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Listening to the show.  The current corridor, the Union Pacific corridor, was designated 20 years ago by the federal government as the Pacific Northwest Corridor.  Oregon DOT, on its own, initiated the idea of moving the corridor to the Oregon Electric line.  As a correction, the line through Lake Oswego is not the Red Electric, or Oregon Electric line.  It is the Tillamook Line, originally own by Southern Pacific, now by Union Pacific, and leased by a short line, the Willamette Pacific Railroad, also called the Portland and Western.  The Tillamook line crosses the OE in Tualatin, but there is no physical connection.   The OE has any number of fatal flaws.

 ODOT's decision to move the alighnment is a major reason that the state got so little money because it now must do a costly, wasteful study, which will put the state even further behind the rest of the country in improving passenger rail.  The UP alignment has the capacity, with investment, to handle both passenger and freight growth for many years to come.

posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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Much of what Mr. Smith says is true, but with a few comments.  Genuine HSR, meaning speeds of 200 mph, is meant for distances of at least 200 miles between stops.  The PNW Corridor is viable only if trains stop at cites like Albany, Salem, Centralia and Olympia.  We can have a excellent rail system, partnering with the freight railroads, by investing in capacity improvements, and technology in the existing system, that would allow for increased frequency, solid reliability and faster trains, and for far less public money than building an entirely new system.

There are places where genuine HSR makes sense, but perhaps not here.  We  need to invest in a common sense system and sooner rather than later.  The public needs to understand what the choices are, but right now there is a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding about rail generally. 

All of the track, by the way, on the BNSF and UPRR, is already continously welded rail, although the roadbeds do need work.  A more important issue for HSR is that the right of way must be completely separated from road crossings and sealed from public access.  That is both costly and controversial.

We can develop a very good rail system within the next five years, if the departments of transportation, and the public are committed to a balanced tranpostation system.  Focusing on a hugely expensive system that serves only a few communities will not be successful and will only insure that we remain captive to the highway system.

posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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In Washington, it is the parents who decide whether a child is educated in the local district, or sent to their School for the Blind.  If Oregon had the same law, far more children would be attending OSB.  Few districts in Oregon can afford to provide the same compliment of specialized instructers who work at OSB.  OSB offers a location that allows students to become independent, cross streets, ride public transit, shop, and generally get around.  This will not  happen in most districts in the state.  In truth, mainstreaming is not working for many children with disabilities, but that is not something the Legislature wants to know.

Of note, OSB is adjacent to Salem's premier historic district and fits in perfectly.  Whatever would replace it, if an entity were to spend several million dollars, will destroy the historic quality of the district, but that has been of little concern to the Portland liberal crowd.

Rep. Gelser did not start this effort.  Supt. Castillo began pushing to close the school and sell the property over five years ago.  Most suspect that it has little to do with the quality of education for the children, and everything to do with a land grab.

posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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Sustainable Auto Industry is by any definition an oxymoron. Electric cars may reduce the use of fossil fuels, but in such a limited degree that it will not matter. The bigger issue needs to be a discussion about sustainable transportation, and highways are the least sustainable, economically and environmentally, of any transportation infrastructure. Electric cars, which will not pay gas taxes, will not reduce congestion, improve safety, or reduce the need for the hugely expensive highway system. More importantly, electric cars do nothing to reduce the huge fuel consumption of big trucks. Unfortunately, we have an economy that depends heavily on road construction--rather than construction of schools, parks , hospitals or other things we really need. Note that the Governor may be talking about "green cars," but he plans to put even more money into our obsolete highway system.
The real reason that the federal government has not pushed for more efficient autos is because the federal government, just like Oregon, depends on gas taxes to pay for highways. More efficient cars mean less money for highways, but as along as we all think we have to drive our own cars, rather than investing in public transportation and moving freight more efficiently, we will still need roads, and don't forget, asphalt is a petroleum product.

posted 4 years, 5 months ago
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In the 18th Century the citizen press was critical to the revolutionary efforts of American Patriots. They were called Pampleteers, and they were a key component to creating a Democracy. Local governments frequently push the envelop when it comes to executive sessions, and with less competition in the media, either reporters don't show up or become co-conspirators in keeping information from the public. Bloggers will keep everyone honest.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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We recently visited the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. Our guide turned out to be the Alabama State Historian, a retired Air Force Officer who had flown many missions over Viet Nam. He was so obviously proud of his state and his country. He is also a Black man who at the age of 19 had walked with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery. As he pointed out, with equal pride, the star on the steps of the Capitol where Jefferson Davis had stood, and the Dexter Street Baptist Church just down the street, where King had preached, I was struck by his patriotism. Our quest for liberty is on-going, and this man was as much of a patriot when he marched with King as when he served in the Air Force.

posted 4 years, 10 months ago
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There is no evidence that states with annual legislative sessions have better government; in fact, in some cases quite the opposite. Annual sessions will destroy our citizen legislature which keeps Oregon politics cleaner than states with full time politicians. The one issue that could have been a justified emergency, the mortgage crisis, died in the Senate--let's see who gets the campaign contributions from the mortgage industry. The much touted funding for State Police won't go into effect until near the end of the 2009 session, but you can bet it will end up in every campaign brochure. The Legislature's job is to set long term policies, not micro-manage the Executive and Judicial Branches.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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