Featured Stories
Featured Stories
Marlon Furtado
In 2 Timothy 2:3-7 of our Bibles, Christ-followers are encouraged to develop qualities found in three groups of people. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.” Here are some of my thoughts.
Soldiers are a critical asset to any national defense. I wasn’t in the military so I asked my brother-in-law for insight. He has protected our nation as a Marine and protected our communities as a police officer throughout his adult life. He shared that soldiers undergo regular intense repetitive training sessions. Continue reading
John A. Charles, Jr.
This week our State Treasurer, Tobias Read, issued a press release bragging that investors around the country “stood in line” to loan Oregon $100 million so that Governor Kate Brown could buy part of the Elliott State Forest, which we already own.
According to Treasurer Read, “There was three times more demand than supply” of the bonds, which will be repaid to investors over 20 years at an interest rate of 3.83 percent.
While this may have been a great day for investors, Oregon taxpayers have no reason to celebrate. They will be paying roughly $200 million in debt service on the loan, while getting little in return.
The Elliott is an 82,500-acre forest in Coos and Douglas Counties. It is an asset of the Common School Fund, which means it must be managed for the Continue reading
- ODFW will be stocking 47 waterbodies with 89,559 legal-size trout (give or take) this week – just in time for spring break. The recent spring-like weather has put trout in the
mood to bite, so grab your rod, your kids, your friends and go catch dinner. See the zone updates for a stocking location near you. - Gray whales are migrating along the Oregon coast. Volunteers for the Whale Watching Spoken Here program staff whale watching stations along the coast, check the website for specific times and places. You also can just go out on your own when the weather is good, but don’t forget your binoculars!
- Spring bird migration is underway at many eastside wildlife areas. Viewing choices include sandhill cranes at Klamath and Ladd Marsh, turkey vultures and swans at Summer Lake, and songbirds, waterfowl and shorebirds galore at wildlife areas throughout the state. Check out the latest arrivals in the zone reports.
On March 23, 1775, 244 years ago, Patrick Henry delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history. While some of his words are still familiar today, many Americans are unaware of the turbulent times preceding his celebrated address.
In the 1760s, Parliament passed numerous laws directly violating the rights of the colonists, including the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and many others. Patrick Henry, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, was one of many who objected. When the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, the joy was so widespread that a Boston minister preached a notable sermon celebrating the event! Continue reading
Miranda Bonifield
Here’s a question for you: Why is housing so expensive in Oregon?
Government at all levels has attempted to address the issue of housing affordability for years with tax credits, occasional expansion of the urban growth boundary, multimillion dollar bond measures, and now statewide rent control in Oregon. But rather than making life easier for Americans, state and local policies play major roles in the affordability crisis.
Economist Dr. Randall Pozdena recently authored a report published by Cascade Policy Institute that analyzes the decline of housing affordability, with a Continue reading
By Delia Lopez
Blueberries are fabulous plants and provide year-round interest in the garden. They have glossy green leaves that are covered with white blossoms in the spring. They grow into an easy care shrub in most areas of Oregon. Our naturally acidic soil makes for happy blueberries. Flavorful blueberries are very nutritious and look great on the plant. Blueberries have great fall foliage colors and red twigs in the dead of winter.
The first blueberry plants I planted are right out my kitchen window, and they are an important part of my landscape design. I like the look of flowering shrubs surrounded by mulch. The mulch breaks down improving the soil, keeping down weeds and holding in moisture in the summer. I have a drip tube hidden under the mulch, with a timer on it in the summertime to water automatically. It looks nice year round, needs little maintenance, and provides fat beautiful berries. Continue reading
Helen Maguire
From its earliest days, America has been a nation of immigrants, starting with its original inhabitants, who crossed the land bridge connecting Asia and North America thousands of years ago. By the 1500s, the first Europeans, led by the Spanish and French, had begun establishing settlements in what would become the United States.
The Pilgrims in the early 1600s, arrived in search of religious freedom. They were soon followed by a larger group seeking religious freedom, the Puritans, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. By some estimates, 20,000 Puritans migrated to the region between 1630 and 1640.
From the 17th to 19th centuries, hundreds of thousands of African slaves came to America against their will. By 1680, there were some 7,000 African slaves in the American colonies, a number that ballooned to 700,000 by 1790, according to some estimates. Congress outlawed the importation of slaves to the United States as of 1808, but the practice continued. The U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) resulted in the emancipation of approximately 4 million slaves. Continue reading
Marlon Furtado
Was there an underlying lesson I was to learn from the nursery rhyme, “Three Blind Mice?” Was there a significant message other than learning that mice scare farmers’ wives and get their tails cut off with butchers’ knives? I don’t know, but it did make me think of three men in the Bible who were “blind” to the temptations before them.
The first “blind mouse” was David. He was the most spiritual man alive. God, Himself, calls David “a man after My own heart.” Over one hundred of his songs are recorded in the Old Testament book of Psalms. We are told in 2 Samuel 11:1 that David sent his army out, but instead of going with them, he stayed home in Jerusalem. From his palace balcony he saw Bathsheba showering. Instead of looking away, he lusted after her and eventually committed adultery with her. David’s blind pursuit into sin led to tragic consequences for his family. Continue reading
Mary Jo Conniff
One of the great grand-kids carrying on the tradition.
My siblings and I are 50% hardcore, no-kidding Irish. The Maguire name is revered all the way from my Boston-born and raised Da to my precious grandchildren. My oldest held the surname until she married, then changed it legally to be a part of her middle name. Her children have grown up as proud Maguires. I named my youngest in honor of the family, and she kept Maguire when she married. Her three-year-old baby girl was given the middle name Lucia-Maguire. Her Papa is a beautiful Italian man, cool accent and all, so even though this incredible child is less Irish than she is Italian and Hispanic (my other 50% is from strong Spanish and Mexican stock) she will continue to embrace the Maguire name.
As you can imagine, Saint Patrick’s Day is kinda important to our clan. One March many years ago, we decided to celebrate at an Irish pub owned by a man Dad knows. Queue laughter. When we could not fit into the mob scene there, we needed a plan B. Someone suggested an interesting idea that the Maguire family move our festivities to a near-by Mexican restaurant, Ajo Al’s. Yes, we wore our green plastic derbies and shamrock shaped beads! Our patriarch Continue reading
Paula Olson, The Northwest Connection
It’s March and the 17th will be Saint Patrick’s Day. This is a day most kids associate with wearing green, so that they do not get pinched by relentless siblings or scheming peers, cutting out shamrocks and four-leaf clovers, and drawing leprechauns with rainbows and pots of gold. Like many once-religious holidays, it is often in the United States viewed as an opportunity to party, a holiday for a few good pints of Guinness, and a dinner of shepherd’s pie or corned beef hash. But why do we celebrate this Irish holiday in our country?
Maybe it is time to look into the historic reasons behind our holidays. For instance, do any of us really know much about who Cupid is besides a cherubic-looking being with a quiver and arrows, most often seen on Victorian-styled Valentine cards and old ladies’ bathroom wallpaper? In February, you might have looked into the myth of how Cupid was the son of Roman goddess Venus and god Mars. He was sent on a mission by his mother to do a little evil matchmaking on princess Psyche. The events, in good mythological fashion, took an ironic turn and Cupid fell in love with Psyche. The story goes on but the point is one of our Continue reading