Posted inSalem

Salem sinks further into mediocrity

Ah, Salem. It's sad how you're never able to rise above the moniker of "Oregon's boring capital city." Today's Statesman Journal had three stories on the front page that demonstrated how far Salem has to go before it's worthy to be considered anything more than an I-5 gas stop between Portland and Eugene. First, there's "Lefty's Pizzeria on State Street closes suddenly." I didn't go to Lefty's often. But I knew that it was one of the few places in Salem where you could enjoy live blues, jazz, and comedy. Believe me, if you live in Salem you're used to…
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Posted inMeasure 37

What trashed “No on 49” signs tell us

Signs can't speak. And yet, they can. Volumes. I'm going to tell you what I hear these two photos saying. Last Tuesday signs urging a "No" vote on Oregon's Measure 49 sprouted on a Measure 37 subdivision in south Salem. It sits on groundwater limited farmland that would be perfect for growing grapes instead of asphalt. The next day, the signs were gone. Vandalized. I wasn't surprised. And yet, I was. Because our neighborhood is full of law and order-respecting people, not the sort who go around ripping down someone else's political signs. There's a string of "Yes on 49"…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Alaska voters soundly reject Measure 37 clone

Great news for Oregon. We don't have to feel guilty about exporting our horribly flawed Measure 37 to Alaska. Yesterday voters in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough near Anchorage voted down Proposition 1, a Measure 37 clone, by a 2-1 margin. What do you think of that, Dave Hunnicutt and Oregonians in Action? You're always talking about how Measure 37 is a model for other states. Well, in Alaska it was a model for what not to do. Not even one of 34 precincts voted for Prop 1. Hunnicutt and I were each quoted in an Anchorage Daily News story about…
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Posted inMeasure 37

If you love Pinot Noir, vote for Measure 49

I'm no wine expert, but I know what I like. Which at this very blogging moment is a glass of Oregon's Kings Ridge Pinot Noir 2006. It's a fine wine. That's how my crude palate would describe it. A more refined description is "scads of flavor, character, and really good mid-palate layering." I also like Measure 49. It's a fine ballot measure that Oregonians soon will be voting on. Today a Portland Oregonian editorial offered up a refined oenophile argument for voting "Yes" and fixing Measure 37 – which could destroy our state's wine industry. Measure 37 was supposed to…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Alaska, don’t repeat Oregon’s Measure 37 mistake

A few days ago I spent a pleasant half hour talking with a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News. Rindi White's story, "Land-use debate looks to Oregon," is about Mat-Su Borough's Proposition 1 that will be voted on by borough residents next Tuesday, October 2. My main message to Rindi, and by extension to Mat-Su voters, was: Vote No! Learn from Oregon's mistake! Because Proposition 1 is copy cat legislation from Oregon, and the mangy creature it's modeled on is Measure 37 – which Oregonians are poised to reform through Measure 49 in a special November election. I told Rindi…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Illegal Measure 37 subdivision construction is front page news

The Yes on 49 folks should count a Measure 37 claimant's illegal road construction as a campaign contribution, because a front page story in today's Salem Statesman Journal should lead many Oregonians to vote "Yes" on Measure 49. The story, which quotes me several times, points to several reasons why Measure 37 has to be fixed. Oregonians in Action (OIA) likes to say that no Measure 37 subdivisions will move forward unless there is proof of sufficient water for development. But the Laack subdivision (Leroy Laack is the primary claimant) failed to show this. A Hydro Review report prepared by…
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Posted inMeasure 37

More Measure 37 subdivision craziness

I'll be really happy when November 6 rolls around and I learn that Oregon's Measure 49 has passed by a resounding margin in the special election. Because fighting a Measure 37 subdivision on groundwater limited high-value farmland is taking up an awful lot of my time lately. In my last post I wrote about how Leroy Laack and his co-claimants jumped the gun on road construction and started trashing some beautiful Oregon countryside without a permit. This morning I learned that the stop work order that I'd been told had been issued, actually hadn't. Laack only had agreed to temporarily…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Illegal construction on Measure 37 subdivision

Just as we suspected when D8 Caterpillars started bulldozing on a nearby Measure 37 claim, the road construction work that started Monday and went on for most of the week was illegal. Marion County shut it down yesterday, issuing a stop work order. But not before quite a bit of un-permitted road building took place on high-value Oregon farmland. Why would the Measure 37 claimants – Leroy L. and Jean R. Laack, M. Duane Rawlins, Greg M. Eide, Andrew A. and Margaret Rainone – move ahead on subdivision road construction without a permit? Why would North Santiam Paving agree to…
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Posted inEntertainment

Survivor China: Ashley is for real (except her breasts)

After watching the first episode of Survivor China tonight, I have my favorite contestant: Ashley. Contrary to what my wife would have you believe, my admiration for Ashley has nothing to do with the size of her breasts. Well, maybe just a little. OK, maybe a lot. Still, I need to defend my bosom friend (oops, bad choice of words) from vicious rumors that were being spread in our home this evening by – not big surprise, since our dog doesn't watch much TV – my wife again. Almost every time Ashley appeared on camera with the "professional wrestler" identifier…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Look, frown, then vote for Measure 49

Not a pretty picture, is it? High value Oregon farmland, 125 acres of it, perfect for a vineyard, being bulldozed into a Measure 37 subdivision. This is the sight that greeted us after we got home today from a long weekend away. Neighbors had phoned and emailed us, saying that large earthmoving equipment was at work. One friend said that he drove a roundabout way home, since seeing an irreplaceable piece of Oregon farmland being torn up by a D-8 was too much for him. As it is for most Oregonians, which is why this Measure 37 claim near us…
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Posted inRecreation

Smith Rock scenic September hike

Rock climbers, in my opinion, are certifiably crazy. Which is why I admire them so much. And a big part of what made today's hike around a 4-mile loop in central Oregon's Smith Rock State Park so enjoyable. Here's three climbers on the aptly named Monkey Face formation, which looks most monkeyish from this perspective on the Mesa Verde Trail. One climber (with red pants) is standing in the mouth. To get there we hiked a couple of mostly flat miles on the River Trail. A short ways from the parking lot you already feel like you're on a Western…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Yes on Measure 49 signs: beautiful or beastly?

Beauty. It's in the eye of the beholder. Portland blogger Jack Bogdanski doesn't like the "Yes on 49" signs that are cropping up around Oregon. He says, they look bad – contributors to visual blight. Well, to me and most of our neighbors, they're gorgeous. Because they're intended to save our state from something really ugly: Measure 37. About a week ago I picked up five bundles of Yes on 49 signs. They're the brainchild of signmeister David Adams, a follow-up to his Measure 37 "Fix It or Nix It" campaign. (The "Yes on 49" campaign also has lawn signs.)…
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Posted inMeasure 37

More reasons to vote for Measure 49

Courtesy of the Oregon-loving, genuine property rights-respecting folks at Measure 37 in Action: Oregon Measure 37 Claim Maps by County In Oregon, there are more than 7,500 Measure 37 claims filed. In total, these claims cover over 750,000 acres of land and the developer's demands for compensation total around $15 billion of Oregon taxpayer's money. Most of these claims have been filed on Oregon's most productive farmland as well as in our precious, protected forestland. Check out the story, take a moment to 'digg it' and then view the maps of Measure 37 development claims. They show a breakdown of…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Barack Obama takes on Gen. Petraeus

By and large, it was pretty damn frustrating to watch General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker on C-Span today as they spread their exquisitely fashioned B.S. over a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iraq. When I first heard about the Move On "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ad, I thought it was over the top. But after seeing Petraeus testify before Congress I give the ad a thumbs up. He's got a reputation for being an independent straight-shooter, above politics. Well, I didn't hear him say anything that wasn't straight out of the Bush administration party line. That isn't…
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Posted inSalem

Here’s why Salem is so depressing

For a brief moment, oh so brief, the headline in today's Statesman Journal gave hope to my terminally depressed Salem mind. I've pretty much given up hope that Salem ever will be anything other than the bland, featureless, fast-food loving, strip mall adoring, second (or third) class city that it is now. But my heart fluttered with unfamiliar optimism when I read: Keizer Station a boon to area economy. More stores set to open; grocery store is a possibility Grocery store is a possibility. Why, that could mean…dare I hope?...no, not in Salem…maybe, though…be optimistic…keep reading…they might be referring to……
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 49 helps surviving spouses, so vote “Yes”

There's a debate going on in the blogosphere over whether Oregon's Measure 49 – to be voted on this November – really helps surviving spouses. The subject is mostly of interest to land use junkies or people with Measure 37 claims, but it points up the difference between how pro- and anti- Measure 49 folks address issues. Namely, with reason and logic (pro) or emotion and it's-true-because-I-say-so (anti). Over on a blog that inaccurately proclaims to tell the truth about Measure 49, it's asserted that if you're a surviving spouse "Measure 49 will get ya!" When I came across this…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 49 lives! OIA lawsuit dismissed

Good news for Oregon. A federal judge, Ann Aiken, has refused to strike down the ballot language for Measure 49, the much-needed fix for Measure 37. Interestingly, the decision came shortly after the case was reassigned from Judge Hogan to Judge Mosman, and then further reassigned to Judge Aiken. I don't know what this means or how it came about, but the final decision was fair (and expected, by me at least). The AP story says that Oregonians in Action plans to lawsuit their way on with a challenge in Marion County District Court. Suggestion to OIA: why don't you…
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Posted inFamily

Kohlrabi Black Belt and other images of Illinois

Well, actually this is a photo of me wearing my Kohlrabi Black Belt shirt back in Oregon. But since I bought it from a quirky creative artist, Larry Steinbauer, at a Champaign-Urbana Saturday market, it counts as an image of Illinois. I love it. I wore it during a visit to the Rantoul Air Museum, and I'm wearing it today – after getting back from the flatlands of America yesterday (I got another Steinbauer t-shirt that says: "Champaign: in the foothills of mount level"). The Kohlrabi shirt's message is from the renowned Turnip Cabbage IV, "Be inwardly strong but gentle…
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Posted inUncategorized

Black Butte Ranch evacuated

Oh, man. Not good news – the GW fire in central Oregon forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people from Black Butte Ranch (a large destination resort, for those unfamiliar with the area). The Sisters Nugget has up to date coverage of the evacuation and steadily growing fire. The Oregonian said the fire was at 5,400 acres, but that's probably old news. As partial owners of a cabin in nearby Camp Sherman, and frequent visitors to Black Butte Ranch, we're suffering with the locals all the way from Champaign, Illinois. I'm not a praying person. But tonight I'll make an…
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Posted inFamily

How to tell you’re not in Oregon anymore

Clue 1: the horizon is really flat. And there's lots of corn. Not only at this Champaign-Urbana farmer's market, where the corn is stacked as high as a child's eye, but also stalking in the fields – along with soybeans aplenty. Clue 2: when the husband of your wife's sister, Jerry (reaching out for corn in the photo above) tells you that a subdivision is going to replace a corn field near their house, and you say, "But isn't that zoned farmland?," after which he smilingly reminds you that you're not in Oregon anymore, which still has some good land…
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