Zoom under FBI investigation, Shakespeare festival director weighs in on Trump theater controversy and Oregon businesses decamp to Idaho.
Zoom woes multiply
The FBI has launched an investigation into the medical insurer’s possible fraudulent practices, the Portland Business Journal reports. The article quotes an anonymous ex-employee, who said the Zoom Health Plan retroactively falsified medical claims to avoid paying about $3 million into an Affordable Care Act program.
In December 2016, a former employee contacted Oregon Business alleging Zoom CEO Dave Sanders falsified claim information.
Shakespeare makes headlines
Oregon Shakespeare Festival artistic director Bill Rauch weighed in on the growing controversy over the New York Public Theater’s version of Julius Caesar.
Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have pulled out of the Public Theater’s interpretation of the play, a version that features a very Trump-like Caesar with a very Slovenian-sounding wife. Caesar, of course, is murdered in the course of the play, and critics have said the reading incites violence against the 45th president.
Rach took issue with the criticism. “It’s an odd reading to say that it incites violence, because the meat of the tragedy of the play is the tragic repercussions of the assassination,” Rauch told the New York Times. (Oregon Shakespeare Theater is presenting a “Julius Caesar” throughout this year.) “The play could not be clearer about the disastrous effects of violence.”
Decks soothe the savage beast
As we reported here, business owners have called Eugene city officials to task for failing to take action against downtown scofflaws. The city’s latest effort to correct the problem is to install a new deck along the park blocks. The Eugene Register-Guard reports.
Idaho beckons
The Bend Bulletin features a story about several Eastern Oregon businesses leaving Oregon for Idaho. Onwers cite various factors from weather to higher labor costs as reasons for the move. The article also refers to a bill moving through the House that would fund economic development in communities located within 20 miles of the Idaho border.
From the magazine:
Research Editor Kim Moore reports on consolidation and diversification in the cannabis industry.
