John Nichols: Proponents of public banking, including Oregon Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Bradbury, point to a working model in North Dakota. Full story »

Joe Hansen: The 'buy local' movement must confront the environmental costs of moving hives hundreds of miles to stay competitive. Commercial pollination involves a large carbon footprint and poses big health risks to honeybee colonies. Full story »

Wind power's reach into rural Oregon needs a broader assessment by energy regulators. Full story »

James Manyika and Byron Auguste: As Americans consider various approaches to boost employment, they must first debunk some myths about what it takes to stimulate job growth. Full story »

Defaults on loans over next five years could undermine small to mid-size banks unless federal government intervenes, or borrowers and lenders restructure their deals  Full story »

Getting our students to complete college must be a top priority Full story »

Two recent visitors to Portland offer markedly different views on what it will take to get the economy restarted. Rep. Kurt Schrader worries that too much stimulus spending just puts the problem on our grandkids shoulders. Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz thinks the danger is spending too little as ecomomic stimulus. Full story »

A go-ahead to transform OSU's Marine Mammal Institute has nothing but upside for Newport and the science world  Full story »

Hard times or not, Oregonians take a tax break supporting the Cultural Trust  Full story »

Peter Buckley: The Oregon Legislature took a balanced approach that gets us through this biennium intact and prepares us for the fiscal problems we still face for 2011-13 and 2013-15.  Full story »

A coalition of venture capital firms led by Intel Corp. dominated one business news cycle last week by pledging to do what they already do: Invest in promising young companies that hire workers. But the symbolism of the pledge was powerful. Full story »

More than 800 of the 2,500 Oregon National Guard soldiers who will return to Oregon from Iraq in April are unemployed. They will be kicked out of the federal pay system at a time when Oregon faces double-digit unemployment. Full story »

It's a modest jobs bill, but a bipartisan one. Who'd a thunk?  Full story »

Richard Parker: Joseph Stack, the man who slammed his plane into an IRS building in Texas, epitomized something larger than himself. Lots of ordinary Americans can identify with disappointment, anxiety, fear and even anger. Full story »

New regulations mean the consumer credit game is slightly less stacked against borrowers. It's just too bad they didn't take effect sooner. Full story »