A5
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2021
BRIEFING
Robotic ship
returns to England
The Mayflower had a
few false starts before its
trailblazing sea voyage to
America more than 400
years ago. Now, its artifi-
cial intelligence-powered
namesake is having some
glitches of its own.
A sleek robotic trima-
ran retracing the 1620
journey of the famous
English vessel had to turn
back Friday to fix a me-
chanical problem.
Nonprofit marine re-
search organization Pro-
Mare, which worked with
IBM to build the autono-
mous ship, said it made
the decision to return to
base “to investigate and
fix a minor mechanical is-
sue” but hopes to be back
on the trans-Atlantic jour-
ney as soon as possible.
Piloted by artificial in-
telligence technology, the
50-foot Mayflower Auton-
omous Ship began its trip
early Tuesday, departing
from Plymouth, England,
and spending some time
off the Isles of Scilly be-
fore it headed for deeper
waters.
bendbulletin.com/business
Culver farm seeks $600K
for lost hemp, using a
hay insurance policy
A lawsuit seeks
$600,000 for de-
stroyed hemp that
the farm contends
should be covered
under an insurance
policy for hay.
Mateusz Perkowski/
Capital Press file
BY MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A Culver farm is seeking at
least $600,000 for a destroyed
hemp crop that it claims
should be covered under an
insurance policy for hay.
Mike & JD Alley Farms
have filed a lawsuit alleging
breach of contract, good faith
and fair dealing against The
American Insurance Com-
pany of Novato, California.
“It’s not produce; it’s not
a grain; it’s not a fruit. What
is it?” asked Mike Alley, the
farm’s co-owner.
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture considers
hemp a form of “forage or
feed,” he said. “It’s a plant
material and there’s lots of
uses in the livestock indus-
try.”
The complaint alleges
that a severe wind storm in
May 2020 damaged about
20,000 pounds of “hemp hay
foliage,” which equated to
10,000 pounds of salable pro-
cessed material, and 100,000
pounds of “thrashed hemp
biomass straw.”
BY DAMIAN J. TROISE
AND STAN CHOE
The Associated Press
See Hemp / A6
FIRST FLIGHT
Tariffs suspended
on Scotch whisky
Scotch single malt
whisky makers breathed
a sigh of relief Thursday
after the United States
agreed to suspend tar-
iffs on one of Scotland’s
main exports in the wake
of the resolution of a
long-standing transatlan-
tic trade row over subsi-
dies to aircraft companies
Boeing and Airbus.
Earlier this week, the
U.S. and the EU reached
an agreement to end the
aerospace dispute, pav-
ing the way for a 5-year
suspension of tariffs.
Parallel talks were held
between the U.S. and the
U.K. over the tariffs.
The tariffs on Scotch
single malts were the
most high-profile to af-
fect Britain. The Scotch
Whisky Association esti-
mated that they contrib-
uted to a 30% fall in total
whisky exports to the
U.S., equivalent to around
$850 million in the 18
months to March 2021.
Astoria considers
electric scooters
A proposal to bring
electric scooters to the
streets of Astoria is in
limbo while one city coun-
cilor collects feedback
from the community.
Bird, an electric scooter
company, approached
city leadership about run-
ning a pilot program for
pay-to-ride scooters. The
company recently rolled
out a similar program in
Hermiston.
In a City Council work
session Wednesday, Mike
Butler, a company rep-
resentative, argued the
scooter program would
provide low-cost trans-
portation options for
tourists and residents and
bring indirect benefits to
the city.
But opinions were di-
vided among city coun-
cilors. City Councilor Tom
Hilton became the decid-
ing voice about whether
city staff would continue
to talk with Bird about de-
veloping a pilot program.
Hilton concluded that he
wanted to hear from peo-
ple in his district.
In Astoria, electric
scooters — and any mo-
torized vehicles — are
not allowed on the Asto-
ria Riverwalk. Bird would
work with the city to
designate no-ride zones.
A scooter would auto-
matically, slowly come to
halt if riders tried to enter
those areas.
— Bulletin wire reports
Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times via AP
The final version of the 737 MAX, the MAX 10, passes other 737 MAX planes as it takes off from
Renton Airport in Renton, Washington, on its first flight Friday. The plane flew over Eastern Washing-
ton and then landed at Boeing Field.
Boeing’s works on newest version of the 737 Max jetliner
European rival Airbus.
The Associated Press
B
oeing’s newest version
Chicago-based Boeing expects
for Max jets to resume flying
late last year after Boeing made
of the 737 Max jetliner
to begin delivering Max 10s to
changes, including overhauling
made its first test flight
airlines in 2023.
flight-control software that
Friday, taking off near Seattle for
Max jets get better fuel
played a role in the crashes. This
an expected two-hour trip that
mileage than previous versions
spring, about 100 new Max jets
the company hopes will signal
of Boeing’s venerable 737.
were idled for several weeks
improving fortunes for its most
Airlines began using the plane
because of an unrelated problem
important plane.
in 2017, but Max 8 and Max 9
with electrical grounding of
planes were grounded worldwide
cockpit instruments.
The Max 10 is a slightly larger
version of Max jets that are
for nearly two years after crashes
The grounding of Max jets
already flying. It is designed to
in October 2018 and March 2019
and reduced demand because of
seat up to 230 passengers and
killed a total of 346 people.
the pandemic pushed Boeing to
compete with the A321neo from
Stocks
slump
to worst
lows in
months
U.S. regulators cleared the way
an $8.4 billion loss last year.
Stocks sank again Friday on
Wall Street, knocking the S&P
500 to its worst weekly loss
since February, as more steam
comes out of banks and other
stocks that soared earlier this
year with expectations for the
economy and inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 55.41
points, or 1.3%, to 4,166.45 in
a widespread slump. It was the
worst day for the index in a
month as unease grows about
the Federal Reserve making
plans to eventually offer less
help to markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average lost 533.37 points, or
1.6%, to 33,290.08, and the
Nasdaq composite fell 130.97,
or 0.9%, to 14,030.38.
Investors are still recalibrat-
ing their moves following the
Federal Reserve’s signal this
week that it may raise short-
term interest rates twice by late
2023, earlier than expected.
The Fed also began talks about
slowing its bond-buying pro-
gram that’s helping to keep lon-
ger-term rates low. On Friday,
St. Louis Federal Reserve Pres-
ident James Bullard said on
CNBC his personal prediction
was that the first rate increase
may come as soon as next year.
It’s an acknowledgment that
a rebounding economy with
near-record prices for homes
and stocks may not need super
low rates much longer. A re-
cent burst of inflation may also
be upping the pressure. But any
pullback in Fed support would
be a big change for markets,
which have been feasting on
ultra-low rates for more than
a year. It marked a “U-turn
on Easy Street,” as strategists
at BofA Global Research de-
scribed it.
That’s hurt stocks of banks,
oil producers and other com-
panies whose profits are closely
tied to the strength of the econ-
omy in particular. On the other
side, stocks of companies able
to grow almost regardless of
the economy’s fortunes have
held up better.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average, which is full of compa-
nies whose profits move more
with the economy, lost 3.5% this
past week. That’s its worst since
October. The Nasdaq com-
posite, which has more high-
growth tech stocks, dipped a
much more modest 0.3%.
Of course, all the major U.S.
stock indexes remain relatively
close to their record highs, as
the economy continues to leap
out of the recession caused by
the pandemic. The S&P 500
is only about 2% below its all-
time high set on Monday, and
the Dow is within 5% of its re-
cord set last month.
See Stocks / A6
Scientists teach drones to hear human screams
Not the robot apocalypse: Technology could
help locate victims after natural disasters
BY DALVIN BROWN
The Washington Post
If someone created a flying
machine capable of tracking you
down by listening for your voice,
you might be creeped out.
But what if you were pinned
under a pile of rubble after a
natural disaster and first re-
sponders couldn’t locate you?
Maybe then, a human-seeking
drone wouldn’t be such a terri-
ble idea.
That concept is the focus for
engineers at Germany’s Fraun-
hofer FKIE institute, who’ve
built a drone prototype de-
signed to find people by detect-
ing human screams and listen-
ing for other signs of distress.
One of the lead engineers,
Macarena Varela, showcased
the company’s progress last
week at an annual conference
hosted by the Acoustic Society
of America.
While it’s easy to imagine
human-seeking drones in a
sci-fi horror movie, Varela says
the gadget would be ideal for
post-disaster scenarios, such as
earthquakes, hurricanes, and
wildfires. They could hover
over an area that rescue crews
have difficulty getting to and
pinpoint where people may be
trapped.
“(Drones) can cover a larger
area in a shorter period of time
than rescuers or trained dogs
on the ground,” Varela said. “If
there’s a collapsed building, it
can alert and assist rescuers. It
can go places they can’t fly to
or get to themselves.”
Unmanned aerial vehicles
or drones are commonly used
for search and rescue missions
when disasters strike. Most of-
ten, they take aerial images of
structural damage.
See Drones / A6