Oregon’s wildly dysfunctional unemployment benefits

Semiconductor Job Loss

Even as state subsidies became available, Oregon’s semiconductor industry lost 2,000 jobs last year, according to newly released data. That’s in part because there’s been a rapid growth during previous years. [Oregonian 🔒]

Ditching Fossil Fuel Investments, Eventually

Oregon treasurer Tobias Read has put forward a plan to divest from fossil fuels gradually. By 2050, he wants the state’s investments to be “net zero” for carbon emissions. A quicker divestment could cause fiscal troubles for the state, Read says. The plan is similar to ones under way in California, New York, and Canada. [Willamette Week]

Group Opts for Bird Name

The environmental advocacy group formerly known as Portland Audubon has changed its name to Bird Alliance of Oregon, even as its national organization is sticking with Audubon — a slaveholder who opposed abolition. [OPB]

Oregon’s Problem With Unemployment Benefits

The state’s unemployment agency reached a new low in asking out-of-work Oregonians to return some of the money they’d received. Oregonian reporter Mike Rogoway explains how this mess came to be and what fixes are in the works. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

The Sandy Jug building has reopened as a bar after 40 years in service as a strip club. The former business didn’t use the obvious pun, but was instead called Pirate’s Cove, for some reason. As one reader wrote:

“I’m so stoked it’s back in business! Though I haven’t been actually inside the building in ... 20 years? (😬). It’s awesome it’s still kicking. The Pirate Cove was such a shameful, shameful chapter. As an old friend once said as we were driving by, ‘Why would they do that? I mean, it’s a JUG and it’s on SANDY! It’s a painful missed opportunity.’“ — Amy Long

This Portland original resembles a container of moonshine and, yes, was built in the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. It has been a luncheonette and gas station.

A shout-out to the first 10 readers who responded: Derek Badstreet, Erica, Todd Lazar, Alex Bryce, Amy Long, Mercedes Ramos, Frank Rovito, Makena, and Kendra Mingo, along with this reader, who wishes to remain anonymous:

“I’m a retired 911 call taker and dispatcher. This used to be a regular for brawls and calls way back in the day. My nephew came to Portland for a visit, and I sent him on a ride-along [with police]. This was the first strip club he had ever been to. The look on that boy’s face was so funnnny when they returned to the precinct. He was still stunned. I think he was 16 or so. He finds himself in the Sandy Jug for a brawl, and the gals just kept dancing. Those were the days.”

Thanks to reader Anita Carroll for this week’s scavenger hunt: Do you know anything about this public art? Where is it? Bonus points for anecdotes and other historical details, though that is far from a requirement. As always, email me your answer.

Also, feel free to submit a photo for next week’s scavenger hunt.

How Did Oregon’s Unemployment Bureaucracy Get This Bad?

State leaders are struggling to fix the dysfunctional way Oregon handles unemployment benefits: If you lose your job, getting benefits can be a challenge. And the state is even asking some people to return the money they’ve already received. Oregonian reporter Mike Rogoway explains how this mess came to be, what fixes are in the works, and how if you’re unemployed you can make sure your benefits actually arrive.