The coronavirus is already taking a toll on our pocketbooks. Families are facing layoffs. Businesses are closing—and some may never reopen. Our elected leaders are urging everyone to do their fair share. Property owners have been asked to give tenants a six-month grace period to pay their rents. They’re considering forcing small businesses to provide […]
With this year’s “short” session of the legislature, the $700 million a year cap-and-trade bill is on everyone’s mind. As they say on the infomercials: “Wait, there’s more.” Way more. Way more taxes. This year, Portland area voters are facing at least six new tax measures. First, we have Metro’s transportation package that will amount […]
So far this summer, it has been hot here in the Portland area for a few days. But generally we have had remarkably nice weather. Not so elsewhere as cities from Anchorage, Alaska, to Washington, DC to London to Paris have sweltered in the summertime heat. Or so you are supposed to believe. In fact, […]
My wife and I live a short distance east of Portland, Oregon, at the west end of the Gorge. The Gorge is a canyon that follows the Columbia River along the northern border of Oregon. It is not uncommon during the winter to get sustained wind speeds of 20 miles per hour, with gusts registering […]
Oregon’s most pressing environmental crisis isn’t in forests or renewable energy. Our human habitats have been endangered by our restrictive so-called “smart growth” policies. Even when we talk about allowing growth, policymakers tend to favor light rail over people’s real needs. Senate Bill 10, which would require cities like Portland to allow development of 75 […]
At least twice a week, the news stations sound the alarm that we need to get ready for the Big One, the earthquake that will rock Portland, Oregon. Our city officials are trying to get ahead of this and mandate that older buildings be reinforced to make them earthquake-proof. I don’t intend to get into […]
It’s a little anticlimactic to watch the ball drop in New York on New Year’s Eve knowing it’s a rebroadcast from three hours earlier, and after you’ve seen all the fireworks go off hours earlier in Australia or Japan or London. I wish it turned 2019 at the same time everywhere. Having so many time […]
Many Portland drivers probably wonder why there are so many curb pop-outs on Portland streets. The pop-outs, also called bioswales, are usually shaped like rectangles or triangles and filled with plants, grass and a drain pipe. While advocates think the bioswales are important to protect water quality, a new report https://www.portlandoregon.gov/auditservices/article/705164 released by the Portland […]
Do we really want these intolerant, violent mobs and their representatives running America? Who are the “Antifa” mobs? What are they doing to our country? How long will we tolerate them? The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were their latest excuse for tantrums and intolerance. Dismissing fairness, propriety and due process, they screamed that mere allegations […]
New evidence developed by Pacific Northwest scientists, with help from around the world, strongly questions not only the conclusions of ‘Official Climate Science’ here in Oregon, but also the competence of those paid to keep grinding it out. It is a story of greed and ideology overwhelming those qualities typically associated with scientists: technical ability, […]