Hasso Hering

Another reason time change is dumb

Written October 30th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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So you wanted another argument against changing the clocks back to standard time on Sunday morning? Well, the Oregon Liquor Commission has just provided one, though it probably did not mean to.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: bars and taverns, Daylight saving time, OLCC, Oregon Liquor Control Commission, Standard time

Sleep-driving: “Not guilty!”

Written October 30th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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It took a while, but Mandy Kenney finally got her day in court on Wednesday, and Linn County Circuit Judge Carol Bispham found her not guilty of two misdemeanors, driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving. Kenney, 29, is a mother of three who lives with her parents at a Turner address […]

Posted in: News
Tags: driving under the influence, impaired driving, Judge Carol Bispham, Kenney case, Kent Hickam, Michael Wynhausen, sleep driving

Ice versus hot air

Written October 29th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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The bird bath in our yard froze over this morning, pretty much right on schedule. Meanwhile, in the world of politics, the hot air continues to billow forth about global warming and the steps we must take to slow it down. In the local paper, the AP reports on the governors of Oregon, California and […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: global warming, West Coast governors

Drive electrics — or else?

Written October 28th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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Gov. John Kitzhaber has announced that Oregon is joining California and six eastern states including New York in a “new initiative to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025.” If this is such a great idea, why does it take government schemes to drive it forward?.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: electric cars, Gov. Kitzhaber, zero-emission vehicles

How to boost freeway capacity

Written October 28th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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Given the cost of highway construction, you’d think Oregon would look for other ways of expanding the capacity of highways. On the freeways, one easy way to do that would be to equalize the legal speed of cars and pickups and commercial trucks.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: freeway speeds, Interstate 5, Oregon speed limit

Leave the time alone!

Written October 27th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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Daylight saving time is about to come to an end for the year, so naturally I feel another rant coming on. On Nov. 3 we are supposed to regain the hour we lost last March. But mucking about with the time — why do we do this other than that Congress decided long ago that […]

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Daylight saving time, evening light

If this is climate change…

Written October 25th, 2013 by Hasso Hering

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Climate change and reports — or predictions — of a dangerous rise in the sea level are in the news almost every day. Yet this preoccupation with climate stories in the media is strangely detached from our everyday experiences. Which raises this question: How come the media keep hammering a theme that does not really […]

Posted in: Commentary, Videos
Tags: climate change, effects of climate change, sea level rise