Commentary

On the Ellsworth Bridge, no overhead lights

Written December 4th, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 3 responses.

Driving into Albany on the Ellsworth Street Bridge on Friday night felt different, somehow. Then I saw the reason: All the overhead lights on the bridge were out, plunging the deck into darkness cut only by the headlights on the truck.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany Bridge, bridge lights, Ellsworth Street bridge, ODOT

Cumberland update: Hovering over concrete

Written December 4th, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: no responses.

Pretty soon now the former Cumberland church is going to settle down on its new concrete foundation, another milestone in the private campaign to turn the historic building into a community center on the east side of old Albany.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Community Event Center, cumberland church, Double Eagle Construction, Emmert International, event center, Joel Orton

Why townhouse project may have to wait

Written December 3rd, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 4 responses.

I’ve been following the fate of this black walnut since it figured in a land-use decision about new townhouses in downtown Albany last summer. Now the tree is down, but the wood won’t go to waste.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 234 Third S.E., black walnut tree, Scott Lepman, townhouses

Council mystery: Explanations came Thursday

Written December 2nd, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 7 responses.

There’s no more suspense, as far as the public is concerned, about the Albany City Council’s vote following an executive session Wednesday night to indemnify three employees against a potential damage claim. The move was in reaction to a possible lawsuit against the city over the crash of an ultralight aircraft last July.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: airport managers, Albay Airport, aviation lawsuits, indemnification, Krutch Lindell, Mayor Johnson II, Millersburg crash site, tort claim notice, ultralight aircraft, ultralight crash

Albany council leaves viewers in the dark

Written December 1st, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 15 responses.

Like a mystery novel that ends each chapter with a cliffhanger, the Albany City Council on Wednesday night left its audience hanging and wanting to know more.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany City Council, executive session, indemnifying employees, litigation

Question for the DEQ: How much and when?

Written November 30th, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 29 responses.

The Oregon state government is about to adopt a program to all but stop the use of fossil fuels over the next 28 years. It seems strange that in describing the program for the general public, the administration of Governor Brown never says what this would do to citizens in Albany and elsewhere in the […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Climate Protection Program, DEQ, fossil fuels, natural gas

Home buyers’ letters ‘banned’? Not really

Written November 29th, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 10 responses.

If you’re selling a house in Albany or anywhere else in Oregon after next Jan. 1, you may be hearing about a new law that supposedly bans would-be home buyers’ so-called “love letters.” But the law does no such thing.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: buyers' 'love letters', Hb 2550, housing discrimination, Oregon laws, Oregon legislature, real estate agents