Several years ago the legislature authorized ODOT to raise the speed limit on interstate highways to 70 miles an hour if the agency determined the higher speed would be safe enough. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ODOT found that no, 70 mph would not be safe anywhere on I-5, even on the 30 miles or so that run […]
Don’t think that the Union Pacific, a huge railroad operating in 23 states, ignores local issues. It doesn’t. Here’s an example. Earlier this winter I heard from a reader that her mother, who lives near Albany’s Swanson Park and takes walks around there, was concerned about the noise and exhaust of UP diesel-electric locomotives that […]
Something was different about the Albany City Council’s meeting on Wednesday night, Feb. 13. Everybody seemed to be more dressed up than normal, and several of the men among council members and the city staff wore coats and ties. What prompted all that sartorial splendor? Maybe it was that for the first time, the […]
On Feb. 26, the legislature’s House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill that may not be popular but would restore a degree of believability to the court system where heinous crimes are concerned. The bill — House Joint Resolution 1 — calls for an election to repeal the death penalty. You may […]
Hundreds of bills have been introduced in the Oregon legislature, so it should be no surprise that a good many of them are unnecessary or pointless. Consider, for example, Senate Bill 511 introduced by Sen. Ginny Burdick, a leading Democratic senator from Portland. Her bill would require drivers of all vehicles, not just trucks or […]
On Albany’s 14th Avenue S.E., a notice board reminds the observant passerby of a time long ago — and seemingly far away — when gas was cheap and teenagers did not care how much their vehicles guzzled as they cruised streets such as 14th, Clay, Geary and Santiam. Traffic congestion and related problems got so bad that […]
It’s hard to argue with the Postal Service decision, announced Wednesday, to stop Saturday mail delivery starting in August. Most of the mail people get consists of bills, ads and requests for donations. There’s no rush on those, and if they don’t get delivered till Monday, fine, no problem. In Oregon we have the issue […]
