JEERS for us – The Corvallis Advocate. If you didn’t see it, then please disregard this post completely, because we goofed on a headline this week. Instead of “Gubernatorial” we had “Governorial” [and, yes, that second one isn’t even a word]. And while we love making up words, we do tend to keep that limited to this little space you’re currently reading. [Don’t go lookin’ for it, ‘cause we fixed it, but still… all apologies, folks.]
Moving on…
CHEERS AND A PAT ON THE BACK for the winners of the elections this week. We give our heartfelt best wishes to those going forward into November’s election, including Pat Malone, Val Hoyle, Tina Kotek, Christine Drazan, Ron Wyden, and Jo Rae Perkins. Also, big ole congrats to Christina Stephenson who will be taking the seat of the Labor Commissioner. [You can see where all of the Dems in the running for CD4 came in here… There were far too many people wanting to be governor to really list them all, so check out the Sec. of State list here.]
MORE CHEERS for local schools. The levy for Corvallis Public Schools passed and the bond for LBCC passed! [We’re so proud of y’all for looking after the kids, we’re beamin’ over here!]
AND A HMMM over voter turnout. This election saw a turnout of barely over 33% of eligible voters. That means one-third of the people who could have been heard got to choose for everyone. It is as if you and your two co-workers were going to dinner and one of them got to choose where… and they chose that place that only serves liver and Brussel sprouts. [We know all of you remembered to vote though, right?]
LOUD EXASPERATED SIGHS over gas prices. The state average price for a gallon of that golden delight that keeps our old-style vehicles moving in a forward direction is over $5 [up by about $2 per gallon since last year]. But, we’ve got you covered with info on how to find the cheapest gas out there, because we are nothing if not generous with facts and cheap with spending.
FURROWED BROW over birds. Well, not birds unto themselves, after all they’re cute and pretty and often tasty when chopped into pieces and breaded, but birds with the flu. Not only is it awkward to hand a tissue to a sick bird [they have no thumbs! how can they blow their nose?!] but because bird flu is spreading across the US and has entered the Mid-Valley [specifically Linn and Lane counties]. This version of avian flu can spread to people ONLY if they are deeply involved in their culling, and you can’t catch it from eating infected chicken, according to the USDA. All the same, if you’ve got backyard chickens, keep an eye out for lack of energy, lost appetite, poor coordination, and death in your birds… be particularly worried in the case of death… jussayin’…
RAISED EYEBROWS over Covid. We know, everyone’s saying that the pandemic is over, but cases are on the rise again [perhaps because of the lack of masks… we’re speculating…]. According to KLCC [and we’re quoting them directly here], “daily reported case counts more than doubled – from a rolling count of 600 cases per day to 1,350.” We pulled the old calculator out and that’s 2.25 times more cases! The doctors they spoke to said you might wanna wear a mask indoors if you live in a medium risk county… BTW Benton County is considered medium risk… as are Polk, Lincoln, and Lane counties. [Surprisingly our neighbors to the north and east – Linn and Marion counties – are low risk]
And now this…
A SINGLE RAISED EYEBROW for our readers out there. We’ve been sliding in some odd verses from Corvallis’s own Kevin Ahern each Sunday in an attempt to answer the age-old question “What does a Biochemistry / Biophysics prof do in his retirement?” [The answer, of course, is that he writes funny, short poems, limericks, and one-liners] Check it out…
CHEERS AND MAD PROPS to Hasso Hering. He spent 45 years writing the news and is a delightfully nostalgic blogger these days with stories about what’s happening in Albany. His latest included stories of railroad track spurs, bird feeder guests returning after the winter, and a lot of lot that nobody seems to want. The world is a lesser place without someone able to talk about the smaller happenings that we see day-to-day, and Hering is a fine teller of tales.
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