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March 2007: Around the state

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To Jefferson from Joseph — with love

JOSEPH — Nearly two-thirds of the 45 employees at Joseph’s Valley Bronze spent the better part of 2½ years forging new cases for some of the most prized possessions in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., including the original Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. Each 600-pound case is made of bronze over a steel frame. Valley Bronze owner David Jackman says, “I woke up one night and thought, ‘Good grief, our bronze will be inches away from Thomas Jefferson’s words on parchment.’”

— Colleen Moran

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Current Issue | MAY 08

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Around the State

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An engineering firm that started as a collaboration between an Oregon State University professor and three of his former students has won the contract of a lifetime: to manage the $5.25 billion redevelopment of the Panama Canal.

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