Posted inSalem

Seven impressions of 2013 Salem Art Fair

Today my wife and I headed to Bush Park for one of our favorite summer activities, the Salem Art Fair. Here's some impressions we had of this year's event. (1) Compared to the typical pre-$5 admission charge Friday crowd (we always go on that day of the Friday-Sunday fair) attendance seems lower. But we're fine with the fence, gates, and money takers. If someone isn't willing to pay five bucks to attend the fair, they don't understand the value of what the Salem Art Association is offering. Plus, children under 12 are free, and there is no charge to get…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

No Third Bridge finally gets some Statesman Journal attention

Finally. Better late than never. This was my "glass half full" attitude toward a front page story and lead editorial (regarding different subjects) in the Salem Statesman Journal today. The story, "Building Support to Stop Third Bridge," focused on the three leaders of No Third Bridge, a grass roots movement aimed at stopping city leaders from wasting $700 million of taxpayer money on another bridge across the Willamette River. This was the SJ online comment I left about the story: Good story. But there are more facts to tell about this unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid for looming $700 million waste…
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Posted inSalem

Oregonians are heat-weenies

OMG! Oh, the heat here in Western Oregon. Why, oh my my my, it got to 93 degrees here in Salem a few days ago. Well, maybe it was 95.  I can't remember exactly. This senior citizen has been too busy land paddling his longboard skateboard five miles around the up-and-down trails at Minto Brown Park in 90-degree weather. Takes me 40 to 45 minutes. Halfway through my workout I stop for a minute and take a few sips of water. Then I get back on my longboard. No problem.  I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Stu Rasmussen’s closet is a transgender thing of beauty

(Embedded video I had originally via USA Today was auto-play, irritatingly; I got so irritated by it playing I've linked to the Statesman Journal web page where the video can be watched.) Like I said in "Salem to Silverton: a trip from boring to charming," Silverton mayor Stu Rasmussen is one of the many attractions of Salem's pleasingly eccentric neighbor-city.  Rasmussen became the nation's first openly transgender mayor when he was elected in 2008. HIs popularity hasn't diminished; in 2012 he was elected to another term.  A video tour of Rasmussen's closet shows why Stu Rasmussen is such an appealing…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

2013 World Beat Festival — great multi-cultural fun

Every year I look forward to Salem's World Beat Festival. I'm never disappointed. For the suggested $5 donation you really get your money's worth.  Today I was fortunate to arrive just in time to see a Japanese Martial Arts demonstration featuring students from Tokyo International University of America here in Salem. Highly enjoyable. Loved the drumming! Also loved the veggie Himalayan noodle plate from the Kathmandu Cafe -- my usual World Beat lunch. It's great to see lots of people out and about, enjoying themselves. Sadly, this is rarer than it should be in Salem. For a city of over…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem City Council votes for Third Bridge in absurdist drama

Since I like out-of-the-ordinary plays, under different circumstances I would have loved the Theatre of the Absurd that was on display last night in the Salem City Council meeting room. While on vacation in central Oregon, via CCTV I used my laptop to watch the Council approve the so-called Salem Alternative option for a $700 million third bridge across the Willamette River.  Wikipedia tells us something about absurdist dramatists: Their work expressed the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem’s US Bank kills last two trees. Let the revolution begin.

Let the revolution begin. US Bank and the City of Salem need to be fought -- intensely, for as long as it takes to restore virtue to a city that is giving away its soul to big business and clueless bureaucrats. A few hours ago somebody sent me this photo of US Bank killing one of the remaining two trees in front of the State Street building today.  This is how those two trees looked not long ago. They got a temporary chain saw reprieve because of migrating birds nesting in their branches. There was no good reason to remove…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

A poem for Salem’s Mayor, City Council, and other officials

I rarely buy poetry books. But this weekend I picked up Mary Oliver's "A Thousand Mornings" while browsing in the wonderful Paulina Springs bookstore in Sisters, Oregon. Thumbing through the pages, I came to Extending the Airport Runway. After I read it, with moistness in my eyes, I knew that I had to buy the book. Tomorrow the Salem City Council likely will approve going ahead with an giant unneeded $700 million Third Bridge across the Willamette.  The City of Salem also approved killing five large, healthy, beautiful trees in downtown Salem for no good reason. And the City also…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem Third Bridge teeters toward City Council vote

There can't be many $700 million projects like Salem's Third Bridge, a.k.a. Salem River Crossing. At least, I sure hope there aren't. Almost certainly it will get an OK to move forward at next Monday's City Council meeting, but nobody -- not even the most avid proponents -- can come up with a coherent reason for why another bridge across the Willamette is needed. Case in point: would-be bridge builders have been saying that rush hour congestion between West Salem and downtown is a horrible problem. Ergo, we need a Third Bridge.  I guess No Third Bridge fact-based arguments have…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Mark Wigg, winner! Best arguments against Salem Third Bridge

Salem, Oregon has a conservative-leaning City Council and Mayor. Back when I was growing up, the 1950's and 60's, conservatives were pretty damn thrifty. Also, unashamed of being conservationists. Conserve was taken seriously as the foundation of conservatism. My mother was an avid Republican. She didn't like to spend money, partly because she came of age during the Depression. Yet also because she believed in only buying what you needed.  Things have changed. Just look at what Salem's City Council and Mayor are pushing upon the citizenry: a $600-800 million unneeded and unwanted Third Bridge across the Willamette River. It's…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

West Salem says “no” to Third Bridge

Sounds like a "fun" (in a certain sense) time at the West Salem Neighborhood Association meeting last night. Four Salem city councillors and the Mayor were desperate to get a We want a Third Bridge! vote -- since a main purpose of spending $600-800 million on a new bridge is to improve traffic flow from/to West Salem. But... strikeout. Third whiff. The No Third Bridge folks report this was the third time the West Salem Neighorhood Association has declined to support the project. Supporters sure gave it a "good" (in a certain sense) try, though. After an 18 to 18…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Salem City Council members on “Why build a third bridge?”

Last Friday I emailed each of Salem's eight City Councillors, plus the Mayor, a simple question: "What is the single most important reason Salem needs a Third Bridge? And please support your reason with some facts." About a month ago I asked Peter Fernandez, Salem's Public Works director, the same question at a forum featuring him and No Third Bridge leader Scott Bassett. I blogged about Fernandez' answer.  I asked for the single most important reason. Numero Uno. #1. The words most likely to make opponents of a Third Bridge think, "whoa, maybe we really do need this thing!" So how did Fernandez…
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Posted inSalem

Stop parking meters in downtown Salem — sign the petition!

The City of Salem wants to install nasty parking meters in downtown Salem's Historic District, plus other places where two-hour free parking currently greets visitors with a welcoming smile. Those greedy meanies need to be stopped. (Both meters and the city officials who want them.) There's no good reason for installing meters.  If you're a registered voter who lives in Salem or West Salem, sign the Stop Parking Meters Downtown initiative petition.  Already almost fifty downtown businesses have signature sheets. Here's where you can sign. ABC MusicAcademy of Hair DesignArbuckle Costic ArchitectsArt & Antiques PlusArt DepartmentAvalon SalonBike PeddlerBittersweet BoutiqueBook BinBridal…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Statesman Journal never has talked with No Third Bridge leaders

Amazing. In a disturbing journalistic way.  The Salem Statesman Journal has editorialized in favor of proceeding with a $600-800 million Third Bridge across the Willamette River. It has published several news stories about this unwanted, unneeded, and unpaid-for debacle. Yet... the newpaper has never, not once, not ever, talked with leaders of the No Third Bridge citizen group. Read all about it in today's No Third Bridge Facebook post.  SALEM BLOGGER CALLS THE THE EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN JOURNAL TO TASK FOR POOR COVERAGE OF THE 3RD BRIDGESalem blogger and Salem Weekly columnist Brian Hines is right in his open letter…
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Posted inSalem

Two tales of the Salem Statesman Journal: 2007 & 2013

An open letter (well, blog post) to Michael Davis, recently-installed executive editor of Salem's one and only daily newspaper, the Statesman Journal: Michael, in my self-appointed position as Statesman Journal Gadfly I've urged you to give more coverage to those opposiing the $600-800 milliion Third Bridge that City of Salem officials are determined to foist upon the citizenry.  To me, as to many others, this bridge is unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid for. It's an almost-billion dollar solution in search of a problem. The No Third Bridge folks have made this clear. Yet here we are, ten days from the July…
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Posted inSalem

Public records confirm wrongness of US Bank tree removal decision

Yesterday I walked out of the City of Salem's Recorder's Office with a thick stack of documents.  They were given to me in response to two public records requests that I filed, wanting to learn more about the City's outrageous approval of US Bank's request to cut down five large healthy trees in downtown's Historic District. I was charged $350 for them. Happy early Father's Day to me, from me! But I would have preferred to have spent the money on something else. I've asked for a waiver or reduction of the fee since my request clearly was in the…
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Posted inSalem

City of Salem taxes downtown businesses without representation

Taxation without representation. Them was fighting words back in Revolutionary War days. They should also be in 2013 -- for businesses in downtown Salem, Oregon which have to keep paying an Economic Improvement District assessment even after city officials took away their ability to have any say in how that money is spent. Salem Cherry Pits and Petals tells the sorry tale in "The City is asking for another year of EID funding." Excerpt: We should ask City Council to stop collection of the EID assessment as of June 30, 2013.  We no longer have any accountability for how the funds are…
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Posted inSalem

Why Salem downtown businesses don’t want parking meters

Putting parking meters in downtown Salem (Oregon) strikes me as a dumb idea. There might be a way for them to make sense, but the current City of Salem leadership doesn't seem capable of heading in that direction. Carole Smith -- a downtown resident, business owner, and building owner -- agrees. Recently she emailed me some thoughts about why downtown businesses are so negative about the parking meter proposal. And why they're irritated at how the City has been treating them. I've mildly edited Carole's message, which she gave me permission to share. Carole says: I haven't talked to anyone…
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Posted inSalem Strange Up Salem

I become a columnist: Salem Weekly today, New York Times tomorrow?

Being a blogger is sort of like being a columnist. You get to write short essays about subjects that interest you. Those essays, a.k.a. blog posts, are published and made available to readers.  But I've always looked upon blogging as being to genuine column-writing as masturbation is to sex with another person: it's easier to do it all by yourself, yet less satisfying. It does indeed take two to tango.  So I'm thrilled to be able to say, "I am a columnist." In a real publication, made of paper (as well as pixels).  Today my first Strange Up Salem column…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Parking meters in downtown Salem might be OK if…

Recently I expressed a blunt opinion in my blog post title: "Putting parking meters in downtown Salem is a dumb idea." I appreciate the comments I've gotten. They've made me ponder further the pros and cons of downtown parking meters. I'm still opposed to the idea, but I've learned that the issue divides people in some interesting ways. I want a walkable, bikable, livable, welcoming, vibrant, attractive downtown. Some fellow advocates of this goal agree with what downtown should be, yet feel that parking meters would enhance, rather than detract from, a thriving Salem core. For example, here's a comment…
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