It’s a good week for people who love women and puppies. The
Oregon legislature passed two bills last week that all but the most
heartless of Oregonians (Republican legislators, apparently) would
applaud. The first requires insurance companies to cover the cost of
HPV vaccines. The shots, which are 90 percent effective at
destroying types of cancer that kill 3,700 women a year, cost about
$375, but were often not covered by insurance. “It really came down to
‘show me why they need it,'” said Representative Ron Maurer, one
of 17 Republicans to vote against the successful bill.
Later in the week, the Oregon legislature approved an anti-puppy
mill law that says dog breeders can only have 50 “sexually intact”
dogs at a time and must allow their pups space to stretch out and turn
around. Nine Republicans voted against that bill. SM
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The debate over the baseball stadium deal in Lents is heating
up as the deciding day for the $49 million deal looms closer. City
commissioners promised to follow neighbors’ wishes on whether to spend
$42.3 million of the downtrodden area’s urban renewal funds to build
the new Beavers Triple-A stadium in Lents Park.
Last Wednesday, June 3, dozens of neighbors ranted about the
project’s cost and assumed impacts during the first organized
opposition event. The only politician to turn up, the ubiquitous
Steve Novick, told neighbors to phone in their concerns to
Portland City Council swing-vote Dan Saltzman. Later that week,
the city released a new budget scenario for the deal: If Lents decides
to fund the stadium and keep its current investment in affordable
housing, it will have to cut almost all other redevelopment
projects (like storefront improvements and sidewalk construction)
for five years. SM