Hasso Hering

New owners renovating historic Barrett House

Written November 15th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 2 responses.

Mark and Tina Siegner have a new project. The Albany home-building couple have bought the Barrett House at 637 Fifth Ave. S.W., in the Monteith Historic District, and are about to start renovating it.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 637 Fifth S.W., Barrett house, Mark and Tina Siegner, Monteith Historic District

Wondering about color at new West gym

Written November 14th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 15 responses.

Under an overcast sky on a November afternoon, the concrete tilt-up walls of West Albany High School’s new auxiliary gym look perhaps even grayer than they might on a sunny day. I wondered if the building will be painted when the construction is finished, or if that’s the way it’s going to look from here […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany school bond projects, Albany School District, HMK Company, West Albany High School

Plastic bags: A few weeks left to stock up

Written November 12th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 31 responses.

Only about six weeks are left before single-use plastic checkout bags are banned in Oregon. Better stock up while you can. Because soon you’re going to have to buy substitutes for all the uses for which you now get plastic bags free.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Fred Meyer, HB 2509, Kroger, plastic bags

Finding fault with a bicycle detector

Written November 11th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 12 responses.

It looks harmless enough, but there’s something not quite right with the bike detector installed at the corner of Ninth Avenue when Oak Street was rebuilt a few years ago in front of the Albany Lowe’s.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Albany bicycling, inductive loop detectors, Oak and Ninth

Downtown parking: Study says it works

Written November 9th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 38 responses.

Anybody hoping that Albany’s parking consultant would recommend building a downtown parking structure will be disappointed. Rick Williams, the consultant, recommends only “moderate upgrades” in the parking sytem because he found it to be working well.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany downtown, downtown parking. Rick Williams

‘Climate crisis’ and the loss of freedom

Written November 8th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 38 responses.

Newspaper readers in Albany and around the world this week got treated to a “warning of a climate emergency.” The warning would be easier to heed if the recommendations of the authors were not as ominous as they sound.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: BioScience paper, climate, climate crisis, climate emergency, Oregon State University

Historic review: Dahl’s project wins approval

Written November 6th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 9 responses.

Contractor Joel Dahl got support Wednesday from the Albany Landmarks Commission for his restoration of the historic Goltra House at 331 Montgomery St. S.E.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 331 Montgomery, Albany Landmarks, Goltra House, Joel Dahl

Way cleared for signals at Crocker, Gibson Hill

Written November 5th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 2 responses.

With the needed land secured, the way is now clear for construction of a long-awaited set of traffic signals at Crocker Lane and Gibson Hill Road in North Albany.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Crocker Lane, Crocker signals, Gibson Hill, Gibson Hill signals, North Albany traffic

Turkey update: Are there more of them?

Written November 5th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 4 responses.

In case you thought the West Albany turkeys had left or moved somewhere else, here’s an update: They haven’t.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: West Albany turkeys, wild turkeys

Bike lanes must be used, except for …

Written November 3rd, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 8 responses.

In Oregon law there’s an offense called “failure to use a bicycle lane or path.” It’s a Class D traffic violation, but there’s no practical way to enforce it. And the Albany Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission last month agreed to recommend education rather than trying to hit violators with tickets.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany cycling, bike lanes, requirement to use bike lanes