Business

SALEM, Ore. – When you renew a professional license or pay a government fee, you’re more likely these days to do it online. Now, the state of Oregon is banking on your willingness to pay extra for that convenience.

The state is getting ready to shift to a new model of funding many of its online services. But it's not clear yet who will pay the new fees, or how much they'll cost.

Oregon pays a high-tech company more than $2.5 million a year to run the state's website. But Oregon is switching to a different company, and the state won't pay it one dime.

NEAR CLE ELUM, Wash. – JPMorgan Chase is on track to comply with a new state law that requires disclosure of an 85-cent ATM fee charged to welfare recipients. So says the company’s Northwest chairman, Phyllis Campbell.

“We’re working hard to figure out how we can disclose that on our ATMs and is part of the law now and we absolutely are complying. We’re very close to making sure it will be done. The question is can it be done on other bank’s ATMs and that’s something I can’t answer,” Campbell said.

NEAR CLE ELUM, Wash. – Anti-poverty activists tried to crash a meeting of business leaders at a resort in Central Washington. The action – dubbed “Showdown at Suncadia” – happened today as the state’s chamber of commerce held its annual policy summit.

Some doctors on the faculty of Northwest medical schools are getting paid by pharmaceutical companies to give talks on new drugs.

Harvard and Stanford have banned this practice. But not Oregon Health and Science University or the University of Washington. Now some medical students want similar bans here.

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The Ellensburg City Council will take public testimony at Monday's meeting on proposed regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries.

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho – It's been five months since a rockfall at the Lucky Friday Mine in north Idaho killed veteran miner Larry Marek. Much about the accident is still unknown. But public records going back several years suggest the federal agency that oversees mines did not adequately ensure the safety of workers at the Lucky Friday.

A 2008 report on another collapse there went missing. And since Larry Marek’s death, inspectors have found a dramatically higher number of safety violations.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A loan program the Washington legislature created in 2008 to help small manufacturers hasn’t had a single taker. That’s the finding of a legislative audit that recommends the program be terminated.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn wants Congress to put aside partisanship and pass President Obama's $450 billion American Jobs Act.

If passed, it could mean big bucks for the state of Washington; The federal government could fund up to $1.8 billion worth of public works projects that it says, would create jobs and improve infrastructure.

If you're considering moving into a high-rise condo or apartment in Seattle for the views of Puget Sound, the Space Needle or mountain ranges, you might want to keep this in mind: City regulations do not protect private views, only public views.

This is a lesson being learned the hard way by residents of the Cosmopolitan high-rise in the Denny Triangle, according to a story in Seattlepi.com. Residents there have already had one building go up a mere 18 feet from them and now another tower has been approved for construction.