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Revision as of 10:01, 10 December 2010

News

Friday | December 10, 2010

TOTAL SHOCKER!! One Wall Street Bonus Check Diverted To Bail Out 5000 Delinquent Oregon Mortgage Obligees!
What will that unfortunate derivatives trader tell his or her family? What if your $100 million bonus check was suddenly snatched away from you just before Christmas and you were forced to make ends meet on nothing but your utterly inadequate seven figure salary!?! Can't those shiftless Oregon deadbeats just cower graciously in a tent city, abandoned sports stadium or squalid homeless shelter and stop grasping so greedily for the hard-earned gratuities that Wall Street traders, corporate executives and other captains of "free enterprise" so richly deserve?

Go to story: Oregon to Launch $100 Million Mortgage Assistance Initiative

Go to help page: Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative

Go to homeless shelter: Oregon Homeless Shelters: "With the recession in Oregon, many of these shelters now have waiting lists. Many waiting lists are very long."

Thursday | December 9, 2010

Interview: Public Servant & Bike Pusher
Elizabeth Trinh first became a part of the Holiday Bike Drive when she began signing up participants at the Housing Authority of Portland. Now she volunteers for the Community Cycling Center's Holiday Bike Drive, and translates bicycle safety materials into Vietnamese. Her efforts "have greatly enhanced" the organization's "ability to reach more families more effectively."

Go to story: Holiday Bike Drive Stories: Elizabeth Trinh, Community Partner and Volunteer Translator

Wednesday | December 8, 2010

Carefully Crafted Jobs Program For Imprisoned Spies Squashed By Authorities
Nathan Nicholson, the son of the highest ranking CIA officer ever to be sentenced for espionage, just wanted to help his imprisoned father reestablish his spying career. "Daddy spy"--Harold James "Jim" Nicholson--is currently serving a 283-month (23-year) sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Sheridan, Oregon after pleading guilty in 1997 to spying for Russia. The younger Nicholson--who pleaded guilty last year to helping his father restart his spying career--was sentenced Tuesday to probation and community service "for continuing his jailed father's espionage activities."
Go to stories:

Tuesday | December 7, 2010

Brain meltdowns. Courtesy the cell tower near you?

Will Cell Phone Microwaves Really Fry Your Brain?
Find out for yourself. You can participate in a cell tower follow-up meeting today:

Tuesday, December 7th from 7 to 8 at SE Uplift.

Location: 3534 SE Main St. (SE Main Street, between SE 35th Avenue & SE 36th Avenue), Portland, OR 97214.

This meeting will focus on getting organized and creating working groups around the many issues facing us when cell towers are placed in neighborhoods.

Go to stories:

Monday | December 6, 2010

Fuel Tax For Public Transit: Fund Robust Public Transit & Reduce Motor Vehicle Use
Unlike current funding schemes for public transportation, funding for road construction and maintenance doesn't rely on payroll taxes and high fares (the equivalent to road tolls). "Instead, the funding mechanisms for these come primarily from general fund sources (city/county property taxes), fees (construction assessments, license/registration fees), and fuel taxes--a kindasorta user fee..." Is there a better way? How would Portland benefit if riders had access to quality, frequent and fare-free public transportation?

Go to story: Rethinking transit: Funding and equity

Sunday | December 5, 2010

A New Low For Portland, But It's A Good One!
In 1993 the City of Portland became the first local government in the United States to adopt a plan to reduce carbon emissions. Last week Portland City Council received Year One Progress Report from the City of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability for Portland and Multnomah County's Climate Action Plan.

The report finds that Portland and Multnomah County have made substantial progress in carrying out the actions identified in the plan. Local emissions have dropped 15 percent since 2000, sharply countering the national trend. Despite rapid population growth, local greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 were two percent below 1990 levels, the baseline year referenced in the Kyoto Protocol. On a per-capita basis, emissions in Multnomah County have fallen by 20 percent since 1990.

Go to story: Portland Reduces Carbon Emissions, Bucking the National Trend

Go to Climate Action Plan: Portland Climate Action Plan "Portland Climate Action Now!"

Saturday | December 4, 2010

Boardman Buys Itself Another Decade
Oregon regulators are endorsing Portland General Electric's plan to close its coal-fired power plant at Boardman by Dec. 31, 2020. The state Department of Environmental Quality says Boardman's guaranteed "early closure date" lets it off the hook for investing in expensive new pollution controls. The Boardman plant opened in 1977.