a $2 million state lottery grant to go toward the cost of building a pool, but that money came with an expiration date. (Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle)