Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

Oregon’s environment survives GOP attacks in 2012 session

Whew. That's my one-word environmentalist reaction to the end of Oregon's first ever regular "shorty" legislative session in an even-numbered year. My wife and I were afraid that Republican efforts to undermine our state's land use, endangered species, and forest management laws would succeed in the speeded up craziness of an abbreviated session -- where public hearings often were a sham and last minute deals on important bills were the norm. But overall, I'm happy. My biggest personal concern was HB 4095, a totally unnecessary bill that would have allowed three southern Oregon counties to essentially opt out of the…
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Posted inHumor

Channeling my inner Jean Dujardin, I still look like me

Damn! I tried so hard! At the West Salem Starbucks today, to let out my inner Jean Dujardin, the marvelously expressive French actor who I loved watching in "The Artist." (And who won the Oscar for Best Actor this year.) A friend brought the January issue of Salem Weekly. It had a column that I'd written. I think he asked me to autograph the page to provide some literary amusement to his cat when the newspaper is put under fresh kitty litter. He also wanted to see how well the iPhone 4 camera works. So I handed over my phone and…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Religions shouldn’t get unfair business advantages

Reading over some piled-up Oregonian's, I just came across a letter from a Salem resident, James M. Schultz, about the debate over whether religious institutions should have to comply with the same laws and regulations that govern other businesses. Great letter, Mr. Schultz. I hadn't thought about the "competitive advantage" argument -- just how absurdly unworkable it would be if every person or organization could claim an exemption from laws on moral or ethical grounds. Here's the February 25 letter to the editor: Regarding the current debate over religion and insurance coverage for contraceptives, the First Amendment says, in relevant…
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Posted inSalem

Salem’s lack of “cool” loses 180 jobs to Portland area

No big surprise. Not to those of us who have lived in Oregon's capital city for a long time, and gotten to know why its nickname is So-lame. Yesterday Statesman-Journal reporter Michael Rose laid out interesting details of how Salem is losing a bunch of jobs to Lake Oswego, a city on the edge of Portland.  Download Holiday Corporate Office to Leave Salem  One of Salem's most successful, homegrown businesses is headed to the Portland area with 180 good paying jobs in tow. Holiday Retirement, the owner and operator of retirement communities founded by the late Bill Colson, is moving…
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