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Mr Kitzhaber mentioned trade school and apprentice training programs as an alternative to 4 year college degree.  Specifically, he mentioned Clackamas Comm College and IBEW training center.  Are you aware, sir, that there are open shop training facilities available for students who do not wish to join a union?  Specifically the Area 1 Inside Electrical Joint Apprentice Training program?

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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The Veterans Memorial Coliseum is indeed worthy of being on the Historic Register.  It is an ugly building, to my eye, but it is an architecturally worthy candidate for the register. 

I have dozens of memories in the Coliseum, but three truly stand out.  First was 1963 or 1964 when the Boy Scouts held a significant event there and my brother walked the length of the arena floor in single spotlight as the "all American boy".  Second was an ecumenical Easter Sunrise service in 1964 or 1965.  Singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" while the curtains were drawn back to reveal the Easter daylight was beyond moving.  Finally, June 1965 I graduated from high school on the arena floor - many high schools in the mid-late 1960s used the Coliseum for graduation.

There are so many civic historical events and so many personal historical events in the collective memories of Portlanders.  I am saddened by the need to tear down the old because it doesn't sparkle anymore.  Veterans Memorial Coliseum sparkles in the history and on the skyline of Portland and should remain whether it is on the historic register or not.

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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I'm sure John Kroger is a very educated man.  I am confident that he is doing an exceptional job as AG.

However, I got very little out of your conversation with him of any substance.  I could hardly follow his train of thought because it was constantly derailed by long aaaaahhhhhs and uuuummmmms every fourth or fifth word.  I was so distracted by this habit that I finally gave up listening.

May I suggest that John find a Toastmasters International club where he will quickly learn to eliminate those verbal pauses from his speech pattern?  Best of luck to you John.

posted 4 years ago
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38 years ago I was faced with this decision. On Christmas Eve 1970 I terminated a 2 month pregnancy. I was 19 years old and married to the father but he was in jail and likely to stay there for awhile. It was a gut-wrenching decision that took several weeks to make. I went through a year of mourning but I have no regrets now. I have two fabulous adult children, six grandchildren and I am guilt-free. I am confident that I made the right decision. I am even studying for a masters degree in theology and believe that God has forgiven my sins.

My personal views on abortion have not changed: this is a choice that is so personal and so volatile that it should be made only by the parents (or the mother alone if the father is not available) and her physician. No government, no screaming protestors on the street corner, no judgemental fundamentalists. If YOU choose to carry a pregnancy to term, great. If I choose to terminate a pregnancy, that is between me and God.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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It seems like we want it both ways. We want fast access to and from either side of the river but we don't want to spend the money. I remember when the existing bridge was updated in the late 1950's and we happily paid a .20 toll for the privilege of using the streamlined bridge. Drive down the gorge to Bridge of the Gods and pay the 1.00 toll for a trip across the Columbia from the north or south. Drive from Chicago's O'Hare Airport north to Wisconsin and stop at least 8 times to pay a turnpike toll. A toll to pay for the expansion of the bridge and addition of mass transit lanes or level makes the most sense. Illinois sells an annual pass for commuters on the turnpike. There are so many options if we would just brainstorm and respect one another's ideas we are bound to come up with a uniquely Oregon solution.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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