Current News You Can Use

  An open letter to Oregon’s Democrat Caucus                Oregon’s 23 Republican state Representatives have signed a statement castigating state Republican Party officials for passing a resolution condemning Congressional Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump and calling the attack on our federal Capitol Buildings a “false flag” operation.   They cannot take Oregon’s Republican Party leadership seriously any longer and should not support this or any political party with their membership.   Democrats should not feel thrilled about this.   There are many Democrats who have their own problems with the choices of their party, and more people than in either party who are so disgusted with the two major parties that they refuse to join either one.   A legislative supermajority invites extreme legislation that gets many people to vote against the party in power. Donald Trump has caused a lot of problems for our...

  An open letter to Oregon’s Republican Caucus             Oregon’s 23 Republican state Representatives have signed a statement castigating state Republican Party officials for passing a resolution condemning Congressional Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump and calling the attack on our federal Capitol Buildings a “false flag” operation.  You cannot take Oregon’s Republican Party leadership seriously any longer and should not support this or any political party with your membership.               It is time for all-non-partisan elections in Oregon.   Write a constitutional amendment to no longer allow party nominations and to take all party labels off all ballots for any office, from President on down.   Allow only the top two candidates from primary elections to move on to the general election.          ...

Once again, someone has asked me what my credentials are to argue about #TraceGasWarming theory. "What kind of advanced science degree do you have?" he asks. This is a question one gets from those who have no science degree and probably took few science classes. They take on faith whatever is said by "scientists," except when scientists run up against one of their prejudices, like GMOs or Roundup. This is the fallacy of arguing from authority, and I run into it also from spokespeople for the theory that trace gases are destroying our climate, when I challenge their science. The last one said that she believes what the climate scientists tell us, a common response. One of the most famous of these non-credentialed activists, Bill McKibben, told me, "Carbon dioxide is the difference between Venus and Mars!" That's a funny claim, considering that they both have around 96-97% CO2 in their atmospheres. Venus just happens to be a lot closer to the sun tha...

A Proposed Oregon Constitutional Amendment To be included in Article II, “Suffrage and Elections:” All-Non-Partisan Elections (1)    All elections within the State of Oregon shall be non-partisan, with no indication of political affiliation on the ballot. (2)    A candidate for any lucrative office shall be placed on the primary election ballot only after submitting a sufficient number of signatures of qualified electors.  (a)The number of nominating signatures for the primary election ballot shall be: a percentage of the total number of qualified electors for that office in the previous general election in which a Governor was elected to a full term; shall be set by the legislature; shall be uniform for all offices; and shall be not more than 0.1%. (3)    Only candidates who receive the highest and second-highest number of votes in the primary election for any office shall be placed on the general election ballot.  Nomination...

The old Rays on North 7th Street is perfect for this project I am Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener, and I have a dream: a no-frills hostel. Grants Pass will soon have a place for intoxicated people to sleep off their intoxication, thanks to Chief Landis and company.  A Medford non-profit is proposing to start a juvenile shelter here like they have in Medford.  Grace Roots, a Medically Assisted Treatment Center (MAT-C) for opiate addiction, is in the works, thanks largely to Nancy Yonally and the people she has gathered to help her.  We already have the Gospel Rescue Mission with its showers, meals and residential rehab, and Faith House, a shelter for battered women and their children.  The Salvation Army soup kitchen is another long-established feature in Grants Pass. Now we need a cheap place to shower and sleep for people who are not intoxicated, not juvenile, not seeking help for addictions, not battered, or for whom there is no room in other shelters....

Three-hour parking on 5th next to First Call Resolution Once again, Dale Matthews brings us useful news on the Bill Meyer Show on KMED.com.  We learned that, at the City Council’s January 11th workshop, the City of Grants Pass presented a plan to hand off downtown parking enforcement to a private company.  The main difference between this and our present parking code enforcement is that, if you are ticketed and want to contest the ticket, you have to pay the fine first and then appeal the verdict of the parking attendant.  You will be guilty until proven innocent in the name of “efficiency.” The company will collect its contract payment from parking violators and pay any collections over that to the City, on a monthly basis.  While the company says that cities never pay for enforcement, there is no guarantee that they will pay anything to the city. It turns out that separation of powers has long since taken a walk, not surprising in a city where the Mana...

This is a proposal for a no-frills hostel for those who just need a safe place to sleep and clean up: For perhaps $5 per person per night, the Center will provide: • A cot in a room full of cots: a dim, fairly quiet place to sleep, on a moment’s notice with no questions asked, and no searches; ·         Dog cages; • Ear plugs and eye masks available for purchase, as some light is necessary for security and people do snore; • A constant watch by camera and attendant on the belongings they carry in with them and store under their cots, and cameras elsewhere in common rooms for security; • Restrooms; • Separate shower facilities; • Coin-operated laundry machines to wash clothing and bedding and help fund the shelter; • A reading and dining room for food that people bring in, with a used book exchange and information on local services and employment listings. Rules: • Quiet. Do not bother the sleepers. • No exhib...