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The Wandering Eye has been trying to deconstruct Gordon Smith's second "furniture" ad - in particular, the profound politico/socio/economic significance of the word "credenza."
Bill Sizemore's Ballot Measure 59 would give the richest 1% of Oregonians an average tax break of over $15,000 a year while middle-income families would get the impressive sum of - are you ready for it? - two bucks.
Jeff Merkley, stung by Gordon Smith ads attacking him over the purchase of new furniture for state legislative offices, has hit back with a tough ad of his own linking the Republican senator to our $9 trillion national debt.
Denied tax exempt status, Mirror pond gallery faces closure. Nobody likes paying taxes, but when you're a small arts group with a federally recognized tax exempt status it probably stings just a little bit more - especially when the tax bill arrives to the tune of $28,000.
That's the case with Arts Central, Central Oregon's regional arts council, which was recently given an unprecedented bill for property taxes at its Mirror Pond Gallery and served notice that it could be on the hook for five years in back taxes.
It's a significant blow to Arts Central which has decided to close down the gallery in the next year, but it could have even larger ramifications for other arts groups and non-profits who count on retail sales from things like bake sales and thrift stores to support their charitable work.
"I can tell you for sure this is going to reverberate all over Oregon and all over the country," said Cate O'Hagan, Arts Central's executive director.
John Hummel had the life: A house in Bend. His own law firm. A seat on the city council. Lots of friends. But he wanted a change.
And change he got.
As a Project Manager for The Carter Center's Rule of Law Program in Liberia, Hummel is now working to develop a functioning justice system in a war-torn, economically-devastated West African country. He lives in Liberia's capitol, Monrovia. His house, which he shares with lizards and the occasional cockroach, is surrounded by a razor-wall fence. The area is so dangerous he doesn't walk outside at night. He rarely has power and never has hot water.
And he's got another problem: What to do with the chicken?
"I was invited by the Traditional Women of Liberia to come to their weekly meeting so they could officially welcome me to the country. They greeted me wearing their brightly colored traditional clothes, and sang, danced, and played music. They then presented me with a live chicken. I was honored. However, the chicken now lives in my yard," he wrote in a series of email correspondence. "I have no idea what to do with it."
Sound Check drove the dreaded 32 miles down to LaPine Friday night for
the R3 Festival and learned three very important things; Vengeance
Creek are Central Oregon's metal royalty, clever beat-boxing can steal
the show and you can three-person sandwich grind to metal.
As the
sun set on a triple-digit August night, band after band played to a
half-interested crowd switching between the two trailer truck stages.
The crowd grew as the sun descended and the local rap group Povciti
took the stage giving the crowd its promised dose of local rap and
properly woke them up. Sound Check learned from this set that you can
apparently find Povciti's Epic and H@ze in the Old Mill District and
that they're established local celebrities. Well, if they weren't local
celebrities before then they are now. The duo laid their underground
hip-hop routine on thick and brought the crowd to its feet with their
finale - a freestyle rap accompanied by master beat boxer Dain
Strothoff. The kid can beat-box like nobody's business to every kind of
beat imaginable and stole the show from right under the duo. Whoever
this kid is, Sound Check contemplated that he could give Person People
(keyword "could") a run for their money if accompanied by the right
freestyle artist. Maybe it was the possible heat stoke, but our thirty
bucks entrance fee was justified right then and there.
Mike Erickson, a Republican running for Congress in Oregon's 5th District over by Portland, is trying to defend himself against charges that a "humanitarian" trip he took to Cuba in 2004 was mostly a partying, sightseeing, cigar-smoking junket.
T.A. Barnhart of the BlueOregon blog made the daring voyage over the hill to Bend with The Bus Project last weekend to ring doorbells for state legislative candidate Judy Stiegler, and says he saw signs of encouragement for the Democrats: Tibetan prayer flags.
Republican Sen. Gordon Smith is out with another ad hitting Jeff Merkley for redecorating legislative offices - prompting a counterattack from Merkley accusing the Smith campaign of "hypocrisy" and a counter-counterattack from Smith's side accusing the Merkleyites of "flat-out lying."
Yawn … Bend and Central Oregon are the subject of yet another glossy puff piece, this one in the latest issue of World Golf magazine.
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