Month: April 2014

I had high hopes for the supposed newly-local freshly-designed Salem Statesman Journal web site. But my first impression of it was Ugh! Subsequent impressions haven't been any better. I've been a frequent visitor to the online Statesman Journal, even though I'm a print subscriber. My main reasons: (1) Commenting on a story, or reading comments from others; (2) Saving a PDF copy of a recent story; (3) Seeing if there is any breaking news that will appear in tomorrow's paper. The new design makes all of this more difficult. But an even bigger gripe is the whole look and feel…

Oh, geez. What a letdown. Not an uncommon experience here in not-cool-by-comparison Salem, Oregon -- where we are regularly and spectacularly overshadowed by nearby much more with-it cities: Portland, Corvallis, Eugene. Thanks to No 3rd Bridge plus my comrades in local blogging, Salem Breakfast on Bikes and LoveSalem, I learned that Salem-Keizer Transit, a.k.a. Cherriots, is poised to cave on demanding that a new bridge across the Willamette be mass-transit friendly. The Cherriots board is meeting as I write this. Maybe they will change their mind at the last moment. Regardless, just the fact that a mass-transit organization is willing…

When I heard Sheronne Blasi say at last Friday's City Club meeting, "I was endorsed by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters," a what the hell? alarm bell rang in my head. Blasi is a Ward 2 candidate in the 2014 City Council race. She favors building a $400 million unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid for third bridge across the Willamette River.  The bridge would be an environmental, conservation, and land use disaster. Let us count some of the ways: -- The west end would land outside of the urban growth boundary, so the bridge would need exceptions to four statewide land…

A new police facility at the Salem Civic Center got ZERO support from nine City Council candidates at today's City Club meeting. Nada. Zilch. Not one candidate, including four who have gotten Chamber of Commerce endorsements, raised his/her hand when asked if a new police facility should be at the Civic Center.  The eight non-hand-raisers: Sherrone Blasi, Bradd Swank, Scott Bassett, Steve McCoid, Daniel Benjamin, Xue Lor, Jim Lewis, Christopher Proudfoot. Finally, something liberals and conservatives can agree on! The ninth, Ward 2 candidate Tom Andersen, was on an overseas business trip. A campaign supporter made a speech for him,…

I just put this good news update on last night's blog post, "City of Salem kills more downtown trees for no good reason." UPDATE: After emailing Steve Ross (one of the property owners) this morning, I got a reply that he is open to trimming the trees if this can be worked out with everyone's approval. Steve said, "I love trees also." Great news. I asked to be kept informed as this approach to saving the trees moves forward. Many thanks to Steve. And to Elwood Newhouse of Elwood's Tree Service, who offered up his professional opinion of the trees' condition.…

UPDATE: After emailing Steve Ross (one of the property owners) this morning, I got a reply that he is open to trimming the trees if this can be worked out with everyone's approval. Steve said, "I love trees also." Great news. I asked to be kept informed as this approach to saving the trees moves forward. Many thanks to Steve. And to Elwood Newhouse of Elwood's Tree Service, who offered up his professional opinion of the trees' condition. "It's all bullshit." This is a conversation opener that's guaranteed to capture my interest. Especially when I'm talking with someone about why…

Scott Bassett, the candidate voters should choose in the Ward 4 City Council race, spoke at last Saturday's Salem CityWatch meeting. I liked Scott's new term for the Salem Chamber of Commerce's Create Jobs PAC: the Create Clones PAC.  He's right. The four candidates endorsed by the Chamber -- Sheronne Blasi, Steve McCoid, Daniel Benjamin, Jim Lewis -- all have the same tax-and-spend position on the unneeded $400 million bridge across the Willamette that has been proposed. The bridge would take hundreds of dollars a year out of taxpayer pockets for decades, yet won't help with rush hour congestion and will destroy…

Before the current issue came out, A.P. Walther, the publisher of Salem Weekly, told me that the cover story would be the 10 year anniversary of our town's alternative newspaper. A.P. asked if I had any favorite stories from that decade of reporting on issues that the Statesman Journal, our decidedly traditional newspaper, almost entirely ignores.  I replied: Hmmmm. I have thoughts. Not a favorite story. My basic thought is…  Gratitude.   So many times (like every issue), I’ve been grateful that Salem has an alternative newspaper voice. Salem Weekly makes me realize that there are many people in this…

Watch out, Salem (Oregon) voters. Five City Council candidates want you to fork out hundreds of dollars more a year to pay for an vastly expensive unneeded Third Bridge across the Willamette River.   As pointed out by the Salem Breakfast on Bikes blog, an advocate for smart cost-effective urban design, these tax and spend candidates are advocates for the $400 million bridge that would do nothing to ease congestion, while displacing dozens of homes and businesses.  Sherrone Blasi, Ward 2Steve McCoid, Ward 4Daniel Benjamin, Ward 6Jim Lewis, Ward 8Christopher Proudfoot, Ward 8 Fortunately, there are four candidates who care about…