Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008   (No news posted)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008  
Tuesday, May 6, 2008   (No news posted)
Monday, May 5, 2008  

Oregon News:

• Bend:   Obama, McCain Hitting Road Together?   (Baltimore Sun)
• Is Smith Attacking Because of Anemic Poll Results?  ...a real effort by Smith to meddle in the Democratic primary and throw the race to Novick under the theory he wouldn't be as strong a candidate in the general election. -- One thing is clear. The entire political climate in Oregon is not so favorable to Smith or the Republicans right now. (Jeff Mapes, Oregonian) [The big questions are:   Will Smith's betting that he doesn't need conservatives, to stand by him, work? Has he adequately appeased some of the liberal voters with his pro-homosexual, universal health care and anti-ANWR votes? Will he prove, once and for all that "no conservatives needed" because he has judiciously thrown crumbs to both sides while securely retaining the RINO/moderate voters?]
• Obama Says He Will Wrap Up Primary with An OR Win.   (Fox News)
• With OR Visits, Democratic Presidential Candidates Move In Two Directions.   (Jeff Mapes, Harry Esteve, Oregonian)
• Controversial Harry Potter Mural Back Up At Ashland High School.   (Mail Tribune)
• Coming Soon to Elgin Students, Teachers:   3-Day Weekends.   (Noelle Crombie, Oregonian)
• Peter DeFazio Endorses Barack Hussein Obama.   (Oregonian)
• In Oregon, Clinton Hits Obama While Obama Targets McCain.   (AP)
• OR the End Of the Trail for Clinton?   (Seattle Times)
• Curry County Commissioner Lobbies for Funding from D.C.  "I actually did do some good talking to Wyden, DeFazio and Smith," she said. "I have explained what we had to cut out and how we can't hire employees," Schafer said. "They were all excited with that. They will have that to talk about to their colleagues." (Curry Pilot)
• Obama New OR Superdelegate Impugns McCain's Ethics.   "He says we need less regulation," said DeFazio in his introduction of Obama. "Hello! Wall Street mortgage meltdown, Bear Stearns taxpayer bailout, Enron, but, you know, I guess maybe for a guy who was up to his neck in the Keating Five and savings and loan scandal less regulation is better." (Political Punch)
  
  [DeFazio; forever true to his usual anti-capitalism form. However, as is sometimes the case, DeFazio isn't wrong in this following quote.]
  
  What he calls the 'Straight Talk Express.' But let's call it what it is. It is not the Straight Talk Express -- it is the Trojan Horse Express.
  
  [Yup. That's the way many conservatives feel about McCain. But, DeFazio sees a different Trojan Horse. DeFazio sees a horse claiming to be more liberal than DeFazio thinks he will really be. Conservatives see a liberal who is riding in a transparent conservative horse which will basically mean that the character of the GOP will be forever changed minus any conservative base.]
  
  And what did the McCain camp say about DeFazio's rhetoric?
• Only Two Democrat Delegates Left Who Have Not Announced for Who They Will Support.   (Willamette Week)
• Portland City Council Debate:   Six Candidates Means Fast Questions & Answers.   (Andy Dworkin, Oregonian)
• Smith Continues to Highlight Merkley's February Fundraising.   (Politicker OR)
• Smith Ad Attacks Merkley.   (Oregonian)
• Clinton OR Ad.   (MSNBC)
• Dept. Of Energy Report States Imported Liquefied Natural Gas Not Needed.   ...would be more expensive and polluting than domestic natural gas, and would come at a higher environmental cost than alternative proposals to ship more gas in from Wyoming...Also Friday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski sent a letter to federal energy regulators asking them to go through an entirely new environmental analysis of the Bradwood Landing LNG project... (Ted Sickinger, Oregonian)
• Smith Ad Takes Direct Aim at Merkley.   (AP/Oregonian)
• Peter DeFazio to EU Ambassador...   ...“You want to tax our airlines in order to make your air traffic system more efficient? EU Emissions Plan Gets Roughed Up in Congress. (Alabama Online)
• House Highways and Transit Subcommittee -- May 6:   DeFazio Challenges Witness's Testimony on Transportation Bills (H.R.5934 and S.2910).  Full disclosure among all parties to freight transactions would create a more equitable market, DeFazio argued. “Doesn’t this make it more competitive?” DeFazio asked. “Wouldn’t everybody benefit?” -- “What rates are being offered by brokers and what rates are being sought by carriers” are already publicly available, Voltmann replied. “The charges are out there” on load boards, which function much like a stock market for freight, Voltmann said. -- “So we have a well-organized casino,” quipped DeFazio. (etrucker.com)
• Roseburg:   Timber Operators Hear LNG Plan.   (News Review)
• Timber Stock Along Highway to Be Sold.   (NR Today)
• Oregonian Ad Watch:   U.S. Senate Race --   A new 30-second spot from Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley; Novick has insulted Clinton, Obama and other Democrats. Video shows edited snippets from some of Novick's writings...
• In OR Democratic Primary Race, Merkley Raises $485,000 In April.   (Oregonian)
• Springfield School District:   Friends of Springfield's School Children Makes Candidate Endorsements.
• DeFazio One of 36 Congressman Signing Letter Plea for More Nuclear Clean-up Funds.   Sent a letter to the leadership of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee this week asking for help in restoring money for nuclear cleanup funding at Hanford and other sites next year. (Tri-City Herald) [$5.5 Billion is not enough?]
• Obama Focuses On November; Barely Mentions Clinton In Beaverton Visit.   (Valley Times)
• Nearing Election Day, Oregon Hopefuls Bank On Themselves.   (Dave Hogan, Oregonian)
• BILL WOULD END GRAZING RIGHTS ON SISKIYOU MONUMENT IN OREGON.   Smith, Wyden Hail the bill as a breakthrough after years of negotiation. Would provide private payments to ranchers who give up leasing rights. In exchange, about 23,000 acres of new wilderness would be designated within the monument, permanently protecting it.
  
  [Once again the government is taking private land and then making the taxpayers pay those who have lost their land in another environmental whacko scheme. This is part and parcel of the usual pattern of paying farmers not to grow various crops, killing the fishing, farming and timber industries and then playing the knight-in-shining armor routine of taking from other taxpayers to keep these families fed. It's called SOCIALISM.]
  
  But Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he feared the bill could be a "bait and switch" that could victimize ranchers. -- Rep. Walden was referring to a change in the bill that removed a requirement for federal payments to the ranchers in exchange for giving up leasing rights. Instead, a private conservation group [Buzz-word for environental-whacko organization] would pay the ranching families an undisclosed amount based on the number of cattle and their productivity. -- "I don't want a pivotal party to this agreement to fall prey to a bait and switch. I want a square deal," Walden said. -- Minutes after the Senate panel approved the bill, Walden issued a press release announcing that he was sponsoring his own bill on grazing - one that includes up to $2 million in federal payments to ranchers. -- Walden said his bill also would restore "missing language" from the Senate bill that spells out terms of a deal reached between environmentalists and ranchers to compensate ranchers for giving up their grazing leases before wilderness is established.
  
  [Walden is making some somewhat good points here. Why should taxpayers be the ones to bail out the environmental-whacko-caused killing of capitalism all across our state and the nation?]
• Smith-Wyden Sponsored "Soda Mountain Wilderness Bill" Clears Key Committee.   (Mail Tribune)
• DSCC Makes First Ad Buy of 2008 In OR.   (KTVZ)
• Myrtle Creek:   Four More Officials Resign In South County...   ...over new financial disclosure rules implemented by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. (News Review)
• Novick Has Passed $4-M Mark In Fundraising.   (Dave Hogan, Oregonian)
• DeFazio Authored Bill Has Similar Senate Counterpart.   The Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2008—or H. R. 5605 — could require quarterly transparency reporting of product rebates, dividends, education, funded research, food, trips and travel, consulting fees, rebates, dividends and anything else over the value of $25, transferred to physicians by drug, device and medical supply companies, or by third parties acting on their behalf...and violators could lose millions in tax deductions for advertising expenses. (Medical Marketing & Media)
• Winston:   CA Couple Withdraw Plans for Winston Subdivision.   He noted the need for wetlands mitigation, the presence of hazardous areas and steep slopes, as well as the need for a main access road onto Lookingglass Road and issues with street widths and sidewalks. (NR Today) [In other words, the environmental terrorists win again.]
• NY Times Opinion:   Gordon Smith (Other RINOs) One of the Good Guys for Voting With the Democrats On the "Fair Pay Act."   [Will such ploys to attract the left assure his win in OR? Like McCain, Smith never wants to need the conservative votes ever again.]
• Roseburg Candidate Videos Available Online.   (News Review)
• Sensible Salvage-logging Plan On the Horizon.   (The Daily News)
• DeFazio Moves to Link County Payment to War Funding.   (Charles Pope, Oregonian)

Oregon News:

• Obama Getting Most of Portland-Area Donations.   (Oregonian)
• Democratic Split Leads to OR Showdown.  Clinton will make her second campaign swing through Oregon starting Thursday, and Obama aides said their candidate will campaign again in the state before the May 20 deadline for returning ballots. Obama has routinely led in polls here -- the last two showed him somewhere between 6 and 12 points ahead of Clinton -- but both campaigns see a lot to be gained or lost in Oregon. (Oregonian)
• OR Ready for Clinton/Obama Visits.   (Statesman J.)
• Douglas County:   Party Switchers May Receive Two Primary Ballots.   800 party-switchers, but elections dept. says they will not be allowed to vote twice. (News Review)
• Letter to ed., SJ,   Loyst R. Streeter, Sublimity:  Oregon's Closed Primary Is Not Democracy.   [Newsflash to Mr. Streeter:   We were founded as a REPUBLICAN; a representative government. We are not a democracy and our founders knew exactly what they were doing to avoid the weaknesses and evils of past democracy. A democracy is mob-rule. As far as independents voting in the primaries; they knew when they changed their registration that they were forfeiting a choice in this process. Being in a majority changes nothing; not morally, legally or constitutionally. Oh, and one more thing; "re-register or get lost." Sorry. Couldn't resist.]
• Gov. K. On Oregon's Salmon Plans:   A New Federal Plan, the Same Old Failure.   (Oregonian)
• OR Task Force Looks to Stabilize County Budgets.   (Oregonian) [Stabilizing county budgets; a job that should have been done along time ago, but has been postponed by being given federal welfare funds to make up for the liberals killing off the timber industry with environmental whacko lawsuits. Trees, animals, bugs are routinely treated as more important than people.]
• Uncertain Timber Payments Mean Uncertain OR County Budgets.   (Statesman J.) [One comment thus far (by dbeyvrionn) and it is right on target correct.]
• DeFazio Sends Letter to Pres. Bush Asking Approval Of "Timber Payments."   (News Review) [Self-righteously slams giving money abroad to prevent hunger and fight war instead of giving it to make up for killing the timber industry.]   DeFazio Therefore Will Be Against Obama's "Global Poverty Act?".  ...amounts to an unfunded mandate on federal government and could impose a hefty global tax on Americans. And he concludes it would force the U.S. to spend 0.7 percent of its gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a 13-year total of $845 billion in excess of what the U.S. already spends. (One News Now)
• Salem-Keizer:   Reserve Cash Could Delay Transit Cuts.   (SJ) [In other words, postponement of responsible budgeting practice once again. And what are they doing to hopefully postpone responsible budgeting some more? You got it. Another tax being considered.]
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Adams Beats a Tactical Retreat On Bike-Ped Bridge.   (Oregonian)
• Doing the Math Means OR Becoming a Make Or Break Primary for the Dems.
• Photo ID Law Turns Some Voters Away.   (SJ)
• Eugene:   Health Clinics Are "It's Takes a Village" Perfect for Trouble Teens.   (RG)  
• Portland Computer Contract Runs Over Budget.  ...a financial debacle on par with the skyrocketing cost of the aerial tram and the Water Bureau's bungled billing operations. City administrators have reached a "transition agreement" that ends the contract of Ariston Consulting & Technologies... (Oregonian)
• Salem:   Hispanic Holiday Fiesta Leads to Arrests Following Quarrel.   (Statesman J)
• Tigard Middle School Staff Seek Parental Support Against Energy Drinks.   ...some students are literally drunk on a caffeine buzz, or falling off a caffeine crash," the e-mail said. While many energy drinks have the same caffeine ounce-for-ounce as strong coffee, the teachers wrote they found some students exchanging and accumulating cans and drinking as many as five cans a day. -- In mid-March, four eighth-graders in Broward County, Fla., were taken to the hospital after sipping energy drinks and then complaining of sweating and racing hearts. (Oregonian)
• Hewlett-Packard Reportedly to Cut 300 to 400 jobs in Corvallis.   (Oregonian)
• Clinton Lends Her Struggling Campaign $6.4-M.   (SJ)
• Clearwire, Spring Nextel Combine to Form $14.5-B Wireless Company.  Will be based in Kirkland, WA. (Oregonian)
• OR Counters Nationwide Trend of Falling Catholic-School Enrollment.   As rising tuitions take a told across U.S., state has added students during past decade. (SJ) [There is no mystery as to why here. Liberal OR gives more reason than most other states to get one's kids out of public schools and from their kids being forced to participate in events like the "day of silence" and other activities designed to demean Christian principles taught at home.]
• Dept. of Quality Says Company Violated Asbestos Law.   Fines Michigan company. The company is appealing. (SJ)
• BikePortland Blog Reports the Sauvie Island Bridge Move Is Dead.   (Oregonian)
• Well, the Oregonian Isn't Ignoring Her.   The only female candidate for U.S. Senate is not in the voter's pamphlet & on a low budget campaign.
• What You Will See In OR Voter Pamphlets On John McCain.
• Douglas County's Liberal News Review Endorses Incumbent for Commissioner.   Want to retain Doug Robertson.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Blue Oregon Having Fun with Tony Marino's Admissions of a Few Skeletons In Closet.
• State Diploma Authorization Office Goes after Marino's Ph.D.   Republican candidate for OR House 35 is being targeted after admission that a marketing doctorate from an on-line university that's not accredited in OR...Ashwood University offers all sorts of diplomas, starting at $239, and gives credit for life experience. "As far as I know, it's a fake," said Alan Contreras, administrator of the Office of Degree Authorization. Marino, an Internet marketing consultant who co-hosts a weekly show on-line, said he'll remove the references right away. He wants to do the right thing, he said, and did not know he had been violating a state law. (Oregonian)
• Wyden to ISPs:   "Think Twice" about 'Net Neutrality...or Else...   (ARS Technica)
• Jacksonville County:   Excitement Builds for Clinton Visit.   To reserve tickets for the free event, go to www.hillaryclinton.com/centralpoint. (News Review)
• Photo ID Law Turns Some [Indiana] Voters Away.   About 12 nuns were turn away... (SJ) [Awwwww. Now isn't that cruel. It shouldn't matter that these ladies already knew the requirements to vote, but didn't do what they should have. They're nuns. (Good comment at end of article).]
• Insurance News.net:   Gordon Smith Urges Support of "Bi-partisan" "Retirement Security for Life Act" (HR 2005, S.1010) Bill.   ["Womb to the Tomb" -- With liberal Republicans like this who needs Democrats?]
• Salem-Keizer:   Second-Language Learning to Be with Compensatory Education Next Year.   (Tracy Loew, SJ)
• Mean Duin Believes the High Road Leads to Obama.   (Oregonian)
• Actor Kevin Costner Coming to Eugene to Raise $$ for UO Baseball Park.   Bringing his band, "Modern West" to perform. (Oregonian)
• Running for Congress:   Low turnover -- Incumbents look like sage bets in four of Oregon's five districts.   (Oregonian)
• Ralph Nader Visiting OR Next Week.   Defending his latest presidential campaign & still trying to get on the ballot. (Oregonian)
• Grant High Constitution Squad Third.   (Oregonian)
• Milwaukie:   TriMet Scraps Plan for Park & Ride.  Five years and $3 million later, the agency says the proposal is no longer worth it. (Oregonian)
• Dozono's Restaurant Fully Pays Debts to City.  (Oregonian)
• Feds' Latest Plan to Restore Columbia Salmon Leaves Dam Operations Largely Intact.   (Oregonian)
• Sea Lion Deaths Prompt Security Review at Bonneville Dam.   (Oregonian)
• Jury Gives Adidas $305-M In Payless Stores Trademark Suit.   (Oregonian)

Oregon News:

• The Democrat Party of Oregon Lends McCain a Helping Hand with OR Ballot.   Although John McCain failed to submit a statement for the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet, the Democratic Party of Oregon has got his back. (Politicker OR)
• Coos Bay:   Democrats Gain In County As GOP Slides.   (World Link)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Wyden's Wife Faces NYC Bookstore Controversy.
• Seattle PI On Book Store Troubles for Ron Wyden's Wife.   Allegations of racism and unfair labor practices abound with much of the heat being focused on Nancy Bass Wyden, the daughter of longtime Strand owner Fred Bass and wife of Oregon senator Ron Wyden, who interestingly enough is "widely known for his impassioned support of equal opportunity in the workplace."
• New York Press Article Listing Accusations Against Bookstore Owned By Nancy Wyden.   The racial discrimination allegations led to charges of unfair labor practices filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). No evidence of discrimination was ever documented against the bookstore, and the union withdrew the charges filed with the NLRB. But the bad blood between employees and management continued into the spring of this year, as the threat of a union walkout hung over tense negotiations on a new contract; the union repeatedly accused the Strand management of violating the old one.
• Correspondence Between the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara & Sen. Gordon Smith's Office Indicates Consular Officials Visited Women Held In Mexican Prison 10 Times in February 2006.   (The Star, Canada)
• Marks Endorsed By UFAW.   (Politicker OR)
• Environmental Whacko Opinion On OR Trees.   SJ
• NYT:   States Look to Rein In Private Medicare Plans.   Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, welcomed the proposal. “I helped write the 1990 law, which put an end to Medicare supplement insurance scams, but today some of the same deceptive practices have resurfaced in the marketing of Medicare Advantage,” Mr. Wyden said. [Physicians are fast being reduced to status little different from that of the ordinary union worker.]
• Bennett & Sen. Ron Wyden Win 12 U.S. Senate Co-Sponsors for First "Bipartisan" Health Reform Bill to Cover All Americans.   (KCPW-radio, Utah)
• "Swatting Case" Mothers File Suit Against McMinnville School Dist., 3 Boys.
• Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, Oregonian:   Hillary Clinton Returning to Oregon On Thursday.
• Salem Resident Supports Obama from Libya.   (SJ)
• Nancy Haught, Oregonian:   Black Pastors' Messages Take Different Paths.   [In other words we have in Portland another Pastor Wright & it is excusable. There is, after all, nothing bad about 'diversity' or African-centric.]  
• Polk DA Candidate Opens Office In Dallas.   (SJ)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Merkley Responds to Smith With Tough Ad.
• OR Average $ for Regular Gas Up to $3.76/gal.   (Oregonian)
• Merkley to Address Democrats.   (Peter Wong, SJ)
• 3,000 More Residents Get OR Health Plan Applications.   (Oregonian)
• Julian Daley, SJ:   A New Lease for Former (Salem) Crime Haven.
• Trapping Program Suspended after Six Sea Lions Shot.   (Oregonian)
• Letter to Ed., SJ:   U.S. Labor Policies Affect Immigration.
• Republican TN Senator Bob Corker Calls Wyden/Bennett "Incredibly Creative" with [universal] Health Care Bill.   (The Chattanoogan)
• Matthew Preusch, Oregonian:  Hermiston:   Gary Mortensen Creates Iraq Documentary, "This Is War."
• Marks Wants a Debate from Schrader.   (Politicker OR)
• Macpherson Takes Flack for His Ad.   come not only from his opponent John Kroger’s camp, but also from groups he claimed to have helped. (Politicker OR)
• Wyden Maintains Neutral Stand Between Obama/Hillary While Giving Full Attention to Health Care Bill.   (www.iol.co.za)
• Bottom Line Will Propel Wyden's [universal] Health-Care Solution.   (Daily News)
• Ted Sickinger, Oregonian:   Behind the Fight for an OR LNG Site.
• OR Is "Punished" On Medicare Reimbursement.   "We are punished for being efficient," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. (Oregonian)
• Esmeralda Bermudez, Oregonian:   Are Crime & Immigration Linked?  
• Thelma Guerrero-Huston, SJ:   Immigration Absent from Campaign Ads.
• Amy Hsuan, SJ:   OR Exports Could Keep Local Economy Going Strong.
• Letter to ed., SJ -- Barbara Bigham, Keizer:   Bulbs Not Saving Much Energy.
• SJ Opinion:   Clinton, McCain Best Choices for Oregon.   That choice divides friends, families, states — and the Statesman Journal Editorial Board.
• Transit District Considers Increasing Most Bus Fares.   Rising fuel costs are one reason cited. (Eunice Kim, SJ)
• Peter Wong, SJ:   Republicans Eager to Take Back 5th District.
• Peter Wong, SJ:  Democrats Slug It Out for Attn'y Gen'l Job.
• Ruth Liao, SJ:  Ex-City Worker Takes Stand to Defend Herself In Firing Case.   Woman claims city fired her in retaliation.
• SJ Opinion:   Mannix, Schrader Offer Best Choice for Voters.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   A Big Weekend to Reach Out and Touch Voters.
• Scott Learn, Oregonian:   Tribes, U.S. Sign Deal On NW Dams.
• Dave Hogan, Oregonian:  Late Changes Create 2 Ballots.
• Field of Democrats Vying for Chance to Face Gordon Smith.   (RG)
• Thelma Guerrero-Huston, SJ:   Ranks of Citizens Swell.  
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   OR Republicans Starting Write-In Drives.
• Grants Totaling Nearly $1.4-M.   Passed in 2007 legislature. (KTVZ)
• Peter Wong, SJ:   Primary Ballots Will Arrive Soon.   People are urged to act fast if they don't receive them.
• Peter Wong, SJ:  3 Democrats Vying for Dist. 5 Have Spent No Funds.   Key issues include education, impeachment, war.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Finally, Some Poll Triangulation In OR.   As of May 3, Obama ahead of Clinton.
• Peter Wong, SJ:   5th District Democrats Emphasize Experience.
• Peter Wong, Statesman J.:   Democrat Primary Race for Sec'y of State Dominated By Senators.
• Peter Wong, SJ:   Four Republicans Contend for Nod In Primary.
• Dylan Rivera, Oregonian:   New I-5 Bridge? You Decide.
• Arthur Gregg Sulzberger & Don Colburn, Oregonian:   $1.5-M Keeps Cascadia Open -- for Now.
• Don Colburn, Oregonian:  Cascadia's Financial Crisis Hits Clients Hard.
• Jeff Kosseff, Oregonian:   Sen. Ron Wyden's Health Care Plan Could Save Cash.   ...according to a report released by 'nonpartisan' gov't analysts.
• Eric Mortenson, Oregonian:   Milwaukie Light-Rail Span.   The proposed Willamette River crossing would link the South Waterfront to an area south of OMSI.
• Janie Har, Oregonian:   House Candidate Tells All In Letter.   Marino says voters deserve honesty from political candidates.
• Anna Griffin, Oregonian:   Dozono's Campaign Fliers Land In Gresham.   Sho Dozono hasn't talked about annexing Gresham, but you might not know that from the way he's running his campaign.
• Anna Griffin, Oregonian:   Homeless Draw Attention to Their Plight.   Camp out at Portland's City Hall to protest police sweeps of transient sites.
• Michael Milstein, Oregonian:   Salmon's Gone, So Is the Season.
• A Mouthful for Mayor Hopefuls.   (Oregonian VIDEO)
• Scott Learn, Oregonian:   Concealed Handguns at Crater Lake? That's the Plan.
• Andy Dworkin, Oregonian:   PORTLAND Mayoral Candidates Says Restaurant Ready to Pay City Tab.   Sho Dozono says "an infusion of capital" from an unnamed investor will pay more than $18,000 in back rent and taxes.
• Matthew Preusch, Oregonian:   Wyden Pushes for Quick OK On Logging.   two salvage logging sales are the subject of a proposed agreement between the timber companies and environmentalists that would log about 38 million board feet of timber in Grant and Harney counties.
• Michael Milstein, Oregonian:   BLM Rejects Bid for Mine Near St. Helens.
• Anna Griffin, Oregonian:   Caps Confuse In Race for Mayor.   Campaign spending - Sho Dozono and Sam Adams keep changing their limits.
• Andy Dworkin, Oregonian:   Portland City Council OK's Higher Fees.   Trash haulers will pay higher fees, which will be used to help business with their recycling efforts.
• Ashbel S. Green, Oregonian:   Victims Group Takes Issue with [Attn'y Gen'l Candidate] Macpherson.   Say [Democrat] candidate blocked anti-predator bills.
• Media Downplays Smith Co-Sponsored Hawaiian Bill to Be Taken Up the Senate Possibly In May.   Bill also supported by the Mexican American Legal Defense Education Fund (MALDEF), the Nat'l Council of LaRaza; League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the NAACP... (NEWSBUSTERS)
• SJ Opinion:   Merkley Has the Edge Against Senator Smith.
• Smith, Wu Partner On Legislation Creating Foundation to Indian Scholarships.   (East Oregonian)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Dead Heat In D Senate Race, Poll Finds.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Smith Goes On Attack Against Both Democrats.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Merkley Now Agrees with Novick On Gun Restriction. Merkley spokesman says Merkley never changed his view...
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Blumenauer:   Gas Tax Holiday Ain't Happening.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   [Politicians] Pumping the Gas-Tax Holiday.
• Eunice Kim, SJ:   Salem:   Tax Raising Proposals Face Uphill Climb.
• East Metro Candidates to Appear at Forum May 8.   (Oregonian)
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   More Ad Wars:   The Race for Attn'y Gen'l.
• Harry Esteve, Oregonian:   Profile of Merkley -- Past Far from "Establishment."
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian -- Profile of Novick:   Novick No Stranger to Beating Long Odds.
• Congressman Walden Attends Opening Of [Taxpayer-funded] Tribal Software Company.
• Jeff Mapes, Oregonian:   Obama/Clinton Vie for OR Votes.
• Charles Pope, Oregonian:   DeFazio Moves to Link County Payments to War Funding.   DeFazio urged President Bush on Friday to allow money for rural communities in Oregon and other areas to be included in a high-priority bill to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Same-Sex Human Right Orgs Not So Grateful To Smith Despite Pro-Homosexual Legislation.   (Same-sex web site "Queerty."
• Smith Hits the Airwaves Toting "Common Ground for the Common Good."   (PolitickerOR.com)
• Bush Welcomes Oregonians, Smith & Walden, to 2008 Nat'l & State Teachers of the Year to White House.   (White House PR)
• DSCC Responds to Gordon Smith Ads.   Say that Oregonians should take Smith's "attempts to appear independent with a grain of salt..." DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. "Unfortunately for Smith, Oregonians' memories are longer than a 30 second TV spot. (Politiker OR) [No. Oregonians memories are not longer than a 30 second TV which will only help Smith.]
• Wyden, Sen. Thune (R) Propose Alternatives to Tolls.   ...last week sought to gather support from US Department of Transportation officials for the Build America Bonds Act. The legislation would allow states to fund various types of infrastructure project through the issuance of thirty-year bonds. (The Newspaper) [In other words let the next generation pay for it.]