Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Five reasons to vote “No” on $82 million Salem Police Facility bond

I like the Salem Police Department. I don't like the City of Salem's proposed $82 million "supersized" plan for a new police facility. Likewise, I can support our armed forces and still oppose wasteful military spending.I've made an Adobe Spark web page that lays out five good reasons to vote NO on the $82 million bond measure that will be on the November ballot. Plus, a bonus reason. Scroll down and click to see it. Tonight I'm planning to testify during the public comment period at a City Council meeting where, almost certainly, approval of the bond measure referral will…
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Posted inSalem

2016 Tour of Homes shows different sides of Salem

Yesterday my wife and I saw what sort of new house $1,147,000 will buy in Salem. Also, what $600,000, and $875,000 will buy you.  There were quite a few less expensive houses in the 2016 Salem Tour of Homes, but we zeroed in on several of the spendier ones in the south part of town -- where we live. Our first stop was Torrey Pines Drive S, near Illahee, where we reverentially entered the million dollar home. I'd never been in this particular part of town. It's filled with new'ish nice houses in what the Tour brochure said is "one…
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Posted inFamily Home life

Memories of my dead father fade, while his genetic presence persists

It sounds strange to say this (even to myself), but I've already written about everything I know about my father. Physically, I only spent one hour with him, excluding unremembered baby-time. Telephonically, he started calling me when I was in my early-30's and he was nearing the end of his life. So add on a couple of phone conversation hours I spent with him. This morning, Father's Day 2016, I pulled out my "Father" file folder.  It contains the sum total of what I jotted down at the time about my father after he briefly came into my life back…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Bernie Sanders’ revolution is turning into a whimper

Oh, Bernie. This Hillary supporter wants so much for you to recognize the reality that she will be the Democratic presidential candidate, not you.  And then to work hand-in-hand with Clinton and the Democratic Party to (1) defeat Donald Trump in November, and (2) bring about the progressive policies that you so ably championed during your campaign. But this tweet by Mark Murray, the senior political editor for NBC News, neatly expresses how your revolution is turning out at the moment: Not with a bang, but with a whimper Ouch! Biting, yet true.  A story in today's New York Daily…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Tough to know what to do about mass shootings in United States

I wish I had a realistic answer to stopping mass shootings in this country. I wish somebody did.  But here we are again, 50 dead and 53 wounded in an attack on a gay nightclub, the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States, and no realistic answers are apparent. Depressing. The problem is with that word, realistic.  Because it's pretty obvious why this country has way more gun killings than any other nation: we have way more guns.  We're not going to get rid of all those guns, though. No way. Not going to happen. Australia was…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Sanders needs to do “Golden Rule” thing, now that Clinton is presumptive nominee

Today is historic. The New York Times headline says it all. Hillary Clinton Has Clinched Democratic Nomination, Survey Reports. Hillary Clinton became the first woman to capture the presidential nomination of one of the country’s major political parties on Monday night, according to an Associated Press survey of Democratic superdelegates, securing enough of them to overcome a bruising challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders and turn to a brutal five-month campaign against Donald J. Trump. Almost eight years after she ended her campaign against Barack Obama before a crowd with many teary women and girls, Mrs. Clinton signaled the news to…
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Posted inSalem

Some good ideas for making downtown Salem better

"If you designed a new downtown, what would it look like?" This week's Rapid Responder feature in the Statesman Journal asked a good question.  The answers from people who live in Salem and some nearby towns were equally good. Below I've excerpted cogent parts of the responses (leaving out the names of the people), arranging them in categories. Some responses could have gone in several categories, so I picked the one that seemed the best fit. I'll comment on the Numero Uno Most Frequently Mentioned category -- Bike and pedestrian friendly, streetscaped, fewer lanes -- after the responses. Diverse vibrant energyDiversity... venue for…
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