Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008   (No news posted this day)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008  (No news posted this day)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008  
Monday, May 26, 2008   (No news posted this day)

Oregon News:

• Gordon Smith, Once Again, Wins Log Cabin Endorsement.   (OR Conservative blog)
• Tempers Calmer at Latest Interstate 5 Bridge Hearing.   After a heated meeting the previous night, most Vancouver residents who speak Thursday support extending light rail from Portland. (Dylan Rivera, Oregonian)
• Salem:   Public Weighs In On New High School Graduation Requirements.   (AP's Julia Silverman, KVAL)
• McCain, Obama Battle for the West.   (SJ)
• Alternative Travel Gaining In Reaction to Higher Gas Prices.   (SJ)
• Lake Oswego:   Voters Make It Clear:   Sell West End Building.   (Oregonian)
• New Salem Head Start Opens.   (Sally Ho, SJ)
• Girl Banned from Beaverton Boys Basketball Team a Reluctant Celebrity. (Tom Hallman Jr., Oregonian)
• McMinnville:  Little Plywood Houses Lead to Big OR Land-Use Battle.   (KGW)
• West Linn Police:   School Prank Escalates to Intimidation.   (Portland Tribune)
• West Linn:   Should School Vandalism Be Treated As a Hate Crime Against Mormons?  Sgt. Neil Hennelly, West Linn police spokesman said "'intimidating' someone on the basis of their religion is a hate crime." (Oregonian)[Oh really. Christians are intimidated every day in our public schools. Their values are taught to be hateful if they don't accept the new anti-Christian cultural political correctness. Every gay 'day of silence' is openly intended to intimidate Christians.]
• Getting Portland's White Residents Reeducated On the Racial Tones of Gentrification.  It’s upper-middle-class progressivism, really.” (NY Times)
• Tigard:   Cost On the Rise for Burnham St. Purchases.   (Portland Tribune)
• Another Oregon Superdelegate for Obama:   Gail Rasmussen.   (USA Today)
• OR Guard Helicopters Head for Iraq.   (Fox 12)
• Smith On the Air Two Weeks After Primary.   (Wally Edge, Politicker OR)
• Sen. Ron Wyden Speaks with NewsWatch 12.   (NewsWatch 12)
• KATU:   Superdelegate Wyden "Neutral" As Rasmussen Backs Obama.
• Sen. Wyden to Endorse a Candidate By June 13.   (KPIC TV)
• NY Times Count of Superdelegates.   Who is committed to whom, who's uncommitted. Barney Frank for Clinton, Tom Daschle for Obama.
• Forecast:   No Kicker In '09, But No Budget Cuts Either.   (Peter Wong, SJ)
• OR Forecast:   STATE INCOME STEADY, KICKERS NOT IN THE CARDS.   (Julia Silverman, Oregonian)
• 11th Oregon Delegate Goes for Obama.   (Oregonian)
• Another Judicial Ruling Against Sizemore.   (Oregonian)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   GOP Analysis:   Walden I Not Party Savior.
• Wyden Proposes Badlands Wilderness Area Near Bend.   (Oregonian)
• Eco-Terrorist, Tre Arrow, Will Plead Guilty for Arson, Conspiracy.   (KMTR)
• Blumenauer Draws R Challenger from Afar.   (Jeff Mapes, Oregonian)
• Oregonian's Jeff Mapes On Senator Smith's Visit to Retirement Home.  He explained his own party choice this way: "While I'm a Republican for some principled reasons, I will tell you that neither party has a monopoly on good ideas."
• Eugene:   If You've Seen This Man...   Call the Sheriff. (KVAL)
• Neighbors Cry Foul Over Yamhill County Couple's "Place-Holder" Houses.  The property owners say they have a right to build a 41-lot subdivision on their rural land; opponents say the move violates Measure 49. (Eric Mortenson, Oregonian)
• Unorthodox Graduation Testing Plan Gets Public Airing In Salem.   (Julia Silverman, AP)
• Immigration Office En Route to West Linn.   Earl Blumenauer, David Wu, Darlene Hooley and Peter DeFazio signed a letter saying the move "ignores the realities of life in Oregon. . . . The Portland city center is the region's governmental and service hub. It strikes us as unrealistic to relocate USCIS out of the city center." (Ryan Frank, Oregonian)
• Outcry Dooms Sex Offender Center In Wheeler County.  (Richard Cockle, Oregonian)
• Multnomah County Juvenile Justice System Is Broken, Crime-Victims' Group Says.   Youthful offenders aren't held accountable, and supervisors don't have enough authority. (Maxine Bernstein, Oregonian)
• Smith, Merkley Make Health Care the First Salvo In Heated Senate Race.  The candidates trade accusations over children's care and bipartisanship. (Jeff Mapes, Oregonian)
• Extradition Of Rogue Surgeon from Oregon On Hold Due to Bungle.   (news.com.au)
• Charging Interstate 5 Drivers Money to Cross the Columbia River Remains On the Negotiating Table.   The ideas of Metro councilors and highway planners don't exactly mesh. (Dylan Rivera, Oregonian)
• In the Name of Reaching Out to the Internat'l Community:   The Muhammad Saili Open-Air Pavilion. “In a chaotic world, this is one of the ways you start peace,” -- City Councilor Sydney Sherwood. [The author and giver of "peace" is Jesus Christ. Period. He is all anyone needs. No one else can "start" peace.]
• Immigration Office En Route to West Linn.   Office move - New security rules are pushing the building to the burbs, but lawmakers say it would burden clients. (Ryan Frank, Oregonian)
• Avian Malaria Seen In Northern Spotted Owl   (KVAL)
• Can Portland Conquer Biotech Barriers?   Oregon’s biotech industry on hold. The bottleneck:   lack of business infrastructure. (Portland Tribune)
• Eugene City Councilors Open Door To New Hospital In Old Location.   So far, the hospital sounds non-committal. Spokeswoman Debi Farr said the hospital will wait for more information from the city and she said all the other building sites are still on the table. (KVAL) [After how badly PeaceHealth was treated, would it be wise for McKenzie-Willamette Medical take a chance on this property? Will they get any more respect?]
• Portland Listed Among Cities with the Least Carbon Footprint.   (Kentucky.com)
• With Primary Behind Them, 5th District Contenders Prepare for November.   (April Baer, OPB)
• Merkley Calls On Smith to Renounce "Misleading" Ad, Big Tobacco.  According to R.C. Hammond, Smith's spokesman, Smith has already broken from the tobacco lobbyists: "Gordon Smith has done more than denounce big tobacco, he's beat big tobacco in 1993 to fund the Oregon Health Plan and pass SCHIP in 1997. (Politicker Oregon) [Once again proving that Smith can be just as good a Democrat as Merkley.]
• Douglas County:   Morgan's Spending $160,275 Over Kittleman's $30,393 Returns Another Morgan to County Commissioners.   Kittleman had unseated Morgan's mother-in-law in past race. (News Review)
• Oregonian Not Happy With Moving Of Immigration Offices.
• Lars Larson's Mailbag, and KXL Listeners' Thoughts On Student Loans.  (Willamette Week)
• Oregon's Democratic Chairwoman Tells Why She's Supporting Obama.   (Oregonian)
• Eugene:   Lack of Beds Means Jail Must Let Accused Criminals Go Free.   (KVAL) [Hint, hint. Raise taxes.]
• Oregonians Arrested with Psychedelic Mushroom At Sasquatch! Festival.   (KVAL)
• Portland Hardly Noticed, But The Rest Of the Nation Did.   (Rob Manning, OPB)

Oregon News:

• Come Drink the Anti-Car Kool-Aid and Make Sure Your Kids Drink It Too.   (Guest column, SJ)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Rating the Pollsters.
• Bandon:   Advocate for the Snowy Plover Ousts Incumbent Who Questioned Scientific Claims.   (Baker City Herald)
• Smith, Kerry Introduce Fuel-Consumption Bill Requiring Auto-makers to Install Efficiency Gauges.   (Sen. Kerry web site)
• SJ Reporter, Ruben Navarrette, Takes Issue with Obama's "Missteps About Economy."
• Brad Avakian, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, Wants You To Feel Good About Diversity.   Like all government enforcers, he just wants to help you. Honest. (SJ) [Or else...]
• Health Dept. $$ (Your tax $$) Fund Mini-grants for Kids...   ...will be used to buy at least three Dance Dance Revolution systems — video games with pads — ...provides students with a mix of academic, recreation, sports, art and drama activities..."They're dancing and moving, and when they stay after school, they also get a nutritious snack," he said. "It's all about staying healthy." (SJ)
• Author and Human Services Director, Sebastian de Assis, Wants You to Know That We Are a Diverse Country.   Indeed, the benefits of promoting diversity abound, and the workplace can be a laboratory on how to profit from it. Take for example a local nonprofit organization's approach to incorporating diversity into its company culture.
  
  [Well, now. Aren't you glad that we have people like this to educate us. You'd be such a dummy without them. Be ye grateful.]
  
  "Despite the diverse nature of our culture, there seems to be a subtle and incomprehensible mistrust of multiculturalism in our society. The insidious self-serving political rhetoric in regard to making English the official language of the nation — as if it weren't decisively established yet — is one typical example of our unnecessary cultural anxiety.
  
  The truth, however, is that the advantages of a multilingual society can garner a plethora of benefits that range from economic prosperity to intellectual and cultural refinement of the population." [You don't agree? Well then you are obviously a pathetic, paranoid, anti-diversity, bigot.]
• Salem Area Welcoming to Diverse Groups.   Our law school diversity, we have a lot of efforts still that we need to do in that area. At the school of business, the Atkinson School, about 35 percent of those students are international students; at one time, we were probably up to 40 percent...Diversity, internationalization of our campus — these are very, very important to us at the student level. (SJ Editorial Page Editor, Dick Hughes) [Doesn't it just make you feel warm all over?] SJ: Is it appropriate to be colorblind, or is it appropriate to recognize that color is part of one's culture, as everything else is?
  
  Pelton: The prevailing view today, which I subscribe to, is that it is better to acknowledge through racial identity or ethnic identity, the way in which that may shape the attitudes, feelings and perspectives of individual people.
  
  "The prevailing notion is that it is more respectful to acknowledge one's heritage than it is to assume that it doesn't exist.
  
  The old notion of sort of a colorblind society, which Martin Luther King talked about, has given way to a different kind of approach, which I think is healthier, quite frankly." (So says Willamette Univ. Pres. M. Lee Pelton). [Well, now since MLK is now passé, why don't we just dump the MLK holiday? A colorblind society is just an old notion? They never wanted a colorblind society folks. They just wanted to trade places in being the perceived top-dogs. This is the type of people who are educating our kids to believe that being racially prejudice is the new version of anti-bigotry. What's the real message here? Who dares to be honest?]
• Work-force analyst of the Worksource Oregon Employment Department, Pamela Ferrara, Wants You to Know "Hispanics Have a Big Effect On Economy In Salem Area."   Population has doubled every decade since 1980.
• Lisbeth Claus, Professor Of Global Human Resources at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University, WANTS YOU TO KNOW You Shouldn't Lose Talented Workers Because They Have Tattoos.   (SJ) [IT'S JUST ANOTHER FORM OF DIVERSITY Stupid. Love it or consider yourself a narrow-minded snob.]
• David Baldridge, Ph.D., and Michele Swift, Ph.D., Asst. Professors of Mgt, College of Business, OSU WANT YOU TO KNOW, "Companies Can Turn Differences Into Assets.   Diversity can lead to innovation, increased flexibility. (SJ) "As the demographics of the U.S. labor force continue to change [Changing because?]and the economy becomes more service-oriented and global, employers are discovering the significance of developing and managing a diverse work force...n the absence of diversity management, individual differences can lead to misunderstandings, customer and employee dissatisfaction, increased turnover and lawsuits." [Gee, lawsuits? Really? And the tone of this article seemed so friendly. You do really, really want to be diverse, don't you? Even if it wasn't going to be forced upon you?]
• Bob Arias, Of Dallas, Formerly Affirmative-action Officer, County of Los Angeles, CA.:   WANTS YOU TO KNOW Work Force Should Mirror the Population It Serves.   "Diversity in age, gender, ethnicity is important." (SJ) [This means they make sure there are still a few token white and straight employees being hired, doesn't it?]
• Portland:   Where Did All That Pothole $$ Go?   (Phil Stanford, Portland Tribune)
• Three Metro Councilors Suggest Toll Rather Than NW I-5 Bridge.   (Oregonian) [No one who has had to live in states with toll-booth hell is going to favor this alternative. For anti-car enthusiasts, this is a great idea.]
• Are Weyerhaeuser's Days Numbered?   (Les Blumenthal, Oregonian)
• Sherwood Faces $1.5-M Legal Fight from Former Police Chief.   (Michael Rollins, Oregonian)
• N. Portland:   Fifth Graders In Pro-Illegal Immigrant Opera.  ...just three months after federal agents raided a North Portland food processing plant, arresting about 170 workers -- many the parents and relatives of the kids in the opera. (Esmeralda Bermudez, Oregonian)
• Former Sherwood Police Chief Sues, Claiming He Was Forced Out.   (Portland Tribune)
• Portland:   Both Adams, Dozonno Exceeded Their Own Spending Limits.   (Portland Tribune)
• Oregon Wheat Explodes In Value.   (Oregonian)
• Ranchers Pleased with County Or Origin Labeling Provision In Farm Bill.   In a letter to Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Oregon Cattlemen's Association President Kay Teisl expressed her support for provisions included in the livestock title. (Baker City Herald)
• Willamette Week Editorial Doesn't Like Columbia River Bridge Expansion.   Dismayed over "greenie" councilors supporting advancement of easier car transportation.
• Guest Opinion, SJ:   Rename Streets for Fallen Troopers, Who Sacrificed All.
• Roseburg:   [Liberal] League of Women Voters Calls Upon Gordon Smith to Support "America's Climate Security Act."   (News Review)
• Lane County Recruits Deputies from Agency Ready to Cut.
• Prineville:   Steelhead Return to McKay Creek Welcomed with Tribal Chanting.   (Central Oregonian)
• Crook County:   Mike McCabe Wins GOP Primary Against Walt Wagner.  Crook County voters also approved advisory Measure 07-47, which may well limit destination resorts. (Central Oregonian)
• Prineville's Pat Hepperle Dismissed from Duties.   Wrongful termination lawsuit may be in the works. Insists info given to citizen was already public info. Refused to resign after 30 years on the job. (Central Oregonian)