Hasso Hering

Obama strikes the wrong note

Written October 17th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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If President Obama was interested in moving on to a more constructive way of running the government after the shutdown and near-default on federal obligations, he could not have made a worse start than he did today. In a speech at the White House, Obama angrily blamed his opponents in the House for refusing to negotiate […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: debt ceiling, government shutdown, Obama

Towing: Linn board shuns setting rates

Written October 16th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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A new state law allows Oregon counties and cities to set maximum prices that tow companies can charge for giving back cars seized from private parking facilities. House Bill 3159 passed over Republican objections in the 2013 regular session of the legislature and takes effect on Jan. 1, 2014. It’s a response to predatory towing […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany City Council, HB 3159, Linn County Board of Commissioners, predatory towing

Liquor setup: What’s to fix?

Written July 31st, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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Before anybody tries to change the way Oregon sells and buys hard liquor, he’ll have to persuade people that there’s something wrong with the system we have had since the 1930s. It’s old-fashioned, but so what? What’s wrong with it? Since the end of Prohibition the state has had a monopoly on buying, warehousing and […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Northwest Grocers Association, Oregon Liquor Control

Sunshine & a lower interest rate

Written March 2nd, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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The weather wasn’t the only pleasant news today. I will get to the second pleasant item in a moment. But first, ever notice how a little sunshine brightens not just the scenery but your outlook as well? All the bad things are just as bad as they’ve been all along. The feds can’t get their […]

Posted in: Uncategorized

O&C Panel: No conclusion

Written February 8th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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If you didn’t expect much from Governor Kitzhaber’s O&C Panel, you were not disappointed when the group’s report came out on Feb. 7. Still, the report was useful in one respect. It summarized once again the long and convoluted history of the O&C lands, the forest lands originally granted to the Oregon & California Railroad […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Clinton Forest Plan, Kitzhaber, O&C lands

Park & Ride: Take a look

Written December 27th, 2012 by Hasso Hering

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Here’s a glance at the new North Albany Park & Ride lot, which the Albany Transit System and the Linn-Benton Loop will start using on Jan. 2, 2013. The lot at North Albany Road and Hickory Street features a paved loop to allow buses to turn around along with 33 parking spaces and extensive landscaping. The overall cost […]

Posted in: Commentary, Videos

A new hope for O&C timber lands?

Written October 15th, 2012 by Hasso Hering

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Governor Kitzhaber has named a group of 14 people to make recommendations on how to help the O&C counties get some money out of the federal timberlands now that the federal county payments have stopped. If they come up with something helpful that actually works, it will be a big surprise. The committee is supposed […]

Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: Kitzhaber, O&C, timber lands