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This topic attempts to divert the public's attention from the real issue of klass distinction! You do not care if some lady's son gets pulled over for no reason as long as it is not your son!  The difference is the police and others with resources know how to navigate the system if it does happen to them.  But they do not get pulled over because their buddies always look the other way.  When you try to report them no one wants to take the report.  If the stars align and they do get caught they get a slap on the wrist.  Officer anderson in salem got a measly 3 months for raping three women on duty! The men and women who new about this crime and any other committed by sworn officials are men and women of no honor and should be stripped of their badge. 

     The nice sheltered people of this state have no one to blame but themselves for this mess.  They have been told for a long time the consequences of apathy and silence.  Now the goons are coming for them.

Victor Reppeto

Dallas, Or

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Take the money from public safety to fund Head Start and Oregon Family Support Network for all families willing to participate.

posted 3 years, 9 months ago
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   Since tilling does not always work and pesticides are so agregious what are the other alternatives? Come up with valid, cost effective alternatives which are environmentally friendly and the field burning will stop.  Emulating natural burning of weeds, pests and undergrowth needs to be expanded to our forests.  Removing the straw or undergrowth removes nutrients that are returned to the soil after a burn.

     I put up with wood smoke 9 months out of the year because wood stoves are so predominant in rural Polk county.  But those wood stoves were there before I was born here.  Telling all these people they need get rid of their wood stoves seems pretty arrogant to me.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I am only 42 but I hop some day it is safe for my grandchildren to harvest trout and bass from the wilamette river.  I swam in this river as a child but I do not let my kids do more than wade in it.  The toxic mixing zones allowed by state leaders and the raw sewage dumped frequently by Salem and other municipalites make me feel shame for my generation and others.  We are leaving a mess our children will have to clean up.

    I want to thank Travis Williams, OSPIRG and others who have worked so hard to address these issues.

Victor Reppeto

Dallas, Or

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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It is a fact well known among economists that a sales tax is regressive as opposed to regressive.  It effects the income of the working class much more because there are no tax deductions.  Five percent of a $700.00 SSI check is much more of a burden than five percent of $100K of income.

     That does not mean it would be bad for Oregon or for the less affluent.  It is just very important to understand this concept before deciding which way to vote.

     Personally I will not vote for a sales tax because it would shift the balance of power more towards the ruling class.  More people go to jail in the US than any other country and Oregon leads the pack.  The war against Meth is being lost because treatment and parenting classes and pre-K education are taking a back seat to punitive action and incarceration.  We have lost thousands of volunteers in Oregon due to Peter Courtney's abuse of the back ground check requirement. 

     Until government proves they have the skills to spend the money appropriately I will not vote for a sales tax.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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     The caller Carl is right about motivation parental involvement being key.  But the public school system does need significant innovation and change.  Old school teaching and parenting has a lot to learn from the latest research on behaviour and mental health.  

     Children do not fail to learn when they drop out of school. They are doing exactly what they have been taught by parents and teachers.  Parents and teachers fail when children drop out because they have failed to seek and find a teaching method that reaches that child.

     Proactive, reasearch based approches such as "collaborative problem solving" and "Second Steps" can be integrated into lesson plans by giving children choices in the way they learn a particular lesson.  Maybe it is ok for johnny to sit at his desk and doodle while he listens in on the group discussion of the book that has been read in class instead of sitting on the rug with the rest of the students. 

     I hear a lot of these skill sets reflected in the comments of guests on the show today.  However they are avoid saying quite bluntly that many if not most teachers will be offended by the expectation that they relinquish their "plan A" control of their classrooms to a "plan B" collaboration with their students and parents to discover a teaching/learning method that works.

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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If we want to save money we should put more money into background checks for volunteers.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers have been lost since this requirement was instituted.  Volunteers are turned away because the process is cut short as soon as any incidental reason is found to do so.  People who have been through hard times and discovered the tools to cope are ideal for teaching others how to recover or avoid pitfalls yet the system weeds these individuals out quite efficiently. For every dollar spent on prevention seven dollars are saved in ten to twenty years on remedial services such as special education and corrections and incarceration and the volunteer hours being turned away by DHS is in the millions.  Hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted.

posted 4 years, 4 months ago
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I would like to see a discussion of the War on Meth. I called in to ask what was on Kurt Schrader's political radar. (Schrader replaced Hooley.) I wanted to know what his position was on funding Head Start and allowing Head Start to delegate funds for parenting classes for it's consumers. This practice is not allowed under the current administration and hamstrings our efforts to battle the Meth epidemic. Prevention is the most neglected of a three prong attack on the Meth epidemic. Even in the best of neighborhoods families are no longer safe from the symptoms of this epidemic such as violence and property crime.
Regardless of my own views, what resources and strategies will be allocated to this state wide concern?

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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A top priority should the battle against meth. The weakest link in this battle is prevention. Gov Tom McCall proposed parenting classes for all high school students, though this may be prohibitive.
We could allow Head Start programs to allocate funds to offer parenting classes to their families. Would Senator elect Merkely Support this?
What are his intentions regarding Head Start funding and other tools for battling meth?

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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I am 40 plus years old. I am trained as a computer technician. My wife and I own real estate and I am a landlord. Two of my three children are special needs and I am a stay at home dad and a family advocate.
I have achieved this success in spite of multiple disabilities. PTSD from severe child abuse, loss of a leg as a teen ager, and autism/ADD.
The system treated my physical disabilities but instead of treating my mental issues they saw fit to throw me in jail several times which has lead to my 4th disability ... a criminal record.
According to measure 61 I should have also done 3 years in prison. Measure 57 still provides for very little mental health treatment that would reduce the symptom of substance abuse.
Accountability is not subjecting ones self to the violence of incarceration but learning from one's mistakes and taking corrective action.
Until mental health needs are addressed, until evidence based parenting methods are provided free of charge among other preventative measures, until poverty is addressed with decent health care; the proponents of these measures are avoiding accountability for the community as a whole and resorting to violence.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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There are many concerns about Special Ed programs in Oregon. One concern that I find very significant is a lack of standardized training not only for teachers and providers but also for parents. I want to talk about solutions. State of Oregon Addiction and Metal Health Services (AMH) is putting significant funding behind an Evidence Based Practice (EBP) called Collaborative Problem Solving. More Information can be found at http://www.explosivechild.com/ . This approach is detailed well in a book called "The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene Ph.D. This skill set applies to all students as opposed to just those with special needs. Parents can join other parents in learning to teach these skills by contacting Oregon Family Support Network. More info is available at www.ofsn.org.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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