The destruction wrought by the extreme heat and wildfires raging across Oregon includes all kinds of farms - including one that grows trees for the Christmas season.
“This year with that heatwave, I mean, it just wiped 'em out." The recent extreme heat in the pacific northwest didn't just threaten public health - it also affects... Christmas.
Amid the destruction left in the wake of the recent 'heat dome in Oregon, these young Christmas trees – burnt to a crisp.
Jacob Hemphill is the owner of Hemphill Tree Farm.
"The second day of the heat, it was 116.
I came in the driveway that night and seen the trees were basically cooking.
Burnt down to nothing." Hemphill estimates that he has lost over $100,000 worth of Christmas trees at his farm in Oregon City as a result of the recent 'heat dome' event, which saw temperatures of 115 degrees in some parts of the Portland metro area.
He says extreme weather like this will have devastating impacts for farmers.
"It'll affect us a lot.
I mean, I'm a farmer 365 days a year, that's how I make my income, so if I can't sell Christmas trees, I really don't really put food on the table for my kids.
So it's a tough deal." Beyond Christmas trees, the heat damaged other crops in the region to unprecedented levels.
The so-called Bootleg fire has blackened nearly 400,000 acres of desiccated brush and timber.
Scientists have said the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires are largely attributable to prolonged drought and increasing bouts of excessive heat that are symptomatic of climate change.
For Hemphill, the losses will take a toll on his family this year.
But he still has a resilient sense of hope.
"We got good years.
We got bad years.
We plant the trees.
They die.
We replant the trees.
Sometimes they die again.
You replant em again.
That's all you can do.
When you're farming, you just do what you gotta do to keep going."
A woman got kidnapped in Oregon over the weekend in the middle of the night -- all of which was captured on a doorbell camera ... and thankfully, she's been.. TMZ.com
Supreme Court Considers Letting Cities , Punish Homeless for Sleeping Outside.
On April 22, the Supreme Court will hear a case out of Grants Pass, Oregon, which has a population of less than 40,000, NPR reports. .
'Grants Pass v. Johnson' seeks to challenge two
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings which found fining or jailing the unhoused to be cruel and unusual punishment when they have no other alternative.
'Grants Pass v. Johnson' seeks to challenge two
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings which found fining or jailing the unhoused to be cruel and unusual punishment when they have no other alternative.
But Grants Pass argues that public health and safety are dependent on camping restrictions that are commonly found across America. .
The city contends that homeless encampments pose a danger to those living
in them, as well as to families and children.
This is because the encampments
are often filled with people who need
mental health and drug addiction resources.
Advocates for the unhoused say that criminalizing sleeping outside is counterproductive. .
Punishing someone for doing
something they have no control
over, no ability to not do, is not
going to end that status. In fact,
not only does criminalization not
work, it makes matters worse. , Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center, via NPR.
A criminal record and debt from fines would make it even more difficult for a homeless person to find housing, says Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center.
But many cities don't have
enough permanent housing to offer.
Grants pass could use about 4,000 more housing units, while the national
"deficit is in the millions," NPR reports.
The shortage has caused rents to skyrocket, which is a main driver of homelessness
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One of the nation's most famous hotels featured in the Stanley Kubrick film, "The Shining," went up in flames Thursday night – but luckily firefighters put out.. TMZ.com
This Day in History:, The Great San Francisco Earthquake.
April 18, 1906.
At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake
struck offshore of San Fransisco,
a city with a population of 400,000 at the time.
The quake was felt from
southern Oregon to Los Angeles,
and ruptured 296 miles of the San Andreas fault.
Destroying San Francisco's water mains,
the quake ignited massive, devastating
fires all over the city that could not be combated.
The fires burned for days,
resulting in the deaths of more than
3,000 people and destroying more than 28,000 buildings.
More than half of the city was
left homeless by the disaster.
Damages were estimated to close to $15 billion in
today's dollars. The recovery and rebuild allowed city
planners to make great improvements to San Francisco
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 00:57Published
Biden Administration to Invest $8.5 Billion , in Intel’s Computer Chip Plants.
Biden Administration to Invest $8.5 Billion , in Intel’s Computer Chip Plants.
In addition to $8.5 billion in direct funding, $11 billion will be provided in loans.
The money will come from
the CHIPS and Science Act.
The funds will go toward "computer chip
plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico
and Oregon," CBS News reports. .
According to Intel, the new funding and other investments will create a total of 30,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction.
According to Intel, the new funding and other investments will create a total of 30,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction.
The deal will help the U.S. to produce 20%
of the most advanced computer chips
in the world by 2030, according to
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Failure is not an option — leading-edge
chips are the core of our innovation
system, especially when it comes
to advances in artificial intelligence
and our military systems, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on a call with reporters.
We can't just design chips.
We have to make them in America, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on a call with reporters.
Biden's funding announcement comes
amid a heated presidential campaign.
Administration officials want to get chip technology funding
"out the door as quickly as possible so that the Biden campaign can point to concrete progress on one of the
White House's signature programs," analysts say.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger called the
CHIPS Act "the most critical industrial
policy legislation since World War II.".
We think of this as a defining
moment for the United States, the
semiconductor industry and for Intel, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, via statement
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A Muslim teaching assistant who claimed that being given the Christmas Grinch prize at a staff award ceremony amounted to religious discrimination has lost his.. Sky News
Happy Birthday,
Mariah Carey!.
Mariah Carey turns
55 years old today.
Here are five
fun facts about
the singer.
1. She was named after the song,
“They Call The Wind Maria.”.
2. The World Music Awards
honored her as the world's
best-selling recording artist
of the 1990s.
3. She won
two Grammys
following her
debut album.
4. Carey is known for her
five-note octave and whistle register.
5. Her holiday album, ‘Merry Christmas,’
is one of the best-selling Christmas
albums of all time.
Happy Birthday,
Mariah Carey!
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 00:48Published