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Friday, February 8, 2008

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Friday, February 08, 2008

• Mortgage bill altered but still opposed
Facing fierce industry opposition, backers of an ambitious mortgage reform bill on Thursday unveiled a rewritten and slightly watered-down version of the proposed legislation.

• Bridge contractor Ross Bros.
denies racketeering suit claims

• Complaints pile up against Newberg mover
A Newberg-based moving company is the target of numerous consumer complaints and an unusually scathing assessment from the Better Business Bureau.

• Consumers turn thrifty, fanning fears of downturn
Chain stores tally weakest January in nearly 40 years

• Gift-card holders go for the basics
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. provides a telling new gauge of the economy's direction: how tightly shoppers hang on to gift cards.

• Hilton workers near Seattle OK boycott
VANCOUVER -- Workers at two Hilton-owned properties near Seattle have voted to approve an economic boycott of those businesses -- the same vote that workers at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower took last October.

• Home drop, price increases for food, gas cause unease
January's bottom-scraping retail results have extended a streak of news that indicates rising consumer distress.

• Industry Notes
TECH NOTES

• Law firm joins Pearl migration
Law firm Ater Wynne provided another sign Thursday that the heart of downtown Portland continues to spread north.

• News highlights
NEWS UPDATE: RATINGS AGENCIES

• Oregon's indicators troubling
While the U.S. economy's slide has become clear lately, its future remains uncertain -- and sure to vary regionally.

• Recall highlights
The following product recalls have been announced:

• Sales manager challenged questionable tactics
PHILADELPHIA -- A sales manager who "just couldn't abide" the way Merck wanted him to market the drugs Vioxx and Zocor to doctors took the lonely step of filing a whistleblower suit against his employer.