The COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked state and local budgets. Moreover, it’s looking more likely that school operations will not return to normal this fall. Social distancing guidelines will demand smaller class sizes. The days of 25-30 students per classroom are over for the foreseeable future. There is simply not enough space in our brick-and-mortar schools. […]
Metro has a history of breaking promises to voters. This track record continues with the Metro Affordable Housing Bond measure that was passed in 2018. At the time the measure was passed, the regional government said the cost of new projects will be around $253,000 per unit. They also warned the costs could be much […]
Many Oregon businesses are looking forward toward May 15. That’s the day the state expects to ease some of Governor Kate Brown’s COVID-19 “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. But, many businesses are considering whether they should re-open at all. And coronavirus is only one of many new challenges facing Oregon businesses. Leading up to the […]
Does Metro’s appetite for more money ever end? Last November, Metro raised property taxes by $475 million for parks and nature. Now, with Measure 26-210, Metro wants another $2.5 billion for housing services. In November, Metro will have a third ballot measure, asking for an additional $3.8 billion to expand light rail. That’s nearly $6.8 […]
Oregon’s experience with COVID-19 will change the ways students in our state are educated. Out of this public health crisis can come a unique chance to improve educational opportunity for all children through a more personalized delivery of education. Long before schools closed or switched to remote learning formats in March, the landscape of options […]
The Oregon nonprofit Cascadia Clusters understands the value of providing Oregon’s growing homeless population with a “hand-up” by helping individuals gain the skills needed to construct affordable transitional housing. Cascadia Clusters is a nonprofit charity that receives no government funding. Instead, it relies on donations. The organization provides meaningful skills training for homeless individuals along […]
Oregon is nearing the end of the first month of Governor Kate Brown’s state-at-home order. The order is just one of many ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way consumers shop and the way businesses sell. These shifts in behavior, designed to “flatten the curve” of infection through social distancing, are happening […]
Public officials are angry that thousands of Oregonians have been enjoying the good weather by engaging in outdoor recreation. They can’t understand why people are ignoring the government closure of parks, trails and beaches. There is a simple reason: the closures are extreme and unnecessary. People need exercise, and not everyone has a private backyard. […]
“The vast disparity between the rich and the poor is, in large part, designed by the disparity between those who have electricity and those who scrape by on small quantities of juice or none at all.” – Robert Bryce Electricity is at the epicenter of modern life, yet rarely does the average person consider the […]
If Oregon charter school students can stay at home and stay in school at the same time, shouldn’t they be able to? Governor Kate Brown’s Executive Order 20-08, which closed all Oregon public schools due to COVID-19, has been interpreted to also close Oregon’s online charter schools. This means students who were enrolled as online […]