You may have noticed that for Democrats in the Oregon legislature, more is never enough. On April 24 Republicans in the House refused to provide the two votes the Democrats needed, in addition to the 34 votes of their own, to pass a $275 million, two-year tax increase on individuals and businesses. But in both […]
Just last month the state came out with yet another report on the catastrophic effects the next really big earthquake will have on everybody in the Willamette Valley and on the coast. And as always, the report said this calamity is overdue. It could happen any day or night. So you would think the first […]
Wednesday’s meeting of the Albany City Council was unusual in the number of blue uniforms that crowded into the meeting room at City Hall. About two dozen firefighters and police officers were on hand to receive commendations for their role in responding to a house fire in Albany on Jan. 12, 2013, and saving the […]
The Oregon House has passed three school-related bills that deserve additional comment before the Senate takes them up. House Bill 3438 allows any city in Oregon to operate speed radar in school zones. To their credit, Sara Gelser of Corvallis and Sherrie Sprenger of Scio were among the minority to vote against this bill. In […]
When this session of the Oregon legislature began, some of its members had grand ideas for amendments to the state constitution. So far, though, a little more than midway through the session, none of them looks like it’s headed for the ballot. The deadline for committee action in the originating chamber of each proposed constitutional […]
Albany city officials should no longer ignore the effect that the city’s downtown urban renewal district, CARA, has on other governmental services in Linn County. According to a breakdown presented by urban renewal manager Kate Porsche, local governments this budget year are forced to give up $2.2 million to the downtown district. In 2013-14, it’s […]
For a happier Oregon?
Our Gov. John Kitzhaber and his lady are about to return from Bhutan. That’s a little kingdom of about three-quarters of a million people sandwiched between China and India. In recent years it made a name for itself with a concept it calls an index of “gross national happiness,” which purports to measure how content […]
Tags: Bhutan, happiness, Kitzhaber