On the local front, the Albany Carousel is asking for urban renewal money for the third and final time. The request for $339,500 will go before the advisory board of the Central Albany Revitalization Area when it meets at 5:15 Wednesday afternoon at City Hall.
A Facebook posting called my attention to an April 23 workshop at Oregon State that sounds to me as though it should be titled “How to screw working people out of good jobs.” Or maybe “Turning back the clock: Who needs civilization anyway?”
With one exception caused by a thief in California, Amtrak trains have been arriving in Albany more or less on time this week. But the mayor is worried that a proposed change in federal regulation would weaken the law that says railroads must give passenger trains preference on their tracks.
One of the advantages of living in a small town is supposed to be the lack of congestion. So how come in Albany we’re now spending so much time in stop-and-go traffic?
The pavement on many of Albany’s older residential streets has been in pretty poor shape for years and isn’t getting any better. Mayor Sharon Konopa thinks that a local gas tax would enable the city to make progress on that front.
Still no word on what Albany’s proposed rain tax will cost you when – not if – it starts being collected, probably starting next spring. No definite word, at least, but an unauthorized hint based on arithmetic alone.
Quiz update: Name that tree
Today’s botany quiz comes without a prize, alas, except for the satisfaction of showing off your knowledge of Oregon trees. The question: See that tree above? Now, what kind of tree is it? (I’ve added a couple of photos, as requested by one commenter. See below.)
Tags: botany, tree names, tree species, trees