Saturday, April 24, 2010

Columbia River Dredging Ends This Year To Mixed Views On The End Result

Columbia River dredging ends this year, benefits end mixed

By The Oregonian - Business News

April 23, 2010, 6:35PM

The last phase of work is being completed on the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project, 20 years in the making, which deepened 103 miles of the channel by three feet.

Twenty years ago, a massive dredging effort to deepen 103 miles of the mighty Columbia River held the promise of securing Oregon's connection to the rest of the world. At 43 feet, the channel -- otherwise too shallow to compete with deep-water ports -- could play host to today's larger vessels and more efficiently send Northwest wheat and steel to markets around the globe.


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Bradbury Takes On Oregon LNG Siting In New Campaign Video

Bradbury takes on LNG terminal in new campaign ad

By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian

April 22, 2010, 4:52PMFormer Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has made a lot of his staunch opposition to liquefied natural gas terminals in Oregon. Now, he's turned it into a new television commercial being launched by his campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Read Full Jeff Mapes Report

Friday, April 23, 2010

NSNG/Bradwood LNG Appeals LUBA Ruling

Bradwood Landing appeals Land Use Board decision
April 22, 2010

And then, all of a sudden NSNG/Bradwood's Press Release on their website announcing their plan to appeal this last LUBA Remand inexplicably diappears, can't be found nor the entire site accessed. Hmmmm! Interesting.

PORTLAND, Ore. – NorthernStar Natural Gas has filed an appeal with the Oregon Court of Appeals to an April 12, 2010 decision by Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).

That decision remanded two issues related to Bradwood Landing’s consolidated land use approval back to Clatsop County for further work.

Read Full Natural Oregon Release

Clatsop County Proposed Budget Holds No Creative Surprises

Thursday, April 22, 2010

PROPOSED 2010-11 BUDGET PRESERVES COUNTY SERVICES

Despite a still-sluggish economy and flat revenue, Clatsop County’s proposed 2010-11 fiscal year budget maintains almost all existing county services and programs.

Read Full County Release

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Landowners Speak-Up To FERC On Oregon LNG Pipeline Conduct

April 22, 2010
10:46 AM

Cassandra Profita - The Daily Astorian

Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge Bobbie McCartney presided over an unusual court proceeding in Astoria Wednesday designed to collect testimony on Oregon LNG's treatment of landowners along its proposed 117-mile pipeline route.

About a dozen people, several who live along the pipeline route in Warrenton and Jewell, attended the event at the Judge Guy Boyington Building and testified about their negative experiences with the company.


Read Full Article

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Brent Foster Resigns From Oregon AG's Office

Oregon environmental counsel resigns from attorney general's office
By Scott Learn, The Oregonian

April 20, 2010, 8:03PM

Brent Foster, the environmental activist hired by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger to lead Kroger's promised crackdown on polluters, resigned Tuesday after misrepresenting his involvement in a criminal environmental case, Kroger's office said late Tuesday.

Kroger said in a press release that he referred the matter to the Marion County district attorney's office for investigation, adding that "it is crucial that all members of the Department of Justice maintain the highest professional standards." His office declined to comment further.

Read Full Details

Monday, April 19, 2010

Clatsop Commissioner Jeff Hazen: Is He Confident Enough To Run A Stealth Campaign?

Is Jeff Hazen running a "Stealth" campaign for County Commissioner?

Those who lived here in 1992, many can remember it seemed to have worked for Julie Leonhardt when she beat Steve Gerttula for DA.

Hazen, who has a website that is on many blogrolls and was very vocal back during his own, Ann Samuelson and Patricia Ronerts recall elections, hasn't had a post since November 2009 when he mourned the loss of his pal Ann, and attempted to bolster support against Roberts recall declaring, "Make no mistake about it they are trying to take over our County Government"(They the assumption would infer would be his neighbors and constituents in Clatsop County) and aside from a few signs trying to tie him to Raichl "Support Our County, Vote Raichl and Hazen" and similar to the signs posted back during the recall campaigns, to the effect.."Support Our County, Say No To Recall", there simply is no campaign presence on the web or anywhere for Hazen.

For Hazen, it would appear back during the recalls, keeping his head down kept him from being recalled but the question now is: will it get him re-elected?

Maybe there will be a last minute campaign blitz to get him past a very viable candidate in Scott Lee(No relation to Richard Lee)?

In Hazen's three and a half years on CCBofC, what are some of Hazen's hallmarks in his tenure on that panel that seem to stand out most in the Public's perception?

1) Walking literally in lock step step with pals Lee and Samuelson until they were RECALLED?

2) Engineering the whole DA pay debacle and voting AGAINST restoring the DA county pay in March 2008 even when the other Board members voted for it?

3) LNG. How much divisiveness, how many 100,000s of dollars has to be paid before Hazen listens to 1) county staff and 2) LUBA?

4) Why does he keep flying to DC on our dollars? What exactly has the county gotten from the feds because of Jeff's "intervention"?

Mr. Hazen is most certainly invited to refute, enhance or add to this list any information he feels will help his campaign if he wishes to do so.