A5
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021
BRIEFING
U.S. recalls bottles
of Real Water
Federal authorities
have ordered a complete
recall of Las Vegas-based
bottled water brand Real
Water and ordered the
company to surrender
records in investigations
of at least one death and
multiple cases of liver
illness.
Brent Jones, company
president, and attorneys
for the company and the
bottler, AffinityLifestyles.
com Inc., did not imme-
diately respond Friday to
email messages about a
U.S. District Court order
issued Wednesday. The
order stopped the pro-
duction and distribution
of the product marketed
primarily in Nevada, Ari-
zona, Utah and California.
Jones and the company
did not contest the order,
called a consent decree, or
admit wrongdoing pend-
ing further hearings.
The product is sold as
premium alkalized drink-
ing water in distinctive
boxy blue bottles touting
“E2 Electron Energized
Technology.” Labels say it
is “infused with negative
ions” and offers healthy
detoxifying properties.
bendbulletin.com/business
Apple CEO faces tough questions
about app store competition
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE
The Associated Press
Apple CEO Tim Cook de-
scribed the company’s iron-
clad control over its mobile
app store as the best way to
serve and protect iPhone us-
ers, but he faced tough ques-
tions about competition issues
from a judge Friday about al-
legations he oversees an illegal
monopoly.
The rare courtroom appear-
ance by one of the world’s best-
known executives came during
the closing phase of a three-
week trial revolving around an
antitrust case brought by Epic
Games, maker of the popular
video game Fortnite.
Epic is trying to topple the
so-called “walled garden” for
iPhone and iPad apps that
welcomes users and develop-
price-gouging vehicle that
not only reaps a 15% to 30%
commission from in-app
transactions, but blocks apps
from offering other payment
alternatives. That ban extends
to showing a link that would
open a web page offering
commission-free ways to pay
for subscriptions, in-game
items and the like.
ers while locking out com-
petition. Created by Apple
co-founder Steve Jobs a year
after the iPhone’s 2007 debut,
the App Store has become a
key revenue source for Apple,
helping power the company
to a $57 billion profit in its last
fiscal year.
The trial focuses on Ep-
ic’s contention that Apple
has turned its store into a
See Apple / A6
With the new app
Struum, users can
purchase credits to
watch individuals
shows that appear
on one of the many
channels available
in the app.
Jay L. Clendenin/
Los Angeles Times
Home sales fall
with low inventory
Sales of previously oc-
cupied U.S. homes fell for
the third straight month
in April as the number of
properties for sale hit a re-
cord low, driving prices to
new highs.
Existing home sales
fell 2.7% last month from
March to a seasonally-
adjusted rate of 5.85 mil-
lion annualized units, the
National Association of
Realtors said Friday. Sales
jumped 33.9% from April
last year, when the pan-
demic caused sales to
slow sharply.
April’s sales pace was
the slowest since last
June and well below the
6.01 million sales rate
economists expected, ac-
cording to FactSet.
“Even with home sales
declining modestly, one
can describe the market
as being hot,” said Law-
rence Yun, NAR’s chief
economist.“ All indica-
tions is that buyer de-
mand remains strong.”
Sales through the first
four months of this year
are running 20% higher
than they were a year
ago, the NAR said.
Homes were typically
snapped up within just 17
days of hitting the market
last month, the fastest
turnaround time on re-
cords going back to 2011,
NAR said.
— Bulletin wire reports
PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE
Olson
Too many streaming
New app gives access to
services? the many smaller services
BY RYAN FAUGHNDER • Los Angeles Times
With the growing number of streaming services, viewers have
an unprecedented level of choice over what they want to watch.
But they also face the daunting task of keeping all those services
straight. Not to mention the growing cost.
A cadre of former Disney and
Discovery executives has proposed
a solution to help relieve streaming
overload.
Their upcoming app, Struum
— pronounced “stroom,” which is
“stream” in Dutch — uses a cred-
it-based system similar to the fit-
ness app ClassPass to let subscrib-
ers access shows and movies from
dozens of niche streaming services.
The Los Angeles-based com-
pany, backed by former Walt Dis-
ney Co. Chief Executive Michael
Eisner’s Tornante Co., has finalized
deals to feature content from more
than 50 smaller streaming services,
studios and programmers. For a
monthly fee, users get access to
programming from providers in-
cluding BBC Select, Tribeca, Mag-
nolia Pictures, Cheddar, Indieflix,
Filmbox, Cinedigm, Docurama
and Revolt in one place, rather
than by jumping from app to app.
Struum this month is expected
to launch its app through the iOS
app store, the web, and Google’s
Chromecast, with content from
about 25 initial partners. The app
organizes content from multiple
providers by categories, such as
“indie hits,” “stranger than fiction”
and “true crime.” Struum will also
make recommendations across
programmers based on users’ ac-
tivity.
“For the consumer, it’s so hard to
find things,” said Chief Executive
Lauren DeVillier, a former Discov-
ery Ventures and Disney/ABC TV
Group executive who cofounded
the company with Paul Pastor,
Eugene Liew and Thomas Wad-
sworth. “Everything’s so disaggre-
gated. We’re sort of re bundling for
consumers. Our goal is to say, ‘You
really love cooking? Here are 10
different services that are going to
conquer it for you.’”
Struum, founded in April
2020, is far from the first com-
pany to notice that consum-
ers need help organizing their
streaming lives. More than half
of consumers said in a recent De-
loitte survey that they are frus-
trated that they need multiple
subscriptions to access the con-
tent they want to watch.
A Parks Associates survey found
that 31% of households had four
or more streaming subscriptions
in the third quarter of last year, up
from 14% a year earlier. The num-
ber of streaming platforms has
passed 300 in the U.S., more than
double the number in 2014, the
consultancy said.
Companies are trying several
different ways to streamline the
market.
See Struum / A6
PacifiCorp
gives its
employees
two weeks
to return
BY JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
Power company PacifiCorp
told employees at its Lloyd Dis-
trict headquarters Thursday af-
ternoon that they must return
to the office full time on June
1 or take a 10% pay cut to con-
tinue working remotely.
Several PacifiCorp employ-
ees told The Oregonian they
were caught off guard by the
sudden announcement and felt
frustrated and upset that they
were being given less than two
weeks to either make accom-
modations to return to work or
take a cut in pay.
An email sent to employees
announcing the return-to- office
plan did not directly reference a
pay cut but said employees who
wish to continue working re-
motely must enroll in the com-
pany’s voluntary work-from-
home program. PacifiCorp
confirmed that the program
comes with a 10% reduction.
Stefan Bird, president and
CEO of Pacific Power, the sub-
division of PacifiCorp serving
Oregon, California and Wash-
ington, told employees in a
Thursday afternoon email that
the company had decided to set
a return-to-office date of June
1 after Multnomah County an-
nounced it expects to move into
the state’s lower- risk level for
COVID-19 spread by May 28.
“Positive vaccination rates
coupled with lower infection
rates give us confidence that
office work can be safely done
with appropriate provisions
for social distancing and mask
wearing,” PacifiCorp spokes-
person Tom Gauntt said in an
email. “Managers and human
resources staff are working with
our employees to provide guid-
ance, workplace safety training,
and individualized plans to re-
turn to work in person.”
Approximately 1,000 em-
ployees work at the company’s
Lloyd district headquarters,
some of whom have already
been working in the office vol-
untarily.
An internal document de-
scribing the voluntary work-
from-home says the 10% pay
reduction “is considered an
equitable trade off in exchange
for the elimination of com-
mute time, additional flexibil-
ity, transportation cost savings
and even potential tax breaks.”
A manager at PacifiCorp who
asked The Oregonian not to
publish her name so she could
speak freely about company pol-
icy said the sudden announce-
ment had put some employees,
especially those who are caring
for children or family members,
in a difficult situation.
She said she doesn’t under-
stand why the company is so
intent on forcing people back to
the office when they’ve praised
employees for their productiv-
ity working from home.
Stephen
• Steele Associates Ar-
chitects of Bend has
promoted Adam Ste-
phen and Darek Olson
to principal. Also pro-
moted were: Chanda
Villano, Chris Thome,
Tristan Shepherd and
Andy Harmon to senior
associate.
• EXIT Realty Bend has
hired as sales associates:
Joaquin Garcia, Mar-
cus Glassow, Hannah
Stuebgen, Nichole
Pineda, Valerie Ward,
Nathan Geldermann,
Kirk Acey, Crystal
Clute, Tamera Veek
and Lynndee Hargous.
California to drop social-distancing mandates
BY DON THOMPSON
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California no longer will re-
quire social distancing and will
allow full capacity for busi-
nesses when the state reopens
on June 15, the state’s top
health official said Friday.
“We’re at a place with this
pandemic where those require-
ments of the past are no longer
needed for the foreseeable fu-
ture,” Secretary of California
Health and Human Services
Dr. Mark Ghaly said.
He said dramatically lower
virus cases and increasing
vaccinations mean it’s safe
for the state to remove nearly
all restrictions next month.
The state of nearly 40 mil-
lion people has administered
nearly 35.5 million vaccine
doses, he said, and more than
three-quarters of residents over
age 65 have received at least
one dose.
“Vaccines are widely avail-
able, and we’re proud of where
we are,” Ghaly said.
“Something very important
happens on June 15 in Cali-
fornia” when the state ends its
color-coded four-tier system
that restricts activities based on
each county’s virus prevalence,
he said.
Limits on how many people
can be inside businesses at any
one time, “which have been a
hallmark” of the safety plan,
will disappear, he said. “There
will no longer be (physical dis-
tancing) restrictions for attend-
ees, customers and guests in
business sectors,” Ghaly said.
See California / A6
Mark J. Terrill/AP
Socially distanced fans watch the Miami Marlins play the Los Angeles
Dodgers on May 14 in Los Angeles.