edited by: Mike Landfair,
Oregon Editor
With an aerial bombardment worthy of Sarah Palin, a suddenly rejuvenated Martell Webster and the rest of the Blazers went Wolf-hunting on a reliably bad Minnesota team that has now provided 30% of Portland's wins this season, blowing them out this time by the greatest margin at 28, 106-78.
It ended [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
The bad news: It's leveled off at 11.2%.
The good news: Oregon's unemployment rate in May was 12.2%
The bad news: The national unemployment rate is 10.2%.
The good news: Oregon's state economist says the recession's over.
The bad news: Some [...]
As part of an agreement hashed out at the end [...]
It's not been a good week for those who are trying to build opposition to the tax fairness bills passed in the Leg last year and now referred to January's ballot. In two separate rulings at both the lowest and highest levels of Oregon's court system, teabagging plaintiffs who had [...]
The O carries a story from this afternoon describing a trio of Democratic Senators who are seeking a slowdown on the potential extension of some of the more egregious USA PATRIOT provisions otherwise set to expire. (Betcha didn't know the Act's title was actually in acronym form, didya? It's [...]
Fans, we're nearing the end of the first extended road trip of the season--which has seemed awfully long already, even though only seven of the first dozen have been away games. I think it's just the newness of the season, getting only a couple of home-cooking games at a time [...]
We can all blame Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer for giving Betsy McCaughey, Sarah Palin and the rest of the lunatic wing of the Republican Party their fodder for the biggest and most absurd summer episode surrounding health care reform: "death panels." Were it not for his totally wrong-headed and foolhardy [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
California drew national attention to the risk that states would go broke when it had to' [...]
A small morsel of Friday political amusement, as I continue to recover from an accident involving rain, embedded rail lines on Portland's Central Eastside, and a motor scooter: check out the lead to the latest missive received via email from our friends at the Oregon GOP, as expressed by ORP [...]
(Update: The Corvallis chapter meets Wednesday night, 11/11--see below for details.)
(I still mainly associate with the Portland and Portland Metro-West chapters, but since I moved upstairs last winter, from Portland chapter host to field organizer for OR, WA, AK, and HI, I'm trying to work out how' [...]
I think by now we all know who the "Tea Party" name refers to--the dupes who were organized this year by Dick Armey, Glenn Beck and Fox "News" to protest, well, nearly everything they can think of that is irritating their shorts. And by now we all also know what [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
Here, let's start with the NBA clip this time for those who wish to skim in pictures, then we'll come back below the fold with analysis...
{Writing and stuff below, like I said!}
If you'll forgive what sounds like a tangent for a moment, the Joe's Sporting Goods [...]
The Oregon delegation votes:
Yes: Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, and Wu.
No: Walden
(Flip those around, and you've got their votes for the odious Stupak Amendment earlier today.)
' [...]
While callers were getting through to DeFazio's, Wu's, and Blumenauer's offices in DC' [...]
It's hard to get truly excited about the fair-to-middlin' health care reform package now pending final debate and a vote later today, because it really stood just a few cruel Blue Dog votes away from producing an ironically cheaper (and more effective) bill they couldn't support. Kurt Schrader in the [...]
Across Oregon, after the question "Should U of O end up ahead of Boise if they both win out" I'm sure the most popular sports fan worry is "WTF with the Blazers?" It's way early yet, and 2-3 is hardly a disaster--but there are some evil portents and recurrences of [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
This time, the OEA and AFT-Oregon are suing both Sizemore and his main sugar daddy Loren Parks for alleged campaign shenanigans:
The unions claim Sizemore and Parks conspired to set up a sham charitable organization [...]
Man, that game was a mess. It was a game that by several metrics the Blazers should be ashamed to have lost, while by other metrics it's a wonder they were even in [...]
well, thanks to a quick return of my voicemail, we can correct this erroneous story forthwith: according to Schrader spokesman James Atkin, the story I just reported is NOT accurate, and in fact the opposite is true; Schrader opposes Med +5 in favor of a negotiated rates option that [...]
The Men of the Red and the Black opened their 40th season this evening at the Rose Garden, before a typically involved crowd whose emotions and outbursts paralleled the play: expectant and unsettled at first, excited and boisterous as the Blazers made their game changing run in the 2nd, desultory [...]
The 2009-10 NBA season for the Portland Trailblazers starts this evening at the Rose Garden, with the Houston Rockets providing the opposition. A special (if somewhat bittersweet) welcome back to Martell Webster, who will start at the 3-hole for the injured Nic Batum, who looks to be out until January [...]
Big, huge, MAJOR news from the Senate:
The public option lives.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Monday that the bill he will bring to the Senate floor will include a public health insurance option that individual states could decline to participate in.
"The public option, with an opt-out, is the" [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
But that may have happened last week for Oregon and several other states where medical care is comparatively cheap and efficient:
In [...]
Following up on indicators detailed by Jeff Mapes showing little to no campaign activity recently for 2010 goobernatorial candidate Jeff Atkinson, a southwest Oregon Republican, Mapes is now reporting that Atkinson has released a statement this afternoon "suspending" his campaign:
Senator Atkinson will primarily focus on the health and [...]Are you one to keep track of sustainability news in your local paper, maybe The O and perhaps online? Do you faithfully follow LUBA appeals and UGB hearings? Are you looking for the next green tax credit, or want to keep tabs on how your elected reps are working to [...]
Update, midnight 10/20--
It should be said that the Merc's (Sarah) Mirk was on this two months ago, and she also makes the salient point that the Blazers are not granted first dibs on the Rose Quarter, although I'm sure their submission will get plenty the look-see....
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Your reporter is not [...]
Oregon has gotten $1 billion (of its $3.9 billion allotment) of stimulus funds. I can imagine outraged anti-big government types already doing the math on their bar napkins: That works out to roughly [...]
The Portland Metro-West chapter of Drinking Liberally has its regular meeting tonight, 7pm at Ringo's, 12300 SW Broadway St. (just east of Hall Blvd.), in Beaverton.
(Metro-West meets the second Wednesday of each month.)
Tonight's guest will be David Robinson, Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District.
(To find' [...]
Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden isn't saying how he'll vote when the Finance Committee takes up Chairman Max Baucus's 10-year, $829-billion plan next Tuesday.
"I am not going to characterize where I am (on the bill) in any way," Wyden said Friday as he headed to the' [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
With the help of Fisher Communication, KATU (Portland) and KVAL (Eugene) are moving into hyper-local media:
KATU and [...]
I have to [...]
There's never enough money, but this will help:
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has announced that 19 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will share more than $17 million in grants to community groups to create 1,155 beds for homeless Veterans this year."These grants will aid" [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
In what very well may be the first time Greg Walden has appeared in video on Loaded Orygun--as well as the first time for a Greta van Sustern clip--we bring you an issue which really should transcend partisan boundaries: adequate time to read pending bills before voting.
I have a bit [...]
Oh, those wacky Republicans! They'll drop a blatant falsehood in your lap, and when you take the time to point out how absurd and facts-bereft it is, they're chastened for about 2 seconds, then just go on repeating it in hopes that someone else who hears about it hasn't been [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
The Standing Stone Brewing Company sits at 101 Oak Street in Ashland, in a building that is listed in [...]
This is sort of a continuation of the tea-leaf reading post earlier this morning, on the several opportunities recently featuring Ron Wyden speaking out on his vision for health care reform. It must be noted that true to his staff's word this summer, they said when a bill was [...]
It continues to be a busy and visible time for Senator Ron Wyden, as he rides the cable and print junket for his "Free Choice" amendment to the Finance Committee inkblot. We've got two TV clips for you, a long interview that frankly makes my Spidey sense tingle in a [...]
Two interesting and unrelated stories over at BikePortland this afternoon. First off, some rather eye-popping news about the extent to which Portland continues to burnish its credentials as Bike City USA: a one-year jump of more than 50% in the share of residents who commute by bicycle, to a [...]
Well now, THIS is interesting (h/t Daily Kos):
In a letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, PG&E Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee cited "fundamental differences" over climate change to explain why the company is pulling out of the organization, despite the Chamber's "long history as a positive force for" [...]OK, I'm kidding about the "very important" part, but I did think this was of nominal interest as I scanned the House docket for today, courtesy of DailyKos/CongressMatters:
H.R. 2741 - To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to [...]Here's part two of the interview I conducted in late August with Chuck Currie, now former minister at the Parkrose United Church of Christ in Portland, and a prominent online progressive faith activist. In Part One, we talked about the theological underpinnings of health care activism and the justifications [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
Our state's number doesn't include the "under-employed"--those who have managed to find part-time work but are unable to find full-time work. Combine those two groups,' [...]
Beautifully constructed and edited, although while Hood gets her own little featurette, they show Mt. St. Helens--in Washington, let's recall--about four times as much. It's a quibble; the rest is ample explication about the best city in America:
It's an extreme rarity when Oregon's entire Congressional delegation finds a way to vote in unison on any bill that's not blandly symbolic, splashily ceremonial or a blatant pander to a constituency no one dislikes. Obviously in this hyperpartisan age, it's a foregone conclusion that they won't all vote the [...]
The rubber is beginning to really hit the road when it comes to health care in Congress; recess is over and the Baucus Caucus finally came out with a bill to mark up. It appears the rest of the Finance Committee--including our own Senator Wyden--either want to mark it with [...]
It's tough to maintain the proper amount of mojo in order to keep up a political blog like this one--at least, it has been for me since at least the November elections. I got heavily involved in politics when Bush was "elected" in 2000, and got particularly engrossed in 2004 [...]
If you're finding yourself in northeastern Oregon these days, out Heppner way south of Hermiston/Pendleton, the state DHS office has some words of warning: don't mess with the water in Willow Creek Reservoir and Elk Creek--it's naaasty right now.
Tipping the O, which cites the death of at least four [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
Tomorrow (Wednesday):
Portland Metro-West Drinking Liberally meets at Ringo's, 12300 SW Broadway St, (just east of Hall Blvd). map), Wednesday night at 7pm. (DL-PDX M-W meets the 2nd Wednesday every month.)
Join the Portland Metro-West email list.
Thursday:
Author and Daily Kos contributor Jill Richardson will be
The neverending search among the more disgruntled Democrats of Oregon's 1st Congressional District for a primary challenger to incumbent David Wu, has yielded its first official contender for 2010 (that I'm aware of): Naval reservist David Robinson (no, not this guy, a different one).
What do we know about Mr. [...]
We've spent a lot of time here discussing health care this summer, focusing on our Congressional representation and their responses to the question, and the various political-policy gambits tossed around in the abstract while folks lose coverage, become ill and die--every day. What we haven't done much is talk about [...]
I had a somewhat-shorter-than-usual StS almost drafted, and then the computer locked up (technically at least partly my fault, but I'm in no mood to go there right now).
As I was trying to recover it, I thought to myself: It's Labor Day weekend. They shouldn't [...]
And just as quickly, the "listening tour" of potential Dem hopeful Brian Clem has gone on pause:
State Representative [...]
?
We've been understandably focusing our attention on Sen. Wyden lately, because he's the biggest cipher in the health care debate and appears quite potentially willing to help deliver a disastrous, worse-than-nothing bill with individual purchase mandates but no public option.
Is that where he's' [...]
It's taken me a while to get around to posting and commenting on this, but the election porn has begun to flow on the pending tax bill referenda theoretically scheduled for January. I also happened to receive some petitions in the mail from the state GOP, in order for me [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
Pat McCormick, a spokesman for the group Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes, says opponents are well on their way toward reaching' [...]
It's time for Hood to Coast and Portland to Coast again.
When I try to describe these events to friends or family members who don't live here, they invariably stare uncomprehendingly at me as if I had lapsed into a [...]
I think this is the first time Loaded Orygun will be used for Help Wanted classifieds--but I can't imagine a better job to be advertising right now:
Democracy for America is hiring state-level Public Option Field Organizers for an intense three-month pressure campaign to pass a public option as part of healthcare [...]This week I'll be subbing for James as DL host, and I'm declaring tonight to be a proper wake for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died Tuesday of brain cancer at age 77.
Bring your best story about Kennedy, your best impersonation, your best speech excerpt, your best theory [...]
It's been a long and frustrating summer for Oregon citizens who have been hungry for some indication--any indication, really--of Senator Ron Wyden's true position on health care reform. We've covered it at LO ad infinitum (and some in Wyden's camp may change the last word to nauseum), [...]
Join TJ Monday @730 AM on KPOJ's Morning Show with Carl Wolfson and Friends, on your AM dial at 620, or via the web directly here or on your Iphone/3G/ITouch using the IHeartRadio app. That's producer Paul Pimentel on the left, Christine Alexander, Carl Wolfson, and national writer and [...]
#6: Tick-a-Too (Molalla)
#15: Coupon Girls LLC (West Linn)
#37: Little Busy Bodies Inc. (Beaverton)
#71: Whippersnappers Studio (Bend)
#127: Hot by 6 (Sherwood)
#143: ChefzTable.com (Portland)
Now, comes the challenge: Here's what each of these businesses does. [...]
Regular readers know that Street Roots is one of my favorite "charities,"...and I put that word in quotes with a purpose, because while they are indeed a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the transitionally and chronically housing-challenged, and provide their clients with a range of social service [...]
