Al Thomas made the most of the wonderful place where we live -- and provided a path for many others to enjoy the outdoors, too. Great guy, great journalist.

Another death from someone trying to cross the tracks in this incredibly dangerous area. (In June I wrote that there were two different types of train but there are, of course, three -- MAX, Amtrak and freight.) www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

The WSJ visits Hermiston to look at the impact of Amazon's local data centers:

Judge bars National Guard deployment to Portland until her final ruling on Friday @oregonian.com www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

Gloo, which makes technology for churches and other faith-based organizations, hopes to raise $100m+ in an IPO that would value the business at $874m. Its executive chairman is Pat Gelsinger, Intel's former CEO. via Reuters. www.reuters.com/technology/g...

Bloomberg says Intel is negotiating to buy custom AI chip designer SambaNova. Both Intel Capital and Walden International, CEO Lip-Bu Tan's firm, are SambaNova backers. The Information reported last week that SambaNova's valuation ($5B in a prior round) plunged after a failed fundraising effort.

National Guard troops were at Portland ICE building despite court ban, feds admit Portland police Cmdr. Franz Schoening testifies he was ‘startled’ by federal officers’ indiscriminate use of force against passive protesters outside ICE facility. www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

BREAKING: 9th Circuit agrees to broader review of Oregon National Guard deployment: What happens next? www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

No Oregon National Guard troops can be deployed under federal control, at least through Tuesday @oregonian.com www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

‘Here we go again’: Chauncey Billups arrest is another setback for Trail Blazers franchise seeking momentum: www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2025...

Newly disclosed records show: • The insiders who bought Amazon’s local fiber provider appointed the people who approved their deal. • They discussed shredding an unfavorable opinion. • They bucked lawyers’ advice to get an outside ‘fairness opinion’, saying it would cost too much and take too long.

Appeals court, in 2 to 1 split, puts hold on restraining order barring Trump from deploying Oregon National Guard @oregonian.com www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

Appeals court majority appears skeptical of Oregon judge's order blocking Trump's deployment of troops in Portland @oregonian.com www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

“I’m troubled by the direct contravention of my (prior) order.” -- U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut via @maxbernstein.bsky.social

National Guard troops temporarily blocked from deploying to Portland, judge rules www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

The insiders who bought a Morrow County fiber-optic provider acknowledged Wednesday that they didn't tell state authorities that Amazon's local data centers were their biggest customer when they sought state permission to buy the telecom business from a nonprofit on whose board they had served.

The state says local officials maneuvered to buy Windwave, a Morrow County telecom provider that serves Amazon's local data centers, for far less than it was worth. The buyers say the state signed off on the deal initially and it's too late to object now.

Intel rose 6.4% yesterday on Bloomberg's report that the chipmaker was seeking investment from Apple. It's up another 9.3% today to $34.10, the stock's highest point since July 2024.

Having secured billions from Nvidia, SoftBank and the Trump administration, Intel also wants an investment from Apple, Bloomberg reports. Intel shares up 6.5% today. What Intel really needs, of course, is a deal to manufacture Apple chips. Selling a stake to Apple might be a step that way...maybe.

In Camas for the 25th anniversary of laser manufacturer nLight. Here’s CEO Scott Keeney, who cofounded the company in 2000. At that time nLight was targeting fiber-optic networks. Today, its lasers should down drones.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan are holding a press conference on their deal. Asked directly if Nvidia will use Intel's factories, Huang would only say that he will "continue" to evaluate Intel's factories.

Thursday’s agreement ties Intel’s future to Nvidia, the chip industry’s most successful and most valuable business, and its founder, Jensen Huang. (Huang grew up in Oregon and graduated from Oregon State.)

Another one of Intel's top Oregon chip architects is leaving the company:

Michelle Johnston Holthaus is out at Intel, just nine months after her promotion to CEO of Intel Products. It's not a surprise -- she'd been nearly invisible publicly since Intel hired CEO Lip-Bu Tan in March. But Holthaus was one of Intel's few female execs and its top leader in Oregon.

Amazon is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its purchase of Portland's Elemental Technologies. aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/...

Inclusion and diversity were among Intel's "core values" for a quarter century. This year marked a dramatic change in how it talks about those topics. And now that the government is Intel's largest shareholder, observers expect Intel will ratchet back further. www.oregonlive.com/silicon-fore...

A UofO student discovered the university had inadvertently exposed thousands of employees' Social Security numbers and other private data online. He alerted the university of its gaffe. And then UofO sought to discipline him. via @jrlsilverman.bsky.social www.oregonlive.com/education/20...

I've never received as many thank you notes as I did for this Q&A on addiction with Dr. Amanda Risser of Central City Concern. I think it speaks to how much people worry about issues and people in their communities and then really want to know the answers. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

An ugly injury ended his career but Marcus Lattimore could always fall back on being a South Carolina football icon. But after a few years, he started to ask: "Is this all it's gonna be for me?" He moved to Oregon, found a home and found his voice — remarkably, as a poet. New at @oregonian.com:

Hours after Fedor Zarkhin reported for @oregonian.com on state agencies' broken promises to wildfire victims, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek ordered the agencies to live up to their word

Intel's CFO said Thursday that the company wasn't just after more funding in its $8.9B deal with Trump. Intel was afraid the administration would try to take back $2.2B the government had already paid from the CHIPS Act.

Intel CFO David Zinsner, at an investment banking conference says, the government has now paid the first $5.7B for its ownership stake: “We got it last night”

This is the latest in a string of exits by Intel's top Oregon technologists amid the company’s deepening struggles and upheaval in its leadership ranks.

Intel's core problems are technological, not financial. Still, the immediate infusion of cash could buy the company some time to improve its position before it resorts to something drastic. On the other hand, tying the company's future to Trump may produce unanticipated outcomes.

Oregon invested considerable energy trying to win a federal semiconductor research site but the Biden administration picked California, Arizona & NY instead. That was a big disappointment to Oregon...but maybe it doesn't matter after all. Trump wants to void the Biden administration's actions.

Wally Rhines, who ran Oregon's Mentor Graphics for nearly a quarter century, was named CEO of Silicon Valley software company Silvaco Group last week. Shares jumped 10% Friday after Silvaco named Rhines CEO but the stock is down 42% this year. Rhines, 78, has been on Silvaco's board since 2022.

Just last month Intel CEO said his predecessor’s $100B spending plan was “unwise” and unnecessary. Today, though, he’s all in. How does this fix Intel? problems? I guess that’s an open question. www.oregonlive.com/silicon-fore...

Historically, the government collects revenue when private companies thrive because corporations pay taxes on their profits. The Commerce secretary posited a different model, in which the government benefits by blending the public and private sectors. But Lutnick denied it's "state capitalism."

Exclusive: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is set to visit the White House Monday after President Trump called for his removal last week over ties to Chinese businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.

The WSJ says new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is already on the outs with his company's board. Tan, of course, served on the board until last year...and he was hired as CEO just last March. Disputes allegedly relate to Intel's future in manufacturing and investment in AI.

Reuters says Intel is struggling with poor yields on its forthcoming 18A manufacturing process.

Top talent continues leaving Intel. Reuters reports that VPs Kaizad Mistry and Ryan Russell (both in Oregon) are retiring, along with another VP, Gary Patton. All are in Intel's manufacturing group. The WSJ says chip packaging expert Gang Duan left Intel for Samsung last month.

It's difficult to overstate the damage that Nordstrom's exit from Pioneer Courthouse Square would do to the city's core. via Veronica Nocera

The notion Intel might also wind down its advanced research puts its entire Oregon future at risk — and along with it, one of the state’s economic pillars.

Intel dropped a bombshell in its 10-Q: "If we are unable to secure a significant external foundry customer for Intel 14A, our next generation semiconductor manufacturing process technology, we may pause or discontinue our pursuit of next generation leading-edge process technologies."

Intel said today it's laying off 15k workers this summer. Overall, it's reducing its workforce to 75k by year's end. How much is too much? BofA's Vivek Arya is worried about "constant roadmap changes, employee churn, as well as reduced investments in future products/nodes."

The Oregonian reported in 2022 that officials in a remote county lured Amazon data centers with millions in tax breaks -- then positioned themselves for a windfall through contracts with Amazon. The Oregon DoJ sued today, saying those officials exploited a rural nonprofit for personal gain.

Intel has laid off workers before but it's never done anything like what's happening now. The company's Oregon headcount is at its lowest point in more than a decade. “Intel’s challenges do not reflect the quality of the technology workforce in Oregon,” says the governor's press secretary.