It’s good to see that the Portland & Western Railroad keeps up with maintenance on its rail lines in the mid-valley and, presumably, on the rest of its system. Here’s an example. On an afternoon bike ride the other day, I noticed a crew working on the wooden pilings that support the trestle leading to […]
(With several comments at the end) Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller made a splash in the news Tuesday by publicizing a letter to Vice President Biden pledging to defend the constitutional rights of citizens against questionable federal gun controls. The sheriff’s heart is in the right place. Politicians, the sheriff wrote, “are attempting to exploit the […]
Lance Armstrong waited too long to admit what the public learned in 2012. That’s when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued its comprehensive report proving beyond reasonable doubt that Armstrong had led his cycling team in a deliberate and ingenious program of doping for several years through 2005. Last year was also when the book came […]
On a cold but clear afternoon in the wilds of rural Linn County, here’s my first sketchy reaction to Governor Kitzhaber’s speech on the first day of the 2013 Oregon Legislature.
No, Senator Merkley, the concept of an Oregon vehicle mileage tax does not require people to disclose where they are going. It requires only that the in-state mileage on public roads be recorded. That’s so the owners can pay a road user fee instead of the gas tax. Jeff Merkley, Oregon’s junior member in the […]
NASA now says the chance that the asteroid named Apophis will slam into the Earth in 2036 is so small as to be not worth worrying about. So we are supposed to feel reassured. Actually, some of us were never all that worried. There’s a pretty good chance we won’t be around in another 23 […]
When the Oregon legislature approved a special deal for Nike and possibly other job-creating companies last month, it threw a bone to rural areas in the state. But it doesn’t look as though it means anything, at least in the case of Nike. In the one-day special session on Dec. 14, lawmakers approved a bill […]
