Freeway Lakes southeast of Albany may not be the south of France, but it’s still a nice place for an hour or two on the water. And it’s close, just about the only lake within 15 minutes’ drive of Albany. Bigger lakes are an hour or more away. On a Sunday afternoon, you’ll see a few people […]
Riding through Linn County farmland the other day, I stopped at an old house. From the looks of what was left of it, IÂ guessed it was at least a century old, maybe more. The roof was mostly holes, except where somebody had nailed up some sheet metal a long time ago. The front door […]
At the mid-valley’s newest state park, the sign on Buena Vista Road promises access by paddlers to the Luckiamute River. There’s a long driveway, some parking spots and even a restroom, but as for access to the river? Not quite. In May 2012, when I still worked for the Albany paper and occasionally kept an […]
For the next few days at least, don’t plan on taking the Buena Vista Ferry. Marion County Public Works posted a notice on its website Thursday morning that the ferry was closed for repairs and a dredging project. The sign near the ferry landing in Buena Vista confirmed it Thursday afternoon when an Albany cyclist […]
Lots of stuff going on, all of it bad for personal freedom and autonomy: The Supreme Court says that if the police arrest you for a serious crime, they have the right under the Constitution to sample your DNA as well. The government gets a look at cell phone records handed over by Verizon. Meanwhile, […]
The Oregon Board of Parole caved under outside pressure and canceled the June 7 release date of Sidney Dean Porter. The way this was handled leaves a bad taste. Now 53, Porter killed a police officer in John Day in the early hours of April 8, 1992. The officer, Frank L. Ward, had gone to Porter’s house on […]
Nothing stays secret forever
So what have we learned so far from the latest flap in the terror war? The main thing is: You can’t trust anybody — especially not to keep secrets. The young man who told a British newspaper and the Washington Post about the massive American telephone and Internet surveillance program was reported to be a […]
Tags: Internet monitoring, privacy, secrecy