A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021
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BRIEFING
Most of Klamath
Project loses water
The U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation is shutting
down the Klamath Proj-
ect’s A Canal for the entire
2021 irrigation season in
response to worsening
drought, the agency an-
nounced Wednesday .
It is the first time the
A Canal will deliver no
water since it was con-
structed in 1907, said Paul
Simmons, executive di-
rector of the Klamath Wa-
ter Users Association.
The Bureau of Rec-
lamation oversees the
Klamath Project, which
provides irrigation for
approximately 200,000
acres of farmland strad-
dling in Southern Oregon
and Northern California.
Under the Endangered
Species Act, the bureau
is also responsible for en-
suring the project does
not threaten the sur-
vival of several species of
threatened and endan-
gered fish in the lower
Klamath River.
The A Canal normally
diverts water from Upper
Klamath Lake for the bulk
of the Klamath Project, or
about 150,000 acres.
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Program will give
$50 off internet
Americans can begin
applying for $50 off their
monthly internet bill on
Wednesday as part of an
emergency government
program to keep people
connected during the
pandemic.
The $3.2 billion pro-
gram is part of the $900
billion December pan-
demic-relief package. The
government is increasing
spending on broadband
as the pandemic made
stark that millions of
Americans did not have
access to, and could not
afford, broadband at a
time when jobs, school
and health care was mov-
ing online.
It’s unclear how long
the money will last but
it’s expected to be several
months. Tens of millions
of people are eligible, al-
though the Federal Com-
munications Commission,
which is administering
the program, did not
specify a number.
To see if you qualify,
visit https://getemergen-
cybroadband.org to find
out if you qualify.
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.2080 -.0072
U.S. advisers endorse
Pfizer shot for youths
BY LAURAN NEERGAARD AND
MIKE STOBBE
Associated Press
U.S. health advisers endorsed
use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vac-
cine in kids as young as 12 on
Wednesday, just as expected
new guidelines say it’s OK for
people of any age to get the
shot at the same time as other
needed vaccinations.
The sprint to vaccinate mil-
lions of middle and high school
students has already started
in parts of the country, as a
long line of kids rolled up their
sleeves in suburban Atlanta
for a first dose Wednesday.
But much of the nation was
awaiting recommendations by
the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention that Pfiz-
er’s vaccine, already used for
months in those 16 and older,
was a good choice for 12- to
15-year-olds, too. The CDC
was expected to accept its ad-
visers’ recommendation.
“It just felt like a flu shot,
honestly,” said Meredith Rog-
ers, a 14-year-old middle school
student from Decatur, Georgia.
See COVID-19 / A13
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Jacob Conary, 15, listens to advice from a medical assistant after
receiving his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccination Wednesday in
Auburn, Maine.
Prices shot
up 0.8%
in April as
worries
escalate
BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
Digital currency
moves to U.S.
A once-ambitious
Facebook-backed digital
currency project — for-
merly known as Libra,
now called Diem — is
shifting operations from
Switzerland to the U.S.
and said it plans to launch
a cryptocurrency tied to
the U.S. dollar later this
year.
The Diem Association,
which includes Facebook
and 25 other compa-
nies, said Wednesday it
entered a partnership
with Silvergate Capital
Corp. to issue a “stable-
coin” backed by the U.S.
dollar. A stablecoin is a
digital currency backed
by real-world assets such
as national currencies or
other commodities.
As the name implies,
stablecoins are designed
to not fluctuate wildly
in value. That’s in sharp
contrast to cryptocurren-
cies like Bitcoin, whose
value is not tied to a
real- world currency and
whose price has ranged
between roughly $9,000
and $63,000 over the past
year.
q
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press file
NEW OREGON INITIATIVE
TARGETS ANIMAL FARMERS
BY GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
nimal agriculture could soon be
considered animal cruelty under
a proposed ballot measure in Or-
egon. Farm groups are pushing back
against Initiative Petition 13, which
would strip away most protections for
livestock producers under the state’s ani-
mal abuse laws.
The result would effectively criminalize
everything from slaughtering livestock to
basic animal husbandry, including brand-
ing and dehorning cattle, castrating bulls
and docking horses, sheep and pigs, said
Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of pub-
lic policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau.
The initiative also seeks to re classify
livestock breeding and artificial insemi-
nation as sexual assault of an animal — a
Class C felony.
“It’s a very different tack than we have
ever seen before,” Cooper said. “Basically,
they’re looking to ban anything with ani-
mals that is not doctoring.”
A
Initiative Petition 13 was filed Nov. 2
with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Of-
fice. The chief petitioner is David Michel-
son, a Portland animal rights activist.
A similar proposal, called the Protect
Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and
Exploitation, or PAUSE, Act is also being
pursued in Colorado.
The Oregon campaign recently cleared
its first regulatory hurdle, submitting
1,000 sponsorship signatures for verifica-
tion on April 28. If approved, supporters
will need to collect 112,020 signatures to
place the initiative on the November 2022
ballot.
Michelson did not return calls for com-
ment.
According to state law, a person com-
mits animal abuse if they “intentionally,
knowingly or recklessly cause physical
injury to an animal,” or “cruelly cause the
death of an animal,” except when practic-
ing good animal husbandry. The petition
seeks to remove that exemption.
“IP13 doesn’t change our definition
of abuse. It merely changes who is con-
sidered above the law,” the Yes on IP13
website states.
Cooper said the petition is the biggest
threat to Oregon’s livestock industry in
decades.
“I think it would leave producers in in-
credibly uncertain territory,” she said. “It
is very dangerous territory for folks.”
Perhaps the cruelest twist, Cooper said,
is the effect the initiative would have on
4-H and FFA programs. Animal abuse
in Oregon is considered a Class A a mis-
demeanor but is a felony if committed in
the presence of a minor child.
“You think of 4-H programs, and people
who have artificial insemination programs,
and all of a sudden anybody helping them
with their projects could be considered a
felon,” Cooper said. “That’s just wild.”
Supporters say the initiative would not
ban the sale of meat, leather and fur in
Oregon.
“It would require that animals be al-
lowed to truly live a good life free from
abuse, neglect and sexual assault,” the
campaign website states.
Toyota’s good planning helps it roar
back as other automakers stumble
BY RIVER DAVIS
Bloomberg
Toyota unveiled a 250 bil-
lion yen, $2.3 billion, share
buyback and expects to return
to pre-pandemic profitability
in the current fiscal year as its
ability to keep churning out
vehicles amid a global short-
age of automotive chips puts it
in a prime position to capital-
ize on swiftly recovering de-
mand for cars.
The Japanese automaker
forecast 2.5 trillion yen in
operating profit for the 12
months that will end in
March, compared with a 2.4
trillion yen profit in fiscal
2019, before the pandemic.
Analysts were predicting, on
average, an operating profit of
2.7 trillion yen.
In a tumultuous period
for the auto industry, Toyota
quickly pulled ahead of the
pack, straightening out its sup-
ply chain and ramping up pro-
duction in order to meet rising
demand for cars. The world’s
No. 1 automaker now stands
primed for the V-shaped
COVID-19 recovery eluding
many of its peers, which are
having to scale back because of
the global chip shortage.
“Toyota has overcome the
chip shortage,” Seiji Sugiura,
an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Re-
search Institute Co., said. “The
forecast is conservative, and
there could be an upward re-
vision, maybe up to 3 trillion
yen of operating income.”
By maneuvering through
the disruptions of the pan-
demic, Toyota rose to become
the world’s largest automaker
last year, wresting the title
back from Volkswagen. Japa-
nese rival Nissan by contrast
reported an operating loss of
151 billion yen for the fiscal
year on Tuesday. Honda is set
to announce earnings Friday,
with analysts predicting, on
average, a profit of 549 billion
yen, down about 13% from
the previous year.
See Toyota / A13
A worrisome bout of infla-
tion struck the U.S. economy
in April, with consumer prices
for goods and services surging
0.8% — the largest monthly
jump in more than a decade —
and the year-over-year increase
reaching its fastest rate since
2008.
The acceleration in prices,
which has been building for
months, has unsettled financial
markets and raised concerns
that it could weaken the eco-
nomic recovery from the pan-
demic recession.
Wednesday’s report from
the Labor Department showed
sharply higher prices for ev-
erything from food and
clothes to housing. A 10%
surge in the prices of used cars
and trucks — a record jump
— accounted for roughly one-
third of last month’s overall
increases.
The cost of new cars was up
0.5%, the largest increase since
last July. Prices for vehicles,
both used and new, have been
soaring as a result of heavy
demand and a computer chip
shortage that has slowed auto
production and reduced dealer
supplies.
Over the past 12 months,
consumer prices have jumped
4.2% — the fastest rise since
a 4.9% gain in the 12 months
that ended in September 2008.
Excluding volatile food and en-
ergy, core inflation rose 0.9% in
April and 3% over the past 12
months.
After years of dormant infla-
tion, with the Federal Reserve
struggling to increase it, wor-
ries about rising prices have
shot to the top of economic
concerns. Shortages of goods
and parts related to disrupted
supply chains have been a key
factor.
The Fed, led by Chair Je-
rome Powell, has repeatedly
expressed its belief that in-
flation will prove temporary
as supply bottlenecks are un-
clogged and parts and goods
flow normally again. But some
economists have expressed
concern that as the economic
recovery accelerates, fueled by
rising demand from consum-
ers spending freely again, so
will inflation.
“It looks like inflation pres-
sures are not only building but
are likely to be here at least
through the rest of the year,”
said Joel Naroff, chief econo-
mist at Naroff Economic Ad-
visors. “With growth robust,
firms have a measure of pric-
ing power tat they haven’t had
in decades, and they appear
to be using it.” The April infla-
tion report showed that food
prices rose 0.4%, the biggest
such increase since a 0.5% rise
last June.
See Prices / A13