Glass Slipper

Thanks to an impassioned and impressive effort by the staff of Economic Development of Central Oregon, on June 12, American Airlines is slated to begin air service from Redmond direct to LAX. In under two weeks, the Economic Development of Central Oregon, a public/private partnership devoted to building business in the region, managed to raise […]

Last week, conservative Ohio Senator Rob Portman reversed his stance to favor gay marriage. The reason: His son is gay. On Monday, the New York Times profiled a cousin of Chief Justice John Roberts who is gay and planned to attend this week’s historic oral arguments at the Supreme Court about same-sex marriage. Of course, […]

A taxpayer advocate may have just saved Deschutes County taxpayers $2.5 million. Neither an elected official nor a court-appointed auditor, Larry Fulkerson wields the everyday power of engaged citizenship. This wakeful watchdog spotted a suspicious anomaly and barked until it got the attention it deserved. When 911 district Director Rob Poirier asked the county commission […]

Oregon legislators considering changes to the Public Employee Retirement System face a moral dilemma. Economic events have made terms of the PERS package highly favorable to beneficiaries and increasingly burdensome to public employers, which must cut payrolls to meet PERS obligations. In deciding how to vote on reforms such as those proposed this session, lawmakers […]

When the history of marijuana prohibition in America is updated in a few decades, this will be recounted as its awkward age, when some states allowed the production and dissemination of medical cannabis, some didn't, and the federal government made delicate—and sometimes seemingly arbitrary—decisions about raiding grow sites and co-ops. The residents of Washington and […]

The 2013 session of the Oregon Legislature holds promise for extraordinary progress. Democrats, holding the governorship as well as control of both chambers of the Statehouse, are a force to be reckoned with, and Deschutes County's Republican representatives—Sen. Tim Knopp and Reps. Jason Conger and Gene Whisnant—owe it to their constituents to reckon with the […]

Nike is planning to expand, and Gov. John Kitzhaber wants Oregon to benefit. He has called a special session of the Legislature on Friday. He’s hoping lawmakers will consider authorizing him to freeze the way the state assesses corporate taxes for the footwear giant if it creates the big job numbers its leaders says it […]

We owe a great debt of gratitude to Oregon's public employees and retirees, from the prison guard keeping peace in a noisy cell block to the weary teacher who spent 30 years grading papers, counseling students and earning a secure retirement.Unfortunately, we also owe them $16 billion more than we have in their retirement fund. […]