Jobs and Economy

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Oregon's congressional delegation announced Friday the Small Business Administration has approved Gov. Kate Brown's request to declare the state an economic disaster, paving the way for small businesses to get emergency loans.

Portland Center Stage had just opened The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time. A Broadway smash hit, managing director Cynthia Fuhrman was confident from the overwhelmingly positive audience response that the show would make enough in ticket sales to offset the hefty production costs, large cast and royalties associated with the production.

Researchers are raising questions about the growing array of new digital tools employers are using to streamline the hiring process.

"Proponents of new technologies assert that digital tools eliminate bias and discrimination by attempting to remove humans from the process, but technology is not developed or used in a vacuum," said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. "A growing body of evidence suggests that left unchecked, digital tools can absorb and replicate systemic biases that are ingrained in the environment in which they are designed."

U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici were among those named by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a working group on the agreement, which was amended to deal with concerns House Democrats raised on labor and environmental standards, drug pricing and enforcement provisions.

In a statement timed with the Dec. 19 vote, Bonamici said this: