Forty-six years ago today, Mount St. Helens blew her top. Those old enough to remember recall the vivid images on their TV screen. Betsy Johnson has different recollections, ones that not only are seared in her mind but also seared her eyebrows.
Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, and Dag Robinson, president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks (OACC), held a virtual town hall to talk election integrity and process. The fact that they felt compelled to even have a town hall on the subject says a lot about the times we live in.
Oregon’s Department of Education was designed at statehood to lead Oregon’s students into adulthood with the educational skills necessary to succeed. But its toolbelt has neither a hammer nor a screwdriver. Instead, it leans heavily on masking tape, Gorilla Glue, and notes of encouragement.
Danielle Bethell, a Marion Couty Commissioner, has neither the name recognition nor financial war chest to be reasonably expected to win the primary vote over her well-funded competitors. That low expectation is her advantage at this time and in this circumstance. But winning in May is not anticipated nor needed. She’s prepping for a longer race.
This week marks 39 years since Edith Green’s passing. Few younger Oregonians likely have heard of her, but many owe their careers at least in part to the grit and determination of a woman who served Oregon for 20 years in the United States Congress.
Not all candidates running under the “R” or “D” label are genetically the same. On the national level, the MAGA faction has displaced the traditional Republican hierarchy while the far left, characterized by the socialist faction, is attempting to do the same within the Democratic Party.
May is Kentucky Derby time. Mint juleps, flowery bonnets, and thundering hooves. Oregon has its own derby of sorts this May, as candidates break out of the gate and jockey for position to be the state’s next Governor.
Ballooning travel demand has found the Eugene airport at full capacity since 2021. Airlines are eager to add the Mid-Valley airport to some of their long-haul destinations, and businesses and institutions like the University of Oregon are clamoring for easier travel access.
Jonas Salk invented the vaccine to prevent polio, Edward Jenner helped curb smallpox, and John Enders put the brakes on the measles. But it took Republicans and Democrats working together to inoculate against the scariest disease in politics — competition.
Political events can often get people fired up. Some just get fired. For others, it lights a fire under them to do something dramatic.