The Strange Development in Troutdale

There is a 12 acre undeveloped parcel in Troutdale that the city wants to make into something since it's just adjacent to the Sandy River and could be very attractive, but there's a problem.  According to an article in The Oregonian the property:

holds remnants of a former sewage plant and thousands of buried sheep bodies...  

But rest assured, the city has a buyer who plans to transform it into:

a destination hotel, spa, convention center and bicyclist mecca on the banks of the Sandy River.

The company dug a test pit and found that after a half century or more underground, the animal remains have formed a gelatinous goo under a thick layer of dirt, Wand said.

The material isn't toxic, Wand said. But he added: "You don't want to build over jiggly stuff that might not support a parking lot or building foundation."

The company hopes to remove the remains this October, before the rainiest weather complicates the work but during the windy season, which they hope will make what's expected to be a smelly excavation more tolerable for surrounding residents and businesses.

I couldn't even hope to make this stuff up, sounds like Love Canal West.  Are you serious that 50 year-old sheep jello buried underground along with a former sewage site isn't toxic? I think I'll take my next vacation somewhere else.  Good luck folks on that smell.

 

 

Jeff Merkley Needs to Explain his Out Of State Campaign Expenditures

The new local online news organization Golocalpdx.com has published an analysis of campaign expenditures made by Jeff Merkley and found 78% of his money is spent outside Oregon, which blew my mind.  Furthermore, his campaign has stonewalled the news organization and:

"refused to answer any questions regarding his out-of-Oregon spending and refused to answer questions about his or his consultants' relationships/ownership with any of the companies receiving millions of dollars of campaign accounts."

 I await an explanation of this revelation, and I hope other local media picks the story up too.

Oregon Should Put Limits on Drones

I'll send an email to my Oregon State Representatives suggesting Oregon should follow up on California's initiative in limiting Drone use in Law Enforcement.  I think it would "fly" here too.  If only we could do the same with Automated License Plate Tracking.

Oregon Political Attack Ads and Dark Money

The outside Koch brothers have targeted Senator Jeff Merkley and are running attack ads in Oregon.  They launched an estimated $3.6 million television campaign of 30 second ads, courtesy of a Koch controlled group called freedompartners which is pouring money into the election.  The Oregonian Politifact page has of course rated the ad as false.

And what about the organization?  On its membership page, it has this to say, not very enlightening.

With more than 200 engaged members, Freedom Partners is a chamber of commerce that advances its members’ interest in promoting the principles of a free market and a free society.

The board of Directors of the organization is tied closely to Koch, as an example.  "Dr. Richard Fink is an executive vice president and member of the board of directors of Koch Industries, Inc.  Additionally, Rich is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, which provides legal, government, philanthropy, and community relations services to Koch companies.  Rich also serves as the president of the Charles G. Koch Foundation, and a director of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.  Rich earned his PhD from New York University and M.A. from UCLA.  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in economics from Rutgers University."

More to come I'm sure

Oregon Resists Gilead Predatory Pricing on Solvaldi

Oregon is considering restricting Medicaid reimbursement for hepatitis C drug Sovaldi treatments because of the predatory pricing established by Gilead Pharmaceuticals which puts the price of a single pill at $1,000 or about $84,000 for a patient on a standard, 12-week treatment schedule.

The state can't afford to treat every patient given the way Gilead has priced its treatment.  The thought in Oregon is to only treat the sickest with the drug and wait for other competitors to offer alternatives and drive the price down through competition.

Ron Wyden is investigating the pricing of the drug as well as payments to research studies lauding the drugs' effectiveness, which OHSU found to be seriously biased and flawed.  That raises the question of whether or not Gilead gamed the research process to justify their high price.

Blueberry Extortion Ruled Illegal

The US Department of Labor investigates minimum wage violations, and rightly so, but they have a tool called the "Hot Goods Order" which they used in 2012 against three Oregon Blueberry farm operations.  The tool was employed in the 1930's to shut down garment sweat shops, but it is a deadly weapon when used on perishable crops, and a federal judge agreed it was overreach in those circumstances in a suit brought by Pan-American Berry Growers and B&G Ditchen.

Attorney Tim Bernaseck represents both companies. He says his clients were faced with a choice: admit guilt, waive their right to an appeal and pay more than $200,000 in fines and back wages or let millions of dollars worth of berries rot.
Bernaseck said, “I mean it’s really unbelievable that they did this and thought that it was ok to do that. It’s just not the way that our government works, or should work. And we’re just thankful that the judge called them on it.”
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Coffin wrote the orders unfairly stacked the deck against the farms. The department did not respond to a request for comment. The government has 14 days to appeal.

Oregons' congressmen and State officials also blasted the DOL choice of enforcement.

A retired federal Wage and Hour Division investigator who reviewed two of the cases for an attorney representing the farmers said the agency's action was hasty and alarmingly incomplete.

"They put a noose around the neck of these farmers right off. That is not what Wage and Hour is about," said Manuel Lopez of Eugene, who was a labor investigator for 27 years.

Oregon officials are furious. The state's labor commissioner, agriculture director and most of the state's congressional delegation asked the labor department to explain its action.

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian was the most direct. In an Aug. 15 letter to the federal agency, he said seizing perishable crops probably violates the constitutional search and seizure and due process rights of farmers "who have yet to be found guilty of anything."  In an Aug. 17 letter, the congressional delegation said the federal Department of Labor "may have abandoned normal due process mechanisms." Use of a "hot goods" order is reserved for cases in which farm labor violations are "willful, egregious and/or repeated," the letter said.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley signed the letter, as did representatives Kurt Schrader, Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden and Suzanne Bonamici.

Intel Says "Me Too" to Nike Oregon Tax Break

The largest private employer in Oregon with about 16,000 employees, Intel says they'd like the same sweet tax deal Oregon gave to Nike, a 30 year guarantee that their income tax basis won't change from the so-called "single sales factor" tax that only taxes sales in the state of Oregon.  Intel will allegedly create 500 new jobs to earn the break, but those jobs were probably already coming to Oregon, so it was just a favor to keep Intel happy at the expense of all Oregon citizens who will either make up the shortfall or have services cut.  These 30 year tax guarantees will lead to more demands down the road.

Intel already receives tax breaks well in excess of what any other Oregon business enjoys. Its current SIP tax breaks exempt up to $25 billion in Intel equipment from the property taxes that other businesses pay. SIP tax breaks have saved Intel more than $500 million since 2001, according to Washington County officials.   "We have no idea what's going to happen in the world in the next 30 years and it's silly for the state to think that it should sign 30-year agreements with any business," said Jody Wiser of Tax Fairness Oregon. "We shouldn't be tying future legislators hands forever. That's irresponsible."

Curry County Defeats Law Enforcement Levy

Curry County may go down in history as the first bankrupt county in Oregon, possibly by next June.  The citizens defeated a law-enforcement levy, one of 4 levies on the ballot yesterday.  They did approve a hospital bond levy and a Port Orford police levy, but shot down the law enforcement and a levy. to fund a new fire truck in Gold Beach.  The county landed a $1 million Federal Funds windfall thanks to Ron Wyden, but even with that their projected deficit is at $2 million.
The county commissioners had this to say.

Curry County Commissioner chair David Brock Smith plans to open conversations with Gov. John Kitzhaber regarding the economic status of the county after the failure of Measure 8-73 at the ballot boxes yesterday.

“The whole thing went down in flames,” he said, after a long pause. “I understand the hard economic times we’re in, that it’s difficult for citizens to look at their pocketbook and have to write out that extra check. …”

The county has enough money to fund its existing services — already basically cut in half this past year — until June 30.

Of note is that the county is down to four sheriff’s deputies, leaving most of the county without coverage during some parts of the day.

“As unfortunate as it is, we must begin conversations with the governor’s office on what those minimum adequate levels of public safety are, Smith said. “We must keep some level of civility in terms of public safety. We must keep the jail open, we must be able to keep the DA’s office whole so we can prosecute crimes other than just Measure 11 crimes.

“We must keep the juvenile department solid so we can give them the resources to preempt youth from becoming adult criminals. That’s a core service within the county, if not the core service.”

Commissioner David Itzen said he understands why voters rejected the measure, especially with three other tax questions on the ballot.

“They just couldn’t find it within their budget to make the necessary changes,” he said. “I guess we’ll need to do something again.”

That “something,” Itzen said, will likely be another question on the May ballot.

A few days on the Oregon Coast

I can't get enough of the beautiful Oregon Coast, and Yachats is one of my favorites, too bad it's a fair drive from Portland, so not good for an overnight trip, but spend a few days there and you will be at peace with yourself.  Take a walk along the dramatic rocks 50 feet from your room at the Fireside Motel, go into Yachats and enjoy the friendly feel of the town, drive to Waldport and have a fantastic helping of fish & chips at the Lazy Dayz Cafe, and drive up the Yachats River road to spectacular viewpoints in the hills.
See pictures Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

Oregon, Neurotic Extroverts in Short Supply

Oregon is officially a laid back agreeable creative openness State, according to an article published in a Time.com Science Page, which quotes a personality study of over a million people conducted by a multinational team of researchers led by psychologist and American expat Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in the U.K.  I took the snap personality test and they recommended I move to Oklahoma.  It might be interesting to take the test, then ask your closest companion to rate your personality and see how closely your answers are to your companions'. 

States were graded on 5 personality traits, and Oregon scored above the national average on Agreeableness and Openness, so maybe Portlandia isn't so far off the mark.  Sanity was not a factor although Neuroticism was, and we're ranked low on that one.  Take the test.

Tea Party Club For Growth Wants Greg Walden Out

Oregons' only GOP Representative has been targeted by the Tea Party Club for Growth in the GOP primary according to Oregonlive.com, they potentially could be backing Klamath County Chairman Dennis Linthicum against Walden.

Walden, who was first elected in 1998, has been well-entrenched in his vast district and has had little serious competition since -- particularly in the Republican primary.  He is in the House leadership by virtue of his chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which oversees the House GOP campaign effort.
But earlier this year, the Club for Growth -- a conservative group that often spends heavily in Republican races -- put Walden on its "Primary My Congressman" list of GOP members the group thinks should be ousted.
The immediate cause of the group's unhappiness was Walden's opposition to a proposal by President Barack Obama -- and supported by several Republican leaders -- to adopt smaller cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients.  The group cited that, as well as several of his votes, as examples of a "long record of supporting increases in government spending and opposing fiscally conservative proposals."

Linthicum said he thinks he can win support from grassroots groups, particularly those involved in the Tea Party movement.  "I think the Tea Party individuals...are clearly in my camp," he said.
Linthicum recently took credit for Walden's vote against the budget deal that ended the shutdown, saying that he too would would have opposed the deal because it did not provide major spending reductions.
Walden has said he opposed the deal because it "kicks the can down the road" without providing a solution.  It marked one of the rare times that Walden had parted ways with House Speaker John Boehner on a major fiscal issue.

Cover Oregon Still Not Functional

First target date of Oct 1 2013 was missed, then the second date Oct 15, 2013 flew by as well, and now they are hoping to be up by the end of October.  The vendor, Oracle Corp is struggling, and may get dinged financially for failing to get the program on track according to Rocky King, the director appointed by John Kitzhaber.

"The product has not been at a quality level that has not been satisfactory to me and they (Oracle) know that," King said, adding that the testing happened so late that the exchange was unaware of the extent of problems.
He says the state has not yet decided whether to withhold contractual payments to Oracle in light of the delays. "I have not been in the mode of pointing fingers, I have been in the mode of getting this up and running," he said.
Documents also show that officials were over-optimistic. According to an application for more grant money in March 2012, Oregon had earlier underestimated its needs.

I hope they do get on track soon or it will be judged a train wreck.  My sympathies to Rocky, he sounds like a good administrator working through a gnarly project.

Oregon Corporate Welfare System

How much do we pay corporations just to stay here?  The information is fragmented all over the place, but the NY Times has pulled it all together and listed the names of the top recipients of corporate welfare over the entire US, broken down by State.  By national standards Oregon is a middle of the road corporate welfare state, spending only $850 Million a year or $226 per capita yearly.  That is $226 for every person in the State, every year, and that doesn't even include the tax breaks we gave to Nike last year, the top name on the list is Intel.

Nationally the NY Times estimates $80 Billion a year is given to corporations, which works out to about $256 bucks a year for everybody, babies and retired included.  Corporations know how to play the system for free handouts, and they do it every day with the cities and States begging them to relocate.

Coveroregon "We are testing up until the very last minute"

It is October 1 and Coveroregon is supposed to be ready to enroll people in the Exchange created by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), but the people running the show are saying the system is not quite ready yet.  In an article at Oregonlive.com the agency said that thy are still having problems computing the actual premiums that people will pay given all the factors that go into tax credits and the Healthy Kids programs.  It sounds like another month of development is needed before they overcome this.

But Oregon's exchange is still fixing an array of glitches that make data on the site untrustworthy, much like other states are doing. Initially coveroregon.com will be for browsing only, and may not be fully operational until November, officials say. Individuals and small businesses were supposed to be able to immediately use certified agents or application "assisters" to enroll until the site is ready for the public, hopefully by the second half of October.
Agents, however, won't have full use of the site on Tuesday as was planned, they learned Monday. Instead, they'll be asked to not fully enroll anyone. The problem is the site is still not providing accurate information on whether enrollees qualify for government assistance such as tax credits or Healthy Kids. Until that is fixed, agents are being asked to enter and save client information, but not check on eligibility for assistance.
Rocky King, executive director of Cover Oregon said he hopes that the problem will be fixed by the coming weekend, but he doesn't want people being improperly denied help. "I will not go out with something until I am satisfied that this is correct," he said.
He said Cover Oregon's instruction to stop scheduling clients was intended as a suggestion to agents. Consumers can still shop for insurance through agents, but those agents won't yet have the ability to use the Cover Oregon website to qualify for tax credits and enroll.

Oregon Official Site for Health Insurance

After Oct 1 the official Oregon Health Care site will be open to enroll.  It is coveroregon.com.  Health Insurance under this program will be effective starting Jan 1, 2014.  If you already have health coverage through your employer, you don't have to do anything.  For seniors on medicare nothing is changed, medicare continues as before.

Oregon Recession 5 Years Later

If things feel bad it's because they are, and while some things get better for a small percentage, they're not getting better for most.  A study published last June by the Oregon Employment Department detailed the employment situation in Oregon, not much good news there.  Note: The labor force participation rate is the percentage of working-age people who are actually employed or actively looking for work. 

•Oregon’s labor force participation rate is at its lowest level since records began in 1976.

•Oregon’s labor force participation rate peaked at 68.9 percent in 1998 and declined to

63.4 percent in 2012.

•The aging of Oregon’s population explains roughly half of the decline in Oregon’s labor

force participation rate since 2000.

•Sharp declines in the labor force participation rates of Oregon’s youth and young adults

(ages 16 to 24) account for more than one-quarter of the decline in Oregon’s labor force

participation rate since 2000.

Another State Employment Study published Sept 24, 2013 concluded,

Job growth is expected to accelerate over the next two years, with the state expected to fully regain the nearly 150,000 jobs lost during the Great Recession by early 2015 - nearly six years after hitting bottom.

This is grim news for people under 55, things will probably not get better any time soon.

•Oregon’s older population (ages 55 and above) is the only age group projected to have a

growing labor force participation rate through 2020.

•Even though labor force participation rates for Oregon’s older population are increasing,

this age group still has lower participation rates than the prime working age group (ages

25 to 54). Therefore, as the older age group makes up a larger share of the population,

Oregon’s overall labor force participation rate will fall.

•Labor force participation rates among Oregon’s youth and young adults (ages 16 to 24)

and prime working age group (ages 25 to 54) are projected to decline through 2020.

The sharpest decline will occur among Oregon’s teenage population.

•Oregon’s labor force participation rate ranks 31st highest among the 50 states.

•Across Oregon’s counties there is a fairly strong correlation between high unemployment rates and low labor force participation rates. In addition, many counties with high unemployment rates are rural counties that also have older populations. Both of these factors – high unemployment and an older population – contribute to lower labor force participation rates.

On-Line Evil Marketing

A scam marketing organization, Best Brand Values, was selling goods online, but in the checkout process if the buyer pushed a blinking "Free Shipping" button, they were secretly enrolled in a "shopping club" run by the scammers and automatically billed $10 - $20 / month.  I have had a similar thing happen to me and I know how frustrating it is to deal with thieves like them.

The Oregon DOJ finally caught up with them and put a stop to it.

“It’s wrong and they’re taking advantage of people, often taking advantage of elderly people, and it’s evil,” said Jeff Manning, with the state Attorney General’s office.
As part of the Oregon settlement, he says, the company has agreed to change its websites to more clearly warn consumers about membership fees.  And it will pay $300,000 to a Justice Department consumer protection fund.
Iowa and Florida reached similar settlements with Best Brand Values.

Portland takes the Number 1 Spot. In Pollution?

The story hit the front page of the Oregonian on Monday, Aug. 26 2013 that Precision Castparts was designated the number one toxic air polluter in the nation, based on a report issued by the Political Economy Research Institute, an independent research organization affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The ranking combines measures of pounds released with toxicity of pollutants and population exposure to yield a score for each company. One-third of Precision's score comes from three Portland-area factories that emit cobalt and cobalt compounds. Acute exposure to high levels of cobalt, a natural element found throughout the environment, results in respiratory effects, such as a significant decrease in ventilatory function, congestion, edema and hemorrhage of the lung, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ranked solely on pounds of pollutants released in 2010, Precision drops low in the list of the nation's top 100 air polluters. But an author of the University of Massachusetts study says the company's high score raises questions that members of the public should ask companies and regulators. "I would be concerned if I were downwind from the company that comes up at the top of this list," said Michael Ash, a UMass professor of economics and public policy.

In a follow-up story Precision disputed the number 1 ranking as "Deeply Flawed". based on incorrect assumptions in the underlying EPA data.

Precision ranked No. 1 despite a relatively low volume of emissions because of its plants' proximity to population centers and reportedly higher toxicity. One-third of Precision's pollutant score came from Portland-area plants that emit cobalt and cobalt compound.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality confirmed Thursday that Precision is in compliance with its emissions permits and hasn't been the target of an enforcement action in at least a decade.

Michael Ash, a UMass professor of economics and public policy and one of the researchers behind the rankings, said Thursday their report isn't intended to be a risk assessment tool.
"We think we've used the data in an appropriate way, as a screening tool to engender public understanding and dialogue over potential health risks from industrial toxic emissions," Ash said.

You may come to your own conclusions if you happen to live in Portland near one of their plants.

Bad Fire Year in the West

As the month of August wraps up, the Oregon fire season has finally started to wane. having scorched about 100,000 acres.  The Southern Oregon fires are predicted to be fully contained by Labor Day, and the fire near the Dalles is now the first priority. 

In Idaho, Ron Wyden was at the fire command center in Boise, discussing the failure of forest thinning to prevent big fires.

But a decade of aggressive thinning and prescribed burning projects widely supported by the Western Governors’ Association and pushed by the Bush administration — and even many environmental groups — has not reduced the size or intensity of wildfires across the West.
Critics say Congress is to blame because it has cut funding for thinning and logging since timber harvest levels dropped in the 1990s.
Risch stood up Tuesday at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise with Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo and Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, who all said they will make fuel-reduction projects a priority in Congress this fall.
“The fires that are ripping their way through Oregon, Idaho, California and much of the West are proof that the federal government’s policies for fire prevention are broken,” Wyden said.
Simpson said the Forest Service isn’t to blame when Congress doesn’t provide enough money for firefighting, forcing the agency to take money from fire prevention and other programs.
Earlier this year, the Senate stripped out $97 million of fire-suppression funds that had been added by Idaho’s Simpson, chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. The budget bill passed without the fire money.
“You’ve got to quit stealing money from other accounts,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/25/2724601/flame-act-fails-to-curb-fires.html#storylink=cpy

A U.S. Department of Agriculture report predicts that the acreage burned by wildfires will double by 2050 to about 20 million acres annually. Another USDA report predicts that for every 1.8-degree temperature increase the earth experiences — expected by 2050 — the area burned in the West could quadruple.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/25/2724601/flame-act-fails-to-curb-fires.html#storylink=cpy

 Meanwhile the Yosemite fire in California is only 7 percent contained and the governor has declared a State Emergency.  Over 2,800 firefighters are trying to get it under control.

 The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has added six new large fires to its list, two in California and one each in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Texas. The fire center reports that there now are 43 active large fires across the West covering more than 850,000 acres.

Oregon Burning

Fires in Oregon are being created as fast as firefighters can contain them.  Most are in Southern Oregon, but newer ones are also springing up in Eastern Oregon.  The Oregonian is reporting over a thousand lightning strikes in a 24 hour period, alongside the huge fires in Southern Oregon that have been burning over a week.

Elsewhere, firefighters are battling four big complexes in southern Oregon, one large fire in central Oregon and two big fires in Washington.
The biggest concern is the Douglas complex north of Glendale, which has scorched nearly 43,000 acres. About 470 homes and 40 commercial buildings are under some form of evacuation alert. The fire has destroyed two commercial properties and two other buildings, Mills said. But no homes have been burned.
The Douglas complex is 28 percent contained.

The air quality in Southern Oregon has hit hazardous levels, with little relief in sight.

Smoke from wildfires burning across the state prompted the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Thursday to warn residents about risks associated with increasingly poor air quality.