A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
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BRIEFING
Peloton halts sales,
recalls treadmills
Peloton is recalling
about 125,000 of its
treadmills less than a
month after denying
they were dangerous and
saying it would not pull
them from the market,
even though they were
linked to the death of a
child and injuries of 29
others.
The company said
Wednesday that it will
now offer full refunds for
the Peloton Tread+ tread-
mills, which cost more
than $4,200. It will also
stop selling them.
The U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commis-
sion warned on April 17
that people with children
and pets should imme-
diately stop using the
Tread+ treadmill after a
child was pulled under
one of them and died.
At the time, Peloton
pushed back against the
safety commission . CEO
John Foley also said he
had “no intention” of re-
calling the treadmills.
In a statement
Wednesday, Foley apolo-
gized and said the com-
pany “made a mistake” .
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Masks, distancing required
in the workplace indefinitely
BY SARA CLINE
The Associated Press/Report for America
PORTLAND — Oregon adopted a
controversial rule on Tuesday that in-
definitely extends coronavirus mask
and social-distancing requirements for
all businesses in the state.
State officials say the rule, which
garnered thousands of public com-
ments, will be in place until it is “no
longer necessary to address the effects
of the pandemic in the workplace.”
“We reviewed all of the comments
— including the many comments that
opposed the rule — and we gave par-
ticular consideration to those com-
ments that explained their reasoning
or provided concrete information,”
said Michael Wood, administrator
of the state’s department of Occupa-
tional Safety and Health. “Although we
chose to move forward with the rule,
the final product includes a number of owners and employees crying govern-
ment overreach.
changes based on that record.”
Wood’s agency received more than
Oregon, which has been among
5,000 comments —mostly
those with the country’s most
RELATED
critical — and nearly 70,000
stringent COVID-19 restric-
residents signed a petition
tions, had previously had a
• Paycheck
against the rule.
mask rule for businesses, but it
Protection
Opponents raised concerns
was only temporary and could
Program
runs out of
that there is no sunset date or
not be extended beyond 180
money, A13
specific metric for when the
days. That prompted Wood to
rule would automatically be re-
create a permanent rule with
pealed. As a result, Wood said the final
the intent to repeal it at some point.
“To allow the workplace COVID-19 rule includes considerably more detail
about the process and criteria that will
protections to simply go away would
be used to make the decision to repeal
have left workers far less protected.
And it would have left employers who the rule.
The rule requires that employers
want to know what is expected of
them with a good deal less clarity than make sure that under most circum-
stances people wear masks while work-
the rule provides,” Wood said.
ing inside and use face coverings outside
But the proposal prompted a flood
if they have to be within 6 feet of people.
of angry responses, with everyone
from parents to teachers to business
See Masks / A13
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Businesses challenge restrictions
in lawsuit against governor
A group of businesses has filed a lawsuit
against Oregon Gov. Kate Brown over her
recent extension of Oregon’s state of emer-
gency because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brown last week extended the state of
emergency by 60 days, giving her the au-
thority to issue restrictions on business op-
erations, The Oregonian reported.
The group suing includes the political ac-
tion committees Oregon Moms Union and
Heart of Main Street, as well as the owner of
Gresham restaurant Spud Monkeys.
The group objects to “unfair restrictions”
they said Brown has placed upon busi-
nesses and public school children, accord-
ing to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.
They asked the court to issue an injunction
halting restriction enforcement.
The lawsuit also claimed Brown’s exec-
utive order failed to differentiate between
vaccinated and unvaccinated people, “sub-
jecting all to the same regulations and
deprivations of liberty.”
Brown’s office did not immediately re-
spond to a request for comment from the
newspaper.
— Associated Press
U.S. services sector
slows slightly
Activity in the U.S. ser-
vices sector, where most
Americans work, slowed
slightly in April after hit-
ting an all-time high in
March.
The Institute for Sup-
ply Management said its
monthly survey of service
industries showed a drop
to a still high reading of
62.7, 1 percentage point
lower than the record
high of 63.7 set in March.
Any reading above 50
indicates the sector is ex-
panding. The April level
marks the 11th straight
month of expansion in
the services sector after
a two-month contrac-
tion in April and May
last year when the coun-
try was struggling with
widespread shutdowns
caused by the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
The services index
showed slowdowns in
new orders and busi-
ness activity while em-
ployment rose. A total
of 17 service industries
reported growth in April
with the category that
includes agriculture the
only industry reporting a
decline last month.
Lumber futures
extend record rally
U.S. lumber futures ex-
tended their steep rally to
fresh record highs, shoot-
ing above $1,500 in early
trading Wednesday.
The extended rally
comes as voracious home
construction demand
sends builders scram-
bling to secure the wood
they need, while sawmills
struggle to bulk up their
inventories .
Prices have quadru-
pled in the past year,
vaulting higher on an un-
expected surge in home-
building and renovations
that caught sawmills
off guard amid the pan-
demic.
The rally, which some
expect could continue
even higher, is hitting
pocketbooks and poten-
tially pushing first-time
home buyers out of the
market, as North America
heads into its peak build-
ing season. It has lifted
the price of an average
new single-family home
by $35,872 over the past
12 months, according to
the national Association
of Home Builders.
— Bulletin wire reports
Fear and hope
in south central Washington
Steve Ringman/
The Seattle Times
ABOVE: The
Nine Can-
yon Project,
which is 20
years old, is
located near
the proposed
solar farm
that will run
across Horse
Heaven Hills
near Kenne-
wick, Wash-
ington.
“ Shame
on you
Proposed $1.7 billion wind project generates controversy
for condemning
construction on a
ridge while
hoping to
someday build a
mansion on the
very same hill.
”
— Chris Wiley, a farmer in
support of the wind project
BY HAL BERNTON • The Seattle Times
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Back in March,
Chris Wiley passed a long day in his tractor sow-
ing wheat. He had the controls set to automatic
steering and scanned social media. He did not
like what he found.
In post after post, people raged about a re-
newable energy project that would put wind
turbines and solar development in the Horse
Heaven Hills where he farms. Critics from
Pasco, Kennewick and Richland attacked the
plan as an outrage that would blemish cher-
ished vistas to the profit of an out-of-state de-
veloper looking to export power to Western
Washington, Oregon or California.
The project unleashing such passions would
be one of the region’s largest renewable energy
installations of the past decade with an esti-
mated cost of $1.7 billion.
Wiley is a big supporter. It would generate
lease fees that would be a financial boon for his
family and dozens of other wheat-growing lease
holders in a hardscrabble part of South Central
Washington where farmers have long struggled
to coax profitable yields from the arid land. So,
he decided to compose a kind of farmer’s mani-
festo, which he drafted on a keyboard inside the
cab while the tractor kept on planting seed.
See Wind / A13
Cash buyers snap up Oregon homes above the asking price
BY JANET EASTMAN
The Oregonian
Listen to some real estate
agents this spring and you hear
the same line over and over:
Out-of-state buyers have been
driving up prices and demand
in Oregon’s scarce housing
market.
Digital workers, set loose
to live anywhere during and
likely after the coronavirus
pandemic, have discovered
they can get more for less
here, especially compared to
high-priced Seattle and the
San Francisco Bay Area. They
are adding pressure to already
tough buying conditions,
agents add.
A historically low inven-
tory of homes for sale, esca-
lating prices and bidding wars
are frustrating a backlog of
local buyers, some of whom
have had offers rejected for a
quicker cash sale.
But are residents of other
states bigfooting Oregonians?
Anecdotes abound, but hard
data hasn’t been released yet.
Josh Lehner, economist with
the Oregon Office of Economic
Analysis, said, “People are al-
ways moving to Oregon, and
Californians represent about
30% to 40% of those people in
an average year,” he said. “Mi-
gration was not wildly different
in 2020 compared to 2019.”
He is waiting for new data
from the U.S. Census Bureau
and post office change of ad-
dress requests.
What is known: Demand for
home ownership has increased
tremendously because of
record -low mortgage interest
rates, incomes rising for some
and millennials entering the
housing market, he said.
Kim Parmon of Living
Room Realty meets out-of-
state buyers searching for land
who are “enchanted” by the
Pacific Northwest’s natural
beauty.
“They have cash in hand to
play with,” she said.
Parmon, who has been sell-
ing real estate for six years in
the Portland area, attributes
the limited number of homes
for sale to a longtime housing
shortage compounded by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Adding to what she called
“the crazy multiple offer situa-
tion” are first-time buyers hop-
ing to take advantage of mort-
gage interest rates around 3%
and people from out of state
shopping virtually and being ad-
vised to make strong first offers.
See Buyers / A13