WELCOME & A HANDSHAKE to Oregon State’s new President Jayathi Murthy – the 16th person to hold that title [not counting five acting presidents] and the second woman as well as the first person of color to take the big seat up front. [Yes, unsurprisingly OSU has always asked white men to be the top person on campus up until recently.] Murthy has a background in engineering and research, and likes to support diversity and inclusion. She kinda sounds like a winner across the board… although we will miss Prez Becky Johnson who has held things together for a bit longer than she’d originally signed up for.
CHEERS & SOME SUNSCREEN for all you Corvallisites. The City of Corvallis has issued its 2022 Activity Guide for the spring and summer. There’re things to do for people aged six months on up and we’re guessing that y’all are right in the middle of that range! [unless you’re some weirdly brilliant five month old able to read, in which case come on out to an activity and try to talk them into letting you join in] There are classes and day camps and exercising and the Osborn Aquatic Center all just waiting out there for you… so, go already!
HUZZAH & A SPLASH for the Willamette Riverkeepers. This organization is tapping the good ole DEQ on the shoulder and giving them the wink-wink-nudge-nudge of “how about y’all start legislating the garbage on the riverbanks.” If the DEQ’s Environmental Quality Commission is amenable to the shoulder tapping and nudging [and winking, of course], they can force urban areas to limit how much debris gets left lying about. So, we’re all over here with a “Go, Riverkeepers!” kind of vibe.
CHEERS & RAISED FIST for Rep. Peter DeFazio. As his last year in office continues to tiptoe its way through tulips, DeFazio is stomping his foot down in an effort to assert congressional war powers so he can see the end of U.S. support for the Saudis in their war against Yemen. Seems the president who stepped up to offer our assistance [*cough cough * Obama *cough*] back in 2015 didn’t get the official okee dokee from Congress. Now our Reps wanna put the kibosh on us participating in what Rep. Pramila Jayapal called “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” [Man! We’re gonna miss DeFazio!]
SQUAWKS & EEKS for birds and the flu they may carry. We mentioned avian flu being a thing. Then we noted it had gotten worse [and by worse, we meant closer to home]. Well, now good old Oregon State U. has advised us on the important factor of bird feeders… and they’re okay to leave out. [We aren’t joking around here, kids, we love us some bird feeders with those cute little blue and red birds whose names we will never know. It’s pretty danged awesome.] So go on out there, feed the birds, clean the feeder every once in a while, and keep an eye out for any birds that, you know, like die or something.
FURROWED BROW & A TEAR over lost people in the Oregon wilderness. Between Jan. 1 and May 31, there were 364 rescues completed by Search and Rescue Teams throughout Oregon – more likely than not in Douglas, Clackamas, Deschutes, Lane, or Jackson counties [about half of all rescues happen in those five counties]. You see, as the weather improves each May, people unprepared for hiking decide to… well, hike. And when they do, at least four sets of them a day will need to have other people save them. The numbers will peak again in July and stay high through August. [Props to Search and Rescue though, seeing as how 99% of their missions end in live people with embarrassing stories rather than in graves]
STROKE OF THE BEARD & A HMMM over the latest idea coming out of Portland about the homeless. Seems that Kaiser Permanente paid $100k for the city and Multnomah County to join the “Built for Zero” program which would create a list of all the people living outside of standard issue homes. They believe that knowing each person’s name and the whys and wherefores of their current situations can solve the houseless problem. The organization pushing this recommendation, Community Solutions, “all but guarantees ‘measurably ending homelessness for entire populations’” which does sound good… perhaps too good… Detractors of Community Solutions compare the company to Soviet Era registries of dissidents and The Hunger Games [the latter being a great read or watch, but not a very nice place to live].
CHEERS & A COKE for Oregon author Cheryl Strayed of Wild fame. Strayed’s other book – Tiny Beautiful Things – which chronicles her advice as Dear Sugar for The Rumpus is slated to be made into a Hulu series. [Love us some Oregon writers!]
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