Friday, Sep 16th is the first statewide employee furlough day of the new biennium. Most state offices will be closed. DMV and a few other agencies say you can do some simple business on line. State employees get a three-day weekend, but their Friday is not paid. The furlough days are a budget-reducing compromise negotiated with state worker unions. State offices will be open as usual Monday.
WHY DO DRUGGIES AND THIEVES DO THE DUMB THINGS THEY DO IN PUBLIC TO HELP THEM GET CAUGHT??? THE GENIUSES IN THIS STORY ARE, OF COURSE, INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
Albany Police got a call from a local department store saying a man was observed stuffing clothing under the garden center fence–perhaps planning to pick it up later. The would-be shoplifter thought he was acting normally, crouching at the base of the chain link fence by the pots of petunias and stuffing things underneath, but he soon learned that he’d been busted, and he bolted–took off in a blue car with two other people. Albany Police quickly caught up with the car, which had been stolen in Eugene. A search of the car turned up methamphetamine. Justin Clifford, Crystallynn Medina, and Casey Lynn Morris were arrested for–among other things–car theft and drug possession.
OREGON REPUBLICANS TRY A MOVE TO THE CENTER
Oregon Republicans have decided to embrace an idea proposed by younger Republicans at the annual platform gathering in Bend. Their idea is to make the 2012 election about the economy and jobs–and back off from platform language that denounced same sex couples–even those in civil unions–as unfit parents. The idea was controversial, but it passed a floor vote by a thin majority after a lively debate. The Oregon GOP platform has now been stripped of its objections to civil unions, and same sex partners as parents. Republicans kept language in the platform that calls for limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
Dr. Seuss 2011
I do not like this Uncle Sam.
I do not like his health care scam.
I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books.
I do not like when Congress steals, I do not like their secret deals.
I do not like ex-speaker Nan, I do not like this ‘YES WE CAN’. …I do not like this spending spree, I’m smart, I know that nothing’s free.
I do not like their smug replies, when I complain about their lies. I do not like this kind of hope. I do not like it. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!!
Obama Quote
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America ‘s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America ‘s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, “the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
– Senator Barack Hussein Obama, March 2006
U OF O STUDENTS DROP DEAD
A group of University of Oregon students ‘dropped dead’ yesterday outside the EMU student union to protest rampant drug violence. The students picked Cinco de Mayo to make their point about what they called senseless gun violence by Mexican drug cartels–tens of thousands of victims, they said, in Mexico, South America, and the U.S. Their solution???? It’s not controlling the border better, or targeting cartel gunmen. They want people to call Congress and urge lawmakers to legalize any and all drugs that anyone wants to use any time–and de-fund the Drug Enforcement Administration. Meanwhile, the university administration is asking state legislators to approve bonding for two huge new projects on campus. They want to demolish the EMU student union and build a huge new one, and another student recreation-centered building that would have two swimming pools, and tons of space for student recreating and lounging. The U of O Vice President for Student Affairs says the 160 million dollar project is needed to make the campus ‘livlier’ for students.
BURGLAR CALLS 9-1-1–AFRAID OF HOMEOWNER!!
Once again, the Northwest makes national news for weirdness. As talked about on Rush and ABC News, Portland Police say a 24 year old man–Timothy Chapek–called 9-1-1 from inside a home he had broken into. Chapek told dispatchers–in a panic–that the homeowner had returned with two German Shepherd dogs–and the young burglar was worried that the homeowner might have a gun. He demanded immediate Police protection from the owner of the home he was illegally in. The homeowner also called 9-1-1 to say that a strange man was in his home, taking a shower, and had locked himself in the bathroom. Chapek was charged with tresspassing…..no word on if he had time to take anything.
New KFIR 720 AM Weekend Programming
Starting on Monday KFIR 720 AM will carry Coast to Coast Am all weekday morning from 12am to 6am.
OREGON TALL PINES???
Oregon has been known for tall firs. But two researchers say southern Oregon is home to the world’s tallest pine tree. It’s a ponderosa pine they measured at more than 268 feet tall. That would be the tallest pine tree of any type, anywhere. In fact, they say there are several shorter pines in the area that are still taller than the previously known tallest pine. The trees are in the Siskyou National Forest, near the Rogue River.
WHO’S THAT YOUR KIDS ARE LISTENING TO???
A Portland rapper honored in 2009 as the West Coast Hip-Hop ‘artist’ of the year has been given more than seven years in prison. Nathan Burke, who goes by ‘Kenny Mack’ on stage, pleaded guilty to being a felon in posession of a firearm. Police say Burke ran from a Portland tavern in a gang-infested area when they did a walk-through. Before they caught him, he ditched a .45-caliber handgun. He is a former Los Angeles-area Bloods gang member with several drug and weapons convictions–and several Hip-Hop albums popular with young Oregonians.
DON’T PHONE IN BOMB THREATS, BUT IF YOU DO……
Don’t use your own phone. Newport Police say a man phoned in a bomb threat Friday, saying he had placed a shrapnel device at City Hall. In another call, he said he would gas the Lincoln County Jail. Police went out looking for Wayne Beeberger, they say, because–apparently–he was using his own phone. Beeberger couldn’t be located Friday, and the threatening calls continued into Saturday. The calls stopped Saturday afternoon when officers located and arrested Beeberger.
“THIS IS ISLAM” PROF HOPEFUL GOES BACK TO CLASS
Barry Sommer, whose plans to teach a course on Islam at Lane Community College in Eugene were shot down by the college, is going to L.C.C. after all…as a student. Sommer says he’s going for a PhD in Education, starting–ironically–at L.C.C. He says he will still teach the class on Islam, at the Lane County Courthouse, Harris Hall, starting Monday, January 24th, in the evening, continuing through February 14th. Islamic lobbying groups that Sommer says are unindicted co-conspirators in terrorism cases objected to his views on them, and militant Islam, and were able to get the community college to cancel his proposed class.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW COMES TO THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY
You could be an antique star. The PBS series, ‘Antiques Roadshow’, is coming to Eugene on June 4th. The show will kick off the popular antiques appraisal show’s 16th season next Fall. The Eugene appearance will be the show’s first in Oregon outside of the Portland metro area. About three thousand people will be given two free tickets each to the taping, by a lottery system. Your deadline to apply online is April 18th. Details are at www.pbs.org.
BCS NIGHT IN EUGENE–PARTY OR RIOT??
It could be a big night for the Oregon Ducks this coming Monday night–and for the Eugene Police. Police say they’ve been planning for general rowdiness–and, at the worst–lawlessness. Eugene P.D. will have everyone available out in force looking for public drinking and partying, drunk drivers, and riotous revellers. They’ll be asking bars to use plastic cups that night and not serve bottles, to limit what potential rioters can throw at them—and each other. The U of O says a tame, official parade–during daylight hours–will be held after the big game–win or lose.
OREGON AG: NO CRIME IN CONTRACT SCANDAL
The Oregon Attorney General’s office has found no criminal wrongdoing by four employees of the state Energy Department in awarding a renewable energy contract to the girlfriend of incoming Governor John Kitzhaber, even though she was not one of the top competitors. Mark Long has joined three others in the department now on paid leave while a personnel investigation is done–to be completed after Kitzhaber takes office. Girlfriend Cylvia Hayes says she was not targeted by A.G. John Kroger, who is said to have future gubernatorial ambitions himself.
Total Lunar Eclipse Monday the 20th
Starting at 9:29pm and reaching totality 11:41 pm. Viewing after 11:41 pm will be optimal. 12:18 am is when the moon will be the dimmest
A total lunar eclipse is when the entire moon is completely inside the Earth’s shadow. Since the sun’s rays are bent by Earth’s atmosphere so that some still reach the moon, the moon is still visible in an eclipse
ESPN HAS ITS BIG HEAD BACK
Two former U of O students have been arrested for taking the oversized head of ESPN analyst Lee Corso from the Civil War football GameDay broadcast set. The missing mascot head was missing when ESPN went to leave town. Apparently, the young men who took the big guy had second, sober thoughts about the head heist, because the mega-mascot was left near the Harrisburg home of an OSU employee. Arrested in the head case were August Cuneo of Eugene and Alex Westerberg of Harrisburg. They were cited for Theft of a Big Head, and released.
GPS UNITS CAN LIE AND KILL YOU!
A Texas couple were rescued on the same snowy road in Southern Oregon where a San Francisco man died in 2006 when his family got stuck. That happened to the Kim family when they followed their GPS unit onto what became an impassable mountain road–Bear Camp Road. Josephine County deputies had to use a Sno-cat to get the Texas couple late last week because the snow on the road was too deep for four-wheel drive vehicles. The road runs from Grants Pass over the Coast Range to the coast. Deputies say when you use your GPS use GCS–Good Common Sense.
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