CHEERS for maps! Not only are they an excellent way to tell you where you are and/or where you’re going, they are the ongoing fodder enabling the politicians of Oregon to continue and extend their battles outside of the Capitol. You see, since people keep moving to our fair state, we succeeded in gaining more representation at the federal level. [Yay Oregon!] This meant that the people we elected got to draw new maps [Yay Maps!] that would divide the lot of us into six [hopefully] even Districts. Well, with one thing and another, the new map is causing great fights between the Republicans who feel they were unfairly left out of the process and Democrats who feel that everything was done in bright shiny happy equality. [It is quite likely that both groups are correct… to a degree] Now it all lies in the hands of five retired circuit court judges. [fun job.]
¡HURRA! for the Fifth Annual Multicultural Tailgater happening tomorrow. It will be held at the OSU Centro Cultural César Chávez on 26th Street. Go! Have fun! Meet new people! Wear masks while you do all those things, ‘cause, you know, COVID! Then you can go over to Reser and watch the Beavs play the University of Utah! [wear masks for that too, please!] We’re all very excited here!
PUZZLED FROWNS over these gas leak issues that keep happening around town, and specifically near the university. The first happened Sept. 8 at Weniger Hall. That was followed by one at NW Monroe and NW 25th on Sept. 14. And again there was one at the Pharmacy Building on Oct. 20 [yep, that was this week]. Two of the issues were caused by natural gas line punctures which were fixed, but it still seems a bit much. Hopefully things will settle down before someone is seriously hurt.
CHEERS for the Willamette Community and Grange Hall Building Foundation, the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center, and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Each of these fine organizations has received an award through the Oregon Cultural Trust for work they are doing in Benton County. Our thanks and appreciation to them all.
CHEERS for Oregon State University’s research teams. From gardening to fishing jaguars, the folks at our university keep us interested and informed with the science they do. Most people don’t realize that OSU releases new research almost every day so that our community can know about game theory and sunscreen and carbon cycling and critters in amber. Let’s all send a good thought out to our local science guides. They make our town remarkable.
FROWNY FACES for the cases of COVID infiltrating our schools. In the last month, 80 CSD students tested positive for the virus. That’s 80 or eighty or 8*10 or any other way you want to write it down [100-20 might be nice, since next month we may have 100+20 at this rate]. However you look at it, that is exactly 80 too many kids being sick with something they could be (A) Immunized against, (B) Protected from by community immunizations, or (C) Both [The answer is obvious here.] So why didn’t our school board approve the mandatory vaccine agenda in their last meeting?
QUESTION – did you participate in the Great Oregon Shakeout yesterday? More than half a million people signed up to stop whatever they were doing and hunch beneath a table or desk, but did they all really do it? Are we really more prepared for “the big one” because the government had you hold onto the legs of your desk or table for a prearranged amount of time? Yes, the big earthquake will come one day, but no one is really ready until they’re in it. Our advice? Make a plan with your family in case you happen to be in the state but in different areas of town when the Cascadia Subduction Zone does its thing, and try to remember “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” And if you happen to be out by the Pacific, listen for the tsunami horns.
OOO’S & AHHH’S for the Washed Ashore project, bringing extra large medusa-phase gelatinous fun to the Lincoln City Cultural Center. Yes, it is the time of year when a vast, dark ballroom ceiling becomes the temporary home to well-reused ocean garbage in the form of jellyfish, sharks, otters, and more. Founded in 2010 by artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi, this exhibit is meant to teach better ocean stewardship. You have until March to see these mighty waterbound mammals, but this weekend is the grand opening.
GOOD NEWS for any fishers out there. The Willamette River bass is “going gangbusters” as we head closer to the end-of-year holidays. So get your gear loaded up, make sure you have your fishing license, and get some fish into the house or freezer. There’s still time!
JEERS to the Oregon Health Authority’s technical support staff for losing about 550 dead bodies. Not that the IT folks are the ones running COVID fatalities to the morgue, but they lost them electronically nonetheless. So however many COVID deaths Oregon has added to the national total, we get to add a whole bunch more, giving our state a total of 4,235 deaths to date.
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