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Last Updated:
Jan 12th, 2011 - 15:32:57
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Voices of the Northwest
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Under the Big Top
Russell Sadler
Many good bills have died in committee this last Monday, including the Ban on Field Burning bill since Russell wrote us on the doings in our fair capital of Salem at the Fates 'n Follies Review. Yet the good citizens and their reps trudge on: "The Democrats intend to plod ahead, slowly but steadily, demonstrating that they can pass a two-year budget that takes care of Oregonians’ needs in six months and go home. Democrats are trying, for example, to pass a plan to provide health insurance for all children, add 150 officers to the State Police and increase basic school support for education, community colleges and higher education... The Republicans have decided to deny Democrats the politically palatable, marginal tax increases to finance those programs -- an increase in the cigarette tax to finance childrens’ health insurance and a tax on auto insurance to finance more state police -- and force the Democrats to raise the state income tax to balance the budget. Then Republicans can campaign on the claim that 'Democrats raised your taxes!' Oh, the horror of it." –a feature at WxNW.org
May 4, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
It Is Time to Ban Field Burning
Dan Galpern
Tired of suffering through hot, smoky summer days? Pray relief may be in sight: "Oregon's law relating to field burning is no less schizophrenic than Idaho law, though in different ways. Oregon's declared policy is 'to restore and maintain' air quality 'as free from air pollution as is practicable' and, toward that end, to 'reduce the practice of open field burning.' But Oregon law also requires the state to grant permits to growers to burn tens of thousands of acres annually... Moreover, state law insulates growers from liability to private nuisance and trespass suits that might otherwise be brought by neighbors and others downwind who are unable to breathe or safely enjoy their property when it is inundated by smoke from burning fields. – a feature at WxNW.org
Apr 17, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Oregon House Health Panel Endorses Burning Ban Bill
Diane Dietz, The Register-Guard
"The bill may never reach the House or Senate floors for a vote by the assembly... About 150 Willamette Valley farmers burn about 50,000 acres of straw from spent grass seed fields each summer - sending columns of smoke high into the air and spurring hundreds of complaints from residents... Portland-area Democrats Mitch Greenlick, Suzanne Bonamici, Ben Cannon and Tina Kotek said they were convinced by the doctors, nurses and research that supporters presented last week that field smoke is damaging to breathe... 'I was skeptical about the health issue - to be very honest,' Kotek said before the vote on Friday. 'I went through all the information, and I've really had an about-face on this.'" – with a thanks and a link to The Register-Guard
Apr 17, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtin
Russell Sadler
"The Oregon Republican meltdown over House passage of a measure converting this year’s corporate kicker into a permanent rainy day fund and increasing the minimum corporate tax is reminiscent of the penultimate scene in the Wizard of Oz.... When these tactics failed to generate a hysterical wave of anti-tax sentiment, Jason Williams of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon decided to manufacture one. His fake 'grassroots' group started drumming up the 'news' that businesses all over Oregon were upset that the new minimum corporate tax which has been fixed at $10 since the 1930s." – a feature at WxNW.org
Mar 9, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Regional Solutions for Global Climate Change Is Key
Russell Sadler
"No, this five state compact will not solve the worldwide problem of climate change.But it is a good start in our part of the world. Nine states in the Northeast are already a couple of years ahead of the West Coast in dealing with their fossil fuel-fired powerplants... These regional compacts are taking potentially effective action now, without waiting for the oil-patch partisans who control the White House or the Southerners in Congress who still really don’t believe there is a problem." –a feature at WxNW.org
Mar 5, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Lane County Prepares for Deep Cutbacks
Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard
Wild West-- here we are! We have criticized our County Commissioner, Faye Stewart, in these pages but last week we were proud of him. He and two others may have committed political suicide to save the County: "Following their enactment of an income tax last week, the Lane County commissioners continue to study how to make up to $40 million in budget cuts... The federal government historically has given Lane County about $47 million annually as compensation for the presence of federal timberland that the county can't tax. Congress ended the payments last year and hasn't renewed them...Observers say Lane and other Oregon counties should expect less money, or none, in the future." -with a thanks and a link to The Register-Guard
Mar 5, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Some Inconvenient Truths Too Close to Home
Reida Kimmel
"Perhaps all this seems a bit remote or inconsequential in our troubled times. But it is a fact that in 2006 the Oregon Department of Forestry received spray notifications for almost eight-hundred-thousand acres of private forestland in the state. Of this, 74,468 acres were in Lane County, 65,914 acres were in Lynn County, 24,577 acres were in Lincoln County, and 16,545 acres in were in Benton County. Not surprising is the horrible figure for Douglas County, where 321,782 acres were sprayed last year." The only way to address this truth is through the political process, flawed as it may be. Get the facts and write your state representative. A salmon will thank you. – a feature at WxNW.org
Feb 7, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Is Oregon Ready for Prime Time Primary?
Russell Sadler
"Obama, JFK and McCall were successful leaders because they were gifted with the ability to put into words what many people were thinking in a way that produces genuine empathy... (But) the real question is whether Oregonians get to express themselves on Obama and other candidates in a timely way during next year’s presidential primary... Most states have primaries now and the Oregon primary in May is often too late in the year for Oregonians to have any national influence." – a feature at WxNW.org
Jan 26, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
We're Back!
Dear Friends, Readers, and Contributors, Thank you for your faithful reading and writing in spite of our unscheduled hiatus. The statistics show our readers have accessed the rich archives. And now the show goes on! - the Editor
Jan 26, 2007
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Enter Westlund for Senator?
Russell Sadler
It looks like Sen. Smith's re-election is not a sure thing: "Given the voters’ rebuke of the Republican Party and Smith’s orthodox partisan voting record, Smith can no longer hide in Mark Hatfield’s maverick cloak. Smith is no maverick. Ben Westlund is. And Oregonians love their mavericks." –a feature at WxNW.org
Dec 3, 2006
Voices of the Northwest
The Ecology of Trees
Barbara Kelley
At this time of year we are still busy raking the fallen leaves while getting the yule-tide tree inside our homes. We celebrate nature while trying to tame her at the same moment: Is there another way? "If other trees are nearby, the sunken rain runs together with water from its neighbors, creating underground streams, groundwater, aquifers, wells. . .and at certain junctures, joins above-ground waterways in an ever flowing hydrologic cycle. Earth's capillaries, veins, arteries!" – a feature at WxNW.org
Dec 3, 2006
Voices of the Northwest
Eugene's Amazon Headwaters Under Siege
Lisa Warnes and Kathleen Leonard
Local Readers, please put Dec. 13 on your calendar: There is a hearing to consider what "The Beverlys are calling their proposal of 81 houses, 'Deerbrook.' This headwater forest is the main (Keystone) connection to Amazon Creek... river otters have recently been observed playing and foraging for food... (The City) installed a six-foot box culvert under Martin Street for wildlife to pass through and dug out the old culvert that once imprisoned the creek underground in order to restore it back to its natural state. Once the creek is healthy with native vegetation, the City plans to introduce Cutthroat Trout. It makes no sense to allow development just a few hundred yards up the creek in the watershed when the goal is to restore health to this system." -with a thanks to VIEW and the Friends of Eugene, a feature at WxNW.org
Dec 3, 2006
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: What Do You Know! Hunger No Longer Exists in USA
Russell Sadler
"The story detailed the steady decline in value of federal help, in food and cash, given to U.S. food banks. It’s down from $418 million 2001, the first year of the Bush regime, to $201 million in 2006. So much for Compassionate Conservatism and Christian charity in a regime that prances around parading their piety and proclaiming their faith in the Gospel. Despite the results of the last election, many of these people remain unchastened." –a feature at West By Northwest.org
Nov 24, 2006
Voices of the Northwest
Remembering Mom: A Servant's Life
Hugh More
I only met her when she was silver-haired and getting frail but there was a sliver of steel in this beautiful old weaver. Her bright eyes would dance and she'd smile shyly, hearing family yarns. Like most people, she was modest and didn't talk too much about herself. As usual, certain facts and stories only come out when someone dies, and then everyone says, I didn't know that! She lived her life by always helping others. Erma More inspired this lovely farewell by her son, poet Hugh More. (And the sliver of steel was actally a sliver of the cross...) -Editor –a feature at WxNW.org
Nov 5, 2006
Voices of the Northwest
Sadler's Sense: Saxton No Tom McCall
Russell Sadler
"For most of the 41 years I’ve been in Oregon I’ve been a registered independent who proudly splits his ticket. But I haven’t been splitting tickets lately for a very good reason. Oregon Republicans have not been nominating candidates that attract independents. Yes, that’s one man’s opinion. But it is also the verdict of Oregon voters." -a feature at WxNW.org
Nov 5, 2006
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