B2 THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022
Reviews
Continued from B1
Josh Rindfleisch/Wallowa County Chieftain
The rental shop at Ferguson Ridge in 2022 has a new owner. The shop had been owned and operated by Charlie Kissinger since 2006. Now
Adrianne Gass, a professional ski patroller, has secured the bindings.
Ferguson Ridge to pass the
ski wax to new shop owner
Ski patroller takes over
shop from longtime
operator Kissinger
Josh Rindfleisch/Wallowa County Chieftain
With assistance, Adrianne Gass lights a fire to make it comfortable for customers the first day of business.
Josh Rindfleisch/Wallowa County Chieftain
The snow has arrived in Novemer 2022 and the slopes are open at
Ferguson Ridge ski area in Wallowa County.
said it was bittersweet to let it go.
“The ski shop has changed
a lot since I bought it,” he said.
“For whatever reason we have a
lot of young families who chose
to rent their skis instead of buy
them, partly because there’s no
one around here to buy them
from, I think. It’s become a pop-
ular way to go for a lot of fami-
lies, just to rent skis. As the kids
grow up they can just change
skis instead of having to buy
new ones. It’s an economical
thing for families to do.”
Running the shop has been
“kind of a lifestyle thing for me,”
he said, “but it’s every weekend
from Thanksgiving until the
first of April, so it will be nice
not to have to be tied down to
it.”
Kissinger said he has always
enjoyed Fergi and liked watch-
ing the kids grow up from sea-
son to season.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and I
enjoyed it a lot,” he said. “The
previous owner was trying to
sell his business and there wasn’t
anyone to do the ski shop there,
so I told him I’d do it at least un-
til we found someone else that
wanted to do it, and I ended up
doing it quite a while.”
Kissinger said that even
though he won’t be running the
shop, he’ll continue to help out
and do other things on the hill
as usual. He is confident that
Gass and her family will be able
to build on the shop’s success.
Gass said she wants to do
more in terms of binding testing,
getting equipment tuned and
waxed more regularly, sending it
out in better condition and gen-
erally upgrading the fleet.
“It’s a process,” she said. “Get
rid of some of the old stuff, and
get a few new things and con-
tinue that.”
She believes that will require
some capital. She hopes to earn
a little profit this season and use
it to pay for improvements next
season.
“I’m trying to be incremen-
tal,” she said. “It’s not quite how
I envisioned it this year, but I
will take it one step at a time
and keep the upgrades going, as
Charlie was, to keep the inven-
tory current but not enough so
we have to raise prices.”
Oregon climbing but still lag national average
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Oregonians have histori-
cally earned less than people in
other parts of the country, but
over the past decade the state
has narrowed the gap consid-
erably.
Oregon’s per capita personal
income was $61,596 last year,
according to a new study by
Molly Hendrickson, an econo-
mist with the Oregon Employ-
ment Department. That’s 96%
of the national average. Orego-
nians made only 88% of the na-
tional average in 2011.
Personal income consists of
earnings — the wages and sal-
aries from employment — plus
investment income and gov-
ernment payments. It recently
has included the pandemic
stimulus checks that continued
into last year.
Oregon’s personal income
grew by 8.2% last year, accord-
ing to Hendrickson, tied with
Washington for the 10th fastest
growth in the nation. The state
ranked 21st overall in per capi-
tal personal income.
line reviews are fake, according
to the World Economic Forum.
That may not sound like
much, but the organization
estimates that those fake re-
views cost $152 billion in online
spending annually.
— Daniel Castro, director of the
And even if the fake reviews
Center for Data Innovation
don’t cost consumers directly,
they can influence purchasers
“We think it’s likely to be a
who may choose another prod- problem elsewhere,” Bonta said
uct based on a negative review,
in a phone interview. “I can’t
to the tune of $791 billion in
comment on other investiga-
e-commerce spending in the
tions, but I don’t think this is
United States alone, the group
a phenomenon isolated to just
said.
Roomster.”
“It’s a real problem for both
In a statement to news or-
consumers and business,” said
ganizations, Roomster said the
Daniel Castro, director of the
allegations are not true and are
Center for Data Innovation,
an example of “overreach” by
which published a report in
the FTC.
September on the issue. “It can
Bonta said he thinks Califor-
cause financial losses, bad pur-
nia’s unfair competition laws
chases and physical injury.” For
and regulations are sufficient
example, if a device that is sup-
but said the FTC’s decision to
posed to protect against slippery seek comment on proposed
surfaces fails, it can cause injury, new, tougher federal regulations
has merit. “The more watch-
he said.
Castro’s study found that 49% dogs on the block the more reg-
ulations and laws on this, the
of American consumers trust
better,” he said.
online reviews as much as rec-
Rich Cleland, assistant di-
ommendations from friends
rector of the FTC’s Division of
and family, and another 28%
Advertising Practices, said the
put just as much value on them
agency was looking at new rules
as articles written by experts.
to “shore up our potential to se-
“The problem with fake re-
cure civil penalties.”
views is there’s a lot of incentive
He said the department part-
to cheat,” he said, adding that
nered with the half dozen states
people can use fake reviews to
build up their own businesses or in the Roomster case because
states are able to obtain mone-
to put down a competitor.
tary damages — a consequence
Sites that are in the business
of “selling trust,” such as Yelp or taken away from the feds last
year in a U.S. Supreme Court
Google, “want to be a trusted
case.
source,” Castro said.
Also last year, the
“But there’s only so
FTC put more than
much a platform can
700 companies on
do when they are up
notice that if they
against people trying
used false endorse-
to cheat the system.
49%
ments, the agency
That’s where state
of consumers trust
was ready to take
laws can make a dif-
online reviews
action. The FTC has
ference.”
as much as
been hamstrung,
Few states have
recommendations
Cleland said, be-
laws or regulations
from friends and
cause last year’s high
specifically target-
family
court ruling in AMG
ing online reviews,
28%
Capital Management
he said.
LLC v. FTC stripped
Consum-
value them as much
as articles written by
the agency of its abil-
er-friendly states,
experts
ity to seek monetary
such as California,
damages in cases in
Colorado, Illinois
700
which it sued.
and Massachusetts,
companies warned
use their broad con-
last year by the FTC
Swift action
sumer protection
about using false
Review platforms
laws to go after mis-
endorsements
such as Yelp, Goo-
creants, while many
gle, Amazon and
other states are silent
Trustpilot have mechanisms
on the issue, he said, or have
to try to cut down on fake re-
weak laws.
views, representatives of several
The Federal Trade Commis-
companies said.
sion is considering new rules
Julianne Rowe, a Yelp spokes-
to address the problem. In the
meantime, it is teaming up with person, one of the most popu-
lar review platforms, said in a
states to file lawsuits on behalf
phone interview that the com-
of consumers, since the federal
pany uses both technological
agency cannot seek monetary
and human resources to weed
relief on its own.
out fake reviews. The company
Tougher rules
works to track down IP ad-
In August, half a dozen states, dresses, looks for multiple re-
including California, Colorado, views from the same person or
group, and takes into account
Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts
flags from other consumers
and New York, and the FTC
pointing to possible illicit re-
sued the online apartment and
views, she said.
roommate site Roomster and
Yelp, she said, prohibits re-
its owners, for allegedly pay-
views that the company has
ing for fake reviews to bolster
solicited. “What it looks for are
its reviews and listings. The
reviews that may be less reli-
suit alleges the site also charges
able, users that are less active,
customers for access to sham
unhelpful rants and raves, con-
apartment listings. The suit is
flicts of interest and employees,
pending in U.S. District Court
friends or family,” she said. Only
in New York.
70% of submitted reviews are
Recently, the FTC an-
nounced it is exploring tougher published, she said.
Amazon announced in Octo-
rules to combat fake reviews,
ber that it had filed suit against
the suppression of negative re-
10 American companies, as well
views and payments for posi-
as firms in Spain and Italy, seek-
tive reviews and served notice
ing to stop the sources of fake
in the Federal Register that it
reviews.
is soliciting public comments
Google said its policies
on the proposed rule through
“clearly state reviews must be
January.
based on real experiences and
California Attorney General
information, and we closely
Rob Bonta said his state joined
monitor 24/7 for fraudulent
the suit against Roomster be-
content, using a combination of
cause it is “facing a housing cri-
people and technology. When
sis out of proportion. If there’s
we find scammers trying to mis-
an app, they (consumers) are
lead people, we take swift action
going to trust it … especially
ranging from content removal
when they are seeing all these
to account suspension and even
letters of support.” But he said
litigation.”
it’s not just about Roomster or
apartment platforms.
By the
numbers
BY JOSH RINDFLEISCH
Wallowa County Chieftain
FERGUSON RIDGE — The
ski area Ferguson Ridge, referred
to locally as “Fergi,” has a new
owner in the rental shop.
The shop had been owned
and operated by Charlie
Kissinger since 2006. Now Adri-
anne Gass, a professional ski pa-
troller, has secured the bindings.
“I just want to keep the low-
key, family-friendly vibe of Fergi
and have the shop continue
to support this community. I
want to have quality, affordable
equipment and work toward
having a shop that can take care
of most, if not all, of their ski
and boarding needs,” she ex-
plained.
Gass and her family moved
to the area about six years ago.
Gass and her husband, Perry,
are both skiers and previously
worked at a resort in Tahoe,
where they first met. She was in
ski patrol there and he did lift
maintenance. Perry grew up in
Wallowa County and ended up
returning when a job opened in
Joseph at the the Wallowa Lake
Tramway, where he had worked
in his youth.
Gass first heard about
Kissinger when she was at
a party telling someone she
wanted to tune skis. Someone
said she should talk to Kissinger.
“I called him up, and I was
like, ‘Hey, I want to work for
you.’” Kissinger was noncom-
mittal at first, so she decided to
“just show up and hang out and
help him. I sort of just pushed
my way in there, I guess. For a
while I didn’t know if he wanted
me to hang around, but eventu-
ally he didn’t seem to mind too
much.”
Kissinger has spent many
years operating the shop and
“It’s a real problem for
both consumers and
business,. It can cause
financial losses, bad
purchases and physical
injury.”
Oregon incomes have been
rising sharply for several years,
though economists aren’t ex-
actly clear on why.
An influx of professional
workers moving here from
other states is surely one fac-
tor, as is the state’s growing tech
sector. The poverty rate has
dropped steadily in the popu-
lous Portland area, reflecting
low unemployment and rising
wages — especially at the lower
ends of the wage scale. (Poverty
rates, however, are set at a na-
tional scale and have little bear-
ing on affordability in a high-
cost market like Portland.)
Stimulus payments inflated
personal incomes last year, as
did wealthy people selling stock
to lock in gains on Wall Street
and to avoid prospective fed-
eral tax hikes on the rich (tax
increases that Congress did not
ultimately pass).
Oregon’s outlook for income
growth isn’t as rosy over the
next few years, according to a
new forecast from state econ-
omists. They expect a mild
recession beginning next sum-
mer, costing the state 24,000
jobs and pushing unemploy-
ment up to 5.4%. (Oregon’s
jobless rate is currently around
4.1%.)
And with stimulus payments
behind us, and stocks in bear
market territory, upper income
Oregonians have less incentive
to cash out their investments.
Forecasters expect just 2.4%
personal income growth in
2023, with growth climbing to
around 5% for the few years
after that. That’s still relatively
healthy by historical standards,
reflecting optimism that the
coming downturn will be short
and soft.
“The recession is expected
to be mild,” forecasters wrote,
“and personal income is ex-
pected to remain stable despite
job losses.”
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