Why Oregon’s largest employer cut 1 in 8 jobs last year

Pamplin To Reimburse Raided Employee Pensions

In a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, the former newspaper publisher Dr. Robert Pamplin has admitted to raiding his employees’ pension fund. Once the third wealthiest person in Oregon, Pamplin is raising the funds by selling off properties that include a 81,000-acre ranch (the largest in Central Oregon), two Yamhill County wineries, and Columbia Empire Farms (which at one time was the largest producer of hazelnuts in the state). [Willamette Week]

$1M To Consider I-405 Ramp Removal or Replacement

The city and residents of North Portland's Boise and Eliot neighborhoods now have $1 million from a federal grant to come up with a plan to shorten or remove the I-405 ramp that divides the community. The ramp was originally intended to connect to a highway project along Fremont Street when it was constructed more than 50 years ago. That plan was abandoned, and the current ramp is overbuilt. [Portland Mercury]

Dog Walks, Dirt Bikes, and Alley Hangouts

In a new neighborhood guide, longtime Foster-Powell resident and podcast producer Phoebe Flanigan shares the dive bars, alleyways, and rich history of her Southeast Portland neighborhood. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

• Fun Fact: Foster-Powell might be the home of Abe Lincoln’s childhood wood stove! [City Cast Portland 🎧]

I got a number of responses to an article on Portland’s best teahouses, focused on Chinese gongfu-style tea service.

First, I got a recommendation for another good spot for Chinese tea:

• “Bumblebee Flowers & Tea, Lake Oswego.” — Carolyn

Also, readers offered correctives on my snarky line about “high British tea”:

• “I loved your tea recommendations, but it caused my British soul a lot of pain to see British teatime dismissed as milky sweet and served ‘with a side of cucumber sandwiches.’ Ouch ouch, oh I just can't deal with the pain. It is soooo not that at all! What did make me giggle was it being called high British tea, which kind of gives off a vibe of ‘I'm suuuuuper relaxed and chilled here with my high British tea!’” — Ruth
• “Americans think ‘high tea’ means fancy tea. In England the ‘high’ means late, and ‘high tea’ means a working class supper at 6 p.m. ‘Afternoon tea’ can be formal and fancy. [Which] follows a set pattern of two kinds of tea (China green, with no dairy ever added, and India black, [possibly] with milk or sugar), savories, then scones or toast and jam, followed by sweets or little pastries. It helped the aristocracy bridge the gap between their light luncheon and their multi-course 8 or 9 p.m. dinner.
  
  “There is a class distinction as to [the addition of milk and sugar]. Originally, ordinary people could only afford earthenware ‘china.’ The glaze would crack/craze when hot tea was poured into them. The solution was to put the milk in first, to keep the hot tea from damaging the cup. A lot of milk would arbitrarily be added because the cheaper tea was very bitter.
  
  “Rich folk, on the other hand, could afford porcelain or bone china. Hot tea could be poured into them without fear of damage, the tea was of better quality, and milk and sugar could thus be added afterwards to taste. In the case of very thin cups, tea could be poured over the (silver) spoon to lower the temperature. China tea was always drunk straight, with no dairy or sugar.” — Patrick Mizelle

Thank you for those responses. Please don’t hesitate to email me your responses to the newsletter today or anytime.