Just days after Ben Westlund was sworn into office as state treasurer, we spent some time on the phone with the Tumalo resident and former state legislator to see how he was settling in and what he had up his sleeve for the days and years to come as one of the state's three constitutional officers. Westlund, the first Central Oregonian to hold the office of treasurer, had already hit the ground running by the time we talked to him and here's what he had to say about his staff, healthcare and his decision to transform himself from a Republican to an Independent to now a Democrat.
Mr. Westlund Goes Back to Salem: Catching up with Oregon’s new state treasurer
Posted inOpinion
An Arrogant Mayoral Selection
Being mayor of Bend is no big deal. Rather than being elected by popular vote, the mayor is chosen by a vote of his or her fellow city councilors. And the position is largely honorific; the mayor chairs city council meetings, but aside from that has no powers beyond those of any other councilor.
So the City of Bend most likely will survive the selection of Kathie Eckman as its new mayor. Just the same, the choice is disturbing both because of the way it was made and because of what it says about the temperament of the new council majority.
Eckman was elected last November, along with Jeff Eager and Tom Greene, as part of a slate of candidates heavily bankrolled by the real estate and development lobby. She was picked as mayor on the strength of those three votes plus that of Chris Telfer, who immediately waved good-bye to the council to take up her new job as a state senator.
Posted inOpinion
The City Shuffle Parsing the council appointment, our snow blog, and the virgin auction
As noted in this week's Boot former councilor and now state Sen. Chris Telfer (R) stuck around city hall just long enough to orchestrate the installation of her hand picked mayor, Kathie Eckman. After Eckman won on a "party line" vote over Mark Capell, Telfer packed her bags for Salem leaving the council to fill the two years remaining on her term.
And if the mayoral contest was any kind of litmus test, expect a divided council to narrowly appoint another person with strong ties to, or at least support from, the Bend Good Ol' Boys Club (i.e. the builders, realtors and Chamber lobby).
Upfront's money is on Don Leonard, a former planning commissioner who ran unsuccessfully in November against Jim Clinton. Leonard subsequently filed for the position opened by the sudden death of councilor and former mayor Bill Friedman. The council ultimately filled that seat with Jodie Barram, another planning commission vet, who lost a close contest to Jeff Eager in November.
Posted inCulture
Get Off My Lawn: Eastwood’s performance drives Gran Torino
I finish things. In Hollywood, there's following convention, defying convention, and
then there's Clint Eastwood, who created his own set of conventions,
and is now shredding them to pieces in the last decade of a career
spanning more than 50 years.
I'm required to say this whenever I
review an Eastwood film. That said, Gran Torino probably ranks in the
bottom half of Eastwood's past six or seven films, which is sort of
like saying Oprah isn't quite the richest woman in the world. And while
I've been tempted to conclude that his directorial outings fare better
without him in front of the camera, this film is Exhibit A in the case
to prove me wrong.
Posted inMusic
New for 2009
Our readers know that we've celebrated a recent surge in our local music scene in these pages over the past year or so and we'd like to assure these readers that things should remain strong in 2009. Our evidence, in case you were wondering, lies in the list of new local CDs that are slated for release this year.
Posted inMusic
One for the Vault
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Cardinology
Lost Highway Records
At 34 years old, Ryan Adams has achieved a good deal as a musician. From punk roots in a hot North Carolina music scene in the early '90's, he grew into an alt-country songwriter as a founding member of the renowned underground country band Whiskeytown.
Posted inMusic
Fighting the Winter Blues: Too Slim and the Taildraggers play blues for all seasons
Blues through the fisheye.Tim Langford has seen some of the wildest weather of his life in the
recent weeks. More than a foot of snow fell outside his downtown
Seattle home, which forced someone to abandon a city bus in front of
his house. Not long afterwards he was dealing with flooding from the
melting snow. And the road didn't offer any refuge for Langford, better
known as Too Slim, who had a large-scale Christmas show slated in
Spokane canceled before the holidays when some five feet of snow fell
on that city - which happens to be his hometown.
But with I-5
reopened and a freakish warming trend hitting the Northwest, all looks
good for Too Slim and the Taildraggers' show at the Domino Room on
Friday night. With the tumultuous weather behind him, Langford is
excited to get back on the stage - something he's been doing for much
of his life and more than 20 years alone with his current band.
Posted inCulture
Our Picks for the Week of 1/14-1/22
Too Slim & The Taildraggers
friday 16
Check out the sound
section for more on this longstanding Northwest band that is
self-described as "whiskey blues with a southern rock beer chaser." As
far as alcohol-based analogies go, this is pretty damn spot on. 9pm.
$14/advance, $16/door. Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave.
End of an Error
friday 16-tuesday 20
With
Obama's inauguration coming up (see writeup on this page) the last
thing many of us want to do is think about the past eight years. But
what this past administration has done is inspire a steady wave of
protest, which this display puts front and center with photos of
protests, a slideshow, protest signs and more. You can also swing by
the location on Tuesday for an inauguration watch party. Fri 7pm-12am,
Sat-Mon. 10am-10pm, Tues 8am. Old Mill Marketplace, 550 SW Industrial
Dr. (between Webcyclery and Curiosity Shop). Free.
Posted inNews
Mourning the Slow Death of Oregon Journalism
Kari Chisholm of the Blue Oregon blog laments this week about the increasingly sad state of Oregon journalism and the stampede of journalists into PR jobs with government and the private sector.