As expected, state Sen. Betsy Close, R-Albany, next year will run for a four-year term in the position to which she was appointed a year ago. She talked to me on camera just before she announced her plans at a reception at the Albany Golf and Event Center Thursday evening. She plans to file on Friday. […]
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 […]
Linn County is making a sensible change in its program dealing with problem dogs and other animals. It is putting the sheriff’s office in charge of the small department, which is staffed by five people and works out of the dog pound on Ferry Street in Albany. The sheriff’s office has been in charge of dog control office […]
The former St. Francis Hotel in downtown Albany was 101 years old this year. The question now is whether there’s a chance of restoring the vacant upper floors of this four-story landmark — and the adjacent Rhodes block built in 1907 — as apartments or partly as a so-called “boutique hotel.” A team of architects […]
Here’s a brief chat with the owner of a roadside farm stand that’s a bit more elaborate than the usual. It’s at 2901 Oak Grove Drive N.W. in North Albany, about a quarter-mile south of Dumbeck Lane. I’ve driven by the place dozens of times and finally stopped there on Sunday on my way home.
The federal budget impasse was not enough to shut down the Social Security office in Albany. But on Thursday (Oct. 10) a utility problem did. Signs on the door said the office was able to handle only some transactions owing to the lapse in federal funding caused by the political impasse in Washington. On Thursday, […]
A brighter downtown — on one street
Downtown Albany may become brighter during winter nights — or as soon as a new lighting program can be started. But unfortunately, it will be a change limited to just a short stretch of First Avenue. And that brings up an old complaint that has been all but forgotten.
Tags: Albany downtown, Albany Downtown Association, CARA, tree lights