CHEERS & CONGRATULATIONS for Aja DeCoteau being chosen Executive Director of the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. Up in the Yakima Indian Reservation, DeCoteau grew up traversing the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest, and is now the first woman to lead this group. [Additional cheers for our reporter who was able to include “traversing” into a two-sentence story]
JEERS for children. Okay, not all children, but some children, especially the ones in schools who are taking out their frustrations on other children. KEZI spoke to a developmental psychologist who noted that students are expressing emotions – a lot of emotions! We’re talking aggression, anxiety, anger – and those are just emotions that begin with A. The emotions are resulting in actions – acting out, attacking, and once again, aggression. With a world that is weary from pandemic and politics and, yes, aggression, we can understand. Here’s hoping all of us find better ways to deal with all of this, and that that will encourage these children to talk through their aggression. [**sigh**]
CHEERS for Representative Sara Gelser Blouin. We might not know exactly how to pronounce her new name, but we do know that she rocks at making sure kids in foster care are taken care of. Nominated by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, Gelser Blouin won the Carl Levin Award for Effective Oversight for her work with Oregon’s foster care program and her involvement in for-profit out-of-state programs.
SCREAMS OF TERROR because the earthquakes are coming! The earthquakes are coming! They just aren’t coming to our fault… yet… meaning there were about 60-ish small quakes at the Blanco Transform Fault Zone which lies about 200 miles to the west of the Oregon Coast. Some people may have felt them, but this zone is not connected to the Cascadia Subduction Zone. And no tsunamis, so YAY!
EXHAUSTED ALREADY as the race for joining a race begins in earnest. The latest addition has Republican Representative Ron Noble aiming his keister at the seat reserved for the new District 6 Rep. Also running? Six Dems and three other members of the GOP. [no Independents yet, but we’re keeping our collective fingers collectively crossed]
OOO’S & AHH’S for the Willamette Valley Visitors Association getting people out into the woods in the rain. If you happened to go out into the woods in the rain [as mentioned in the sentence immediately before this sentence] then you might find an ornament left there, on a tree, that’s worth a prize! Because as you walk in the woods in the rain [again, as mentioned above] those ornaments can be collected and registered for gift certificates. Check it out here!
BIG OL’ RAUCOUS JEERY JEERS for Oregon being in the top ten [number eight to be exact] for number of missing people in a state. Kinda crazy seeing as we’re only 27th when it comes to overall population. Why are so many people from our little neck in the woods missing? Could be because a very big chunk of our state has a really low number of people. Could be because we have a lot of Indigenous People, and that community has a history of people going missing. Could be that the Old Wives’ Tales about waiting 24 hours has been honored and we’re just not looking soon enough. Whatever the real reason is, take a minute and hug those you love who are still here with you. Happy Holidays.
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