Make the McKenzie Connection!
Make the McKenzie Connection!
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Across Oregon, the flames from more than 2,000 fires this season have engulfed homes, ravaged landscapes and emitted dangerous levels of particulate matter, while burning through state budgets to rack up a large tab for taxpayers. Oregon’s current approach to wildfire budgeting is inherently incompatible with the level of risk it faces in a changing climate. In fact, the damages – hundreds of thousands of acres burned, dozens of homes and other structures destroyed – are only likely to get worse. The solution? A carbon price. Making pollu...
Oregon had few surprises in the general election results that changed the political landscape very little. Tracking closely with similar kinds of results in Washington state, the light blue Beaver state stuck with its usual voting patterns, careful to rarely edge over into landslides. In most cases, Portland remained deep blue and most of the eastern counties stayed deep red. Taken as a whole, Oregon remained generally blue, even as much of the country was awash in red-tinged results. The state...
Samhain, my Wiccan friends told me years ago, was the time of year when the veil that sits between the worlds is thinnest. During this time, we can reach out to the other side, speak to the dead and divine the future. It is also the time when the old gods, or other spirits, might walk in our world. An old European holiday that fell at the deepest moment of the fall, it may originally have been simply a marker of the season. But there are hints at something more interesting and obscure; a focus...
Lane County “voters” should choose the members of the Lane County Board of Commissioners. A member of the Board of Commissioners should not be allowed to choose his or her “voters.” Ballot Measure 20-362 does just this. It does this by prohibiting the Commissioners or their allies from drawing the boundary lines for their own districts for their benefit. Drawing boundary lines to give a politician an advantage in an election is called gerrymandering. It is immoral and anti-democratic. Ballot Measure 20-362 will stop gerrymandering. Prior to the...
Almost everyone understands why friends and relatives of the parties facing a jury trial are not allowed to be jurors for that case. The full list of rules that prohibit tainting a jury verdict with conflicts of interests is comprehensive and designed to promote public confidence in the justice system. The rules are strict; an interest in just one of the questions to be decided by a jury requires a Judge to disqualify the ‘interested” person from serving on a jury. By parity of purpose and parity of reasoning we should expect a local government...
The League of Women Voters of Lane County (LWVLC) wants to help you prepare for the general election on November 5, 2024. We are a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights. The League empowers voters and defends democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels. The League of Women Voters produces a digital voting guide called VOTE411 found at http://Vote411.org. “Election information you need. Brought to you by The League of Women Voters Education Fund”. By...
As president of McKenzie Valley Wellness, the local nonprofit rebuilding the Clinic, I interact with many people in the community. Usually that’s a fun part of my volunteer service. But not always. In spring, 2022, controversy had risen about McKenzie Valley Wellness (MVW), reflected in articles and letters to the editor in River Reflections. In April, 2022, I learned that Tony Casad was running as a write-in candidate for board seat #3, the position that I held, in MVW’s upcoming annual election of board members. On April 27, 2022, I cal...
While the Lane League wholeheartedly supports the establishment of an Independent Redistricting Commission within the Lane County Charter, we are strongly opposed to Measure 20-362. In a nutshell this is why: * An Independent Redistricting Commission MUST be truly independent and allow for a diversity of voices to be at the table, including minorities and communities of interest that have been traditionally shut out. * When and why redistricting occurs matters and should not be at the whim of elected officials who, for whatever reason, just...
As public schools grapple with lagging student literacy, chronic absenteeism, and classrooms without air conditioning, they are now being pitched to bulletproof their school buildings and students. The reason is obvious – more than 230 school shootings in the last decade and a growing threat of online ideation to shoot teachers and classmates. The solution seems equally obvious – restrict access by minors to firearms and take online threats of violence seriously. But in a capitalist eco...
On average, healthcare costs for patients with a chronic condition are five times higher than for those without one. Chronic disease patients are getting hit with high drug costs when cheaper generics are available. Many chronic disease patients rely on biologics, medicines made from living organisms and often administered by injection or infusion. Just like medications that come in pill form, biologics have generic versions, called biosimilars. These, on average, cost half as much as their brand-name counterparts. If more widely adopted,...
Who are you voting for? The biennial question and challenging decision(s) each of us currently faces. Complicating our down-ballot decisions this election cycle is the overarching potentially historic presidential race.Sorting and filtering through all the incomplete, biased, and self-serving campaign information takes time. Weighting personal histories, character, policies, and parties to decide who you believe will best represent and advocate for you. Each of us uses different lenses based on experiences and expectations. My experiences...
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warns that today’s youth mental health crisis is the “defining public health issue of our time.” He’s right. American adolescents are experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health challenges. Fortunately, there’s a way to reverse these trends. I’ve spent my career studying the intersection of sports and mental health, including roles as the chief medical officer at the NCAA, co-chair of the International Olympic Committee Consensus Meeting on Mental Health in Elite Athletes, and a fellow of the America...
Oregon Ballot Measure 118 is poorly designed. Its enactment would likely trigger several unintended, damaging consequences. Accordingly, the Oregon Center for Public Policy recommends a “no” vote on the measure. Measure 118, also known as the Oregon People’s Rebate, would increase the state corporate minimum tax to 3% on business sales of more than $25 million in Oregon. The revenue raised from the measure would be distributed equally to all Oregon residents. Although taxing large corporations to fund cash payments to families facing econo...
In the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, President George Washington summons Alexander Hamilton into his study to discuss writing what would come to be known as Washington’s “Farewell Address.” Hamilton protests the very idea of Washington leaving the Presidency: “As far as the People are concerned, you have to serve, you could continue to serve!” Washington, insistent and resolute, replies, “We’re gonna teach them how to say goodbye.” Washington set an example – two terms, no more – that every President voluntarily followed until 1940, when Fr...
A little-known federal agency might be our most powerful asset in the race for global tech leadership. The International Trade Commission has the power to deter patent infringement abroad and at home by blocking infringers’ access to the huge American market. It’s up to policymakers to make sure this asset gets deployed to the full extent of the law. Here’s the problem: In today’s knowledge economy, ideas are the coin of the realm. But America’s intellectual property is under constant attack. That’s because a 2006 Supreme Court decision, e...
The federal government may soon finalize guidance that could weaken ownership of intellectual property throughout the U.S. economy. This would affect a huge swathe of industries, among them biotechnology, clean energy, agriculture, and defense. More specifically, the new guidance would cause companies large and small, as well as their investors, to balk at licensing and developing promising new technologies -- with severe consequences for American innovation. Shepherding a promising idea from lab to marketplace is already a daunting task, as I...
President Biden wants to lower drug prices. While that is a laudable goal, we can’t afford to undermine the intellectual property rights that helped produce these innovative drugs in the first place. A recent proposal would do just that, and it’s not limited to drugs. The proposed policy change would reinterpret a 1980 law that ushered in a new era of American innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors. But if this proposed policy change is finalized, it will cause a wide swathe of our high-tech sector to stall out...
As a student at Lake Oswego Junior High, I first learned about tobacco, smoking, and e-cigarettes. It was viewed as a fun but costly activity to do with friends. Then in the seventh grade, my health teacher warned us of the dangers of smoking. I remember looking at my friend and laughing. Who would knowingly poison themselves? Now, as I prepare to become a high school senior, I understand why many young people become addicted to tobacco: It is sold in a wide variety of flavors that appeal to kids. It is promoted as a stress reliever, and a...
Big Tech is building its latest technology on intellectual property and uncompensated use of expression, content, and data collected online and in databases. Journalistic content, which is far more than just a collection of facts and is often gathered at great costs to the journalists who report the news, is indispensable to these new AI technologies. The legal regulatory system has lagged behind recent rapid-fire developments in AI. By failing to enforce intellectual property rights, regulators have allowed a handful of companies to further en...
For two years now, Oregon’s wage floor has been stuck in place. It’s run aground at a place well short of what families need to make ends meet. That may seem strange to say given that Oregon’s minimum hourly wage went up 50 cents on July 1, but that increase only keeps pace with inflation. It’s just enough to not fall behind the rising cost of living, but not enough to make progress. Progress on wages is essential to remedy the widespread economic insecurity afflicting Oregonians, and there are...
You can’t understand the scope of 122,000 names until you see them on a wall. Stand at the foot of the National Monument to Freedom, recently dedicated by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, and you’ll see all of them, soaring three or four stories above your head. Each name, taken from the 1870 Census, belonged to a former enslaved person. These are surnames. Family names. Combined, they represent about 4 million people who emerged from bondage. Each one stands for an American once tre...
It seems as if every community, big or small, has been impacted by the problems associated with substance use and drug overdose. Within these communities, these problems extend into the family unit, with people becoming addicted and dying because of drugs. However, community drug education and prevention programs can be a first line of defense. There is hope for the younger generations as they have more access to online prevention and education resources to help them make informed decisions. In...
Two big slices of news about Oregon newspapers fell shortly after Memorial Day, sending shock waves across the state. One was the sale of one of the largest Oregon newspaper groups, Portland-based Pamplin Media, and the other was the announcement of major cutbacks in another, EOMedia, which owns the Bend Bulletin and other newspapers. Both show the immediate urgency for finding a way to rescue community news in Oregon – sooner, not later. Among other things, the Oregon Legislature urgently n...
Every year, USACE publishes updated statistics for water safety (or lack thereof) at its project locations throughout the country. In the eight years I’ve been working for USACE, the statistics on drownings have not significantly changed (that I can recall), regardless of the amount of focus and messaging the enterprise has published. Again, it’s no surprise that USACE data from 2023 shows that drowning victims at our locations are 88 percent male and 89 percent who weren’t wearing life jackets. This is an important topic for many of our staff...
