You might have heard: We’ll have a new governor tomorrow. But Kate Brown’s ascendancy to the state’s top elected office means we need a new secretary of state. Who’s it going to be? Not House Speaker Tina Kotek. But perhaps Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum?
Your new governor’s new chief of staff, meanwhile, is OHSU’s top lobbyist.
Gov. John Kitzhaber’s still got a solid day in the saddle, of course, and that’s got some folks hoping he’ll make some sort of dramatic action on his way out. One getting the most traction: That just maybe Kitzhaber, an avowed opponent of the death penalty, will clear out Oregon’s death row.
Whatever your thoughts on Kitzhaber’s missteps, at least we’re not being governed by Scott Walker. Wisconsin’s terrible leader is replicating his 2011 assault on labor unions to take on another target: Higher education.
Mayor Charlie Hales, as the Mercury first pointed out, showed the strongest sign yet of his intentions to run for re-election with a $5,000 donation from a moneyed developer last week. Now he’s added to that tally.
Skinny houses are on the outs in City Hall these days, reports the O in this interesting story. Turns out Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the city’s buildings office, has urged development officers not to be afraid to turn down new projects—particularly if they don’t meet the “character” of a neighborhood.
Multnomah County is scheduled to begin trial this morning over the badly botched deck replacement on the Morrison Bridge. It’s also just released a $1.3 billion laundry list of new bridgey aspirations.
The recent shooting, by police, of a troubled man in Pasco, Wash., has raised comparisons to Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson—with the added complexity of immigration issues piled on.
What’s up with these refreshingly low crime rates? No one’s really sure, but a new study finds it’s probably not the mass incarceration policies of the ’90s.
Thing about oil trains: They derail. Fortunately no one appears to have been hurt in a conflagration in West Virginia on Monday, though it’s no good that at least one oil tanker found its way into a river.
That cease-fire between Ukrainian troops and Russian loyalists isn’t looking so hot, these days.
Today’s sunset: 5:40 pm. And it’s going to be beautiful again!
I always thought it was a little unfair that Judy got all that cold-ass hatred. As if Johnny’s not culpable in this disaster?! Anyway, RIP, Lesley Gore.
re: crime rate drop over the last several decades – there have been some fascinating studies drawing correlations of the elimination of leaded fuel and brain development relating to intelligence and aggressive behaviour, as I recall.
I REALLY hope David Bragdon comes back from NYC and runs for mayor next term.
I think the oil trains are going to be forced to run at a really slow speed everywhere they travel, not just through cities and towns. Train accidents will happen, and a lower velocity might help reduce the carnage.
Wait a sec, I thought Scott Walker just attacked Public Employee Unions, as opposed to your everyday unions.
Which is a sensible position — just like FDR had.
I can’t speak to what pisses you off about him now (yet), and maybe he is being an ass somehow now, but the dude was totally right in attacking PEU’s – who have no market forces to balance any unreasonable demands they may make.
Nuances Dirk, nuances… pay attention.
If you are gonna fill your new shoes in well…