A5
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021
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Clackamas County
commissioners bristled
Thursday over impend-
ing COVID-19 restrictions
on businesses, voting
unanimously to send a
letter to Gov. Kate Brown
objecting to renewed lim-
itations.
The county’s five
elected board mem-
bers said they felt the
ordered move to stricter
regulations would place
an unsustainable strain
on businesses such as
restaurants and gyms.
The governor an-
nounced Tuesday that
Multnomah and Clacka-
mas counties would need
to implement tighter re-
strictions Friday because
of increased coronavirus
spread. Each exceeded
coronavirus benchmarks
for case rates over the
past two weeks, prompt-
ing Brown to move the
counties into a high risk
designation.
Clackamas County
recorded 140.5 corona-
virus cases per 100,000
residents in the past two
weeks, above the 100-
case threshold to face
new restrictions.
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SBA halts launch of
assistance program
The U.S. Small Busi-
ness Administration sus-
pended the launch of the
long-awaited Shuttered
Venue Operators Grant
on Thursday, after ap-
plicants were thwarted
by technical difficulties.
The grants are meant to
provide a $16 billion life-
line to museums, movie
theaters, live music ven-
ues and even zoos deci-
mated by the pandemic.
Applicants said they
could log into the SBA’s
online application portal
but not upload financial
documents. The SBA later
shut down the portal “to
ensure fair and equal ac-
cess once it is reopened.”
“This decision was not
made lightly as we un-
derstand the need to get
relief quickly to this hard-
hit industry,” the agency
wrote on Twitter.
The SBA said technical
errors arose despite prior
testing. It said it would
announce the time and
date the portal would re-
open. Applicants can sign
up for updates and see
application checklists at
https://sba.gov/svogrant
— Bulletin wire reports
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Oregon is set to slash jobless taxes
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
A bill to give Oregon em-
ployers a significant break on
their unemployment insurance
taxes advanced out of a House
committee on a 7-0, bipartisan
vote Thursday.
That signals House Bill 3389
is on a glide path through an
otherwise contentious legisla-
tive session, saving employers
$100 million in taxes this year
and a projected $2.4 billion
over the coming decade.
“I just want to emphasize how
good this process was,” Rep.
Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles,
said at a committee hearing ear-
lier this month. He said Demo-
cratic and Republican lawmak-
ers found common ground and
compromised to come up with
a bill that spares employers an
unnecessary tax burden without
draining the state’s ability to pay
jobless benefits.
“We didn’t even come close
to putting this in jeopardy of
insolvency,” Bonham said.
Oregon funds its unemploy-
ment insurance trust fund with
taxes on employers. Those that
lay off workers pay the highest
rates, the reasoning being that
employers who draw the most
from the fund should pay the
most to replenish it.
During the pandemic,
though, the formula triggered
a steep increase in taxes for
businesses that laid off workers
when COVID-19 forced their
businesses to close. That meant
that the businesses hardest
hit by the pandemic were the
ones facing the steepest tax in-
creases.
SILENT PROTEST
Restaurant in Kosovo sets out mannequin guests amid virus restrictions
The Oregon Employment
Department forecast that 20%
of Oregon employers would
have to cover nearly all the pro-
jected $183 million increase
in unemployment taxes this
year. And taxes would go up
again the following two years
because the state’s funding for-
mula allocates cost increases
over a three-year period.
See Taxes / A6
Amazon’s
warehouse
workers reject
union bid
in Alabama
BY JOSEPH PISANI, ALEXANDRA
OLSON AND ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
The Associated Press
Workers at an Amazon warehouse
in Bessemer, Alabama, handed the
online retail giant a decisive victory
when they voted against forming a
union and cut off a path that labor
activists had hoped would lead to
similar efforts throughout the com-
pany and beyond.
After months of aggressive cam-
paigning from both sides, 1,798 ware-
house workers ultimately rejected the
union while 738 voted in favor of it,
according to the National Labor Re-
lations Board, which is overseeing the
process.
Of the 3,117 votes cast, 76 were
voided for being filled out incor-
rectly and 505 were contested by ei-
ther Amazon or the Retail, Wholesale
and Department Store Union, which
led the organizing efforts in Besse-
mer. But the NLRB said the contested
votes were not enough to sway the
outcome. About 53% of the nearly
6,000 workers cast their ballots.
Boeing Max jets
pulled to inspect
electrical systems
Airlines pulled dozens
of Boeing Max 737s out
of service for inspections
after the aircraft maker
told them about a pos-
sible electrical problem,
the latest setback for the
plane.
Boeing said Friday that
the issue affected planes
used by 16 airlines. The
company did not say how
many planes are affected
or how long it will take for
inspections and, if neces-
sary, repairs.
Max jets were
grounded worldwide in
March 2019 after two
crashes killed 346 peo-
ple. The planes resumed
flying in December after
regulators in the U.S.,
Europe, Canada and Bra-
zil approved changes
Boeing made to an auto-
mated flight-control sys-
tem that played a role in
the crashes.
Boeing said the new
issue, in which a com-
ponent in the electrical
power system might not
be correctly grounded,
was unrelated to the
flight-control system.
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COVID-19 | Bills in the Legislature
BRIEFING
Clackamas balks at
virus restrictions
p
See Union / A6
Visar Kryeziu/AP
PHOTOS: Mannequins are positioned Friday at the tables of Bagolina as a protest against the latest government COVID-19
lockdown measures in Kosovo’s capital Pristina. Kosovar association of gastronomy have found an innovative way of protesting,
sitting mannequins instead of customers in chairs of closed restaurants and cafeterias following the government’s measures.
Nike settles
lawsuit over
Lil Nas X’s
‘Satan Shoes’
The Associated Press
PRISTINA, Kosovo —
downtown restaurant in Kosovo’s capital
filled its tables with mannequins Friday
in a symbolic protest of the government’s
decision to close eateries for two weeks in
response to a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Petrit Kllokoqi, owner of Bagolina in Pris-
tina, brought in the mannequins at breakfast and
lunchtime.
“The government has not shown us any
evidence that gastronomy is causing the surge,”
Kllokoqi said.
The Kosovo government decided earlier this
week to close all restaurants from April 7 to 18.
The order affects about 4,000 restaurants and
cafes with some 14,000 employees.
A
BY ARON YOHANNES
The Associated Press
Kosovo’s gross domestic product fell 4.4%
last year due to the pandemic, according to
preliminary reports from the government
and international institutions. Restaurant
owners say financial support the govern-
ment provided has been inadequate.
Kllokoqi, who is head of the Kosovo Gas-
tronomers Association, said he already had
cut his staff to stay in business.
“We can hardly survive like this,” he said.
Kosovo, which has a population of about
1.8 million, has reported 96,212 confirmed
cases and 1,960 virus-related deaths since
the start of the pandemic.
Officials said hospitals are reaching their
full capacity due to a recent surge of about
1,000 new cases a day.
Kosovo started its vaccination drive this
month after receiving a first batch of 24,000
AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the World
Health Organization-backed COVAX pro-
gram.
Nike and the company that pro-
duced Lil Nas X’s “Satan Shoes”
reached a settlement on Thursday
for a voluntary recall, ending the le-
gal battle between the two over the
high-profile sneakers.
Nike said that as part of the settle-
ment, MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based art
collective, will issue a voluntary recall
on the shoes and offer a buy back pro-
gram for previously released “Jesus
Shoes,” according to NBC.
“If any purchasers were confused,
or if they otherwise want to return
their shoes, they may do so for a full
refund,” Nike said in a statement.
“Purchasers who choose not to re-
turn their shoes and later encoun-
ter a product issue, defect or health
concern should contact MSCHF, not
Nike.”
David H. Bernstein, an attorney
for MSCHF, told NBC the company
agreed to settle the lawsuit after real-
izing it “already achieved its artistic
purpose,” which was to “comment on
the absurdity of the collaboration cul-
ture practiced by some brands, and
about the perniciousness of intoler-
ance.”
The Beaverton-based company
opened a lawsuit against MSCHF last
month for trademark infringement
after MSCHF released a limited run
of the modified Air Max 97s, which
sold out in less than a minute.
See Shoes / A6