TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalHarassment suits, allegations of dismissiveness hang over Oregon Capitol
The pall of workplace sexual harassment and disrespect at the Oregon Capitol reached a new intensity this past week, underscored by two new lawsuits, the demotion of two House members and signs that mediation between the Legislature and the state Labor Bureau is nearing a conclusion.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, continued her call for an open conversation on the Senate floor about Capitol culture, and drew a comparison between the recent actions taken by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and the hesitancy to act by Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.
Since allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted touching against former Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, became public in fall 2017, several lawsuits claimed (and two investigations concluded) that legislative leaders failed to protect employees after they knew about hostile work environments in the building.
Failing to act allowed a culture of tolerance toward harassment to fester.
" (Legislative leaders) expressed callous indifference to reports of Kruse’s misconduct, and fostered an environment wherein complaints were discouraged with threats of retaliation, legal exposure, and negative career implications," the most recent lawsuit reads.
Read more: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/24/harassment-suits-oregon-capitol-leaders-salem-peter-courtney/2952846002/
Bill would redefine bike lanes as extending through intersections
BEND -- On an overcast morning in November 2017, 31-year-old Jonathan Chase Adams was riding his bike north on Northwest Wall Street, headed for his job a few blocks away at Carl’s Jr.
Vehicle traffic was stopped because of a red light at the intersection of Wall Street and Olney Avenue, according to court documents, but Adams’ bike lane was clear. He reached the intersection after the light was green and several cars made it across, at the same time as a Fedex tractor-trailer driven by Terrebonne resident Trenton Derek Sage.
The truck turned right.
The bike kept going straight.
Adams never made it to work. Instead, he crashed into the side of the trailer, bouncing against it several times before he was pulled under the trailer’s wheels.
Read more: https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/6689291-151/bill-would-redefine-bike-lanes-as-extending-through
Making moly: Corvallis tech company aims to ease supply squeeze for medical isotope
About 50,000 times a day, U.S. hospitals perform diagnostic procedures using technetium-99m, a radioactive isotope that enables high-quality imaging for bone scans and functional studies of the brain, heart, lungs and other organs.
Technetium is a byproduct of another isotope, molybdenum-99, which is generally produced — along with other radioactive elements — by splitting uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor.
But only a handful of research reactors around the world are set up to harvest the moly-99, as it’s known, creating a bottleneck that results in frequent moly shortages and subsequent delays in vital medical procedures. To make matters worse, the only source in North America (a reactor at Chalk River in Canada) ceased production in 2016.
A Corvallis startup using technology developed at Oregon State University is taking a novel approach to the moly supply problem — and the company got a big boost last week when it was shortlisted by the Department of Energy for up to $15 million in federal matching funds to help it get to production stage.
Read more: https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/making-moly-corvallis-tech-company-aims-to-ease-supply-squeeze/article_7cea7d88-ce4b-5a1f-a74b-bef8c3cffa02.html
Brown mulls cutting PERS costs
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown is reportedly considering selling the state's workers compensation insurance corporation or tapping its substantial capital surplus to hold down future pension costs for school districts around the state.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that according to documents it obtained via a public records request the idea is still tentative, and it's not clear it would raise enough money to accomplish the goal on its own.
Chris Pair, a spokesman for the governor's office, said Monday "our office will not be providing comment."
The proposal to tap SAIF, the state's 100-year-old employer-funded workers compensation agency, was initially floated in 2017 by a task force Brown set up to look for ways to reduce PERS' huge unfunded liability. That liability now stands at about $26.6 billion.
Read more: http://mailtribune.com/news/government-politics/brown-weighing-moves-to-reduce-school-pension-costs
Oregon bill would require Holocaust education
Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, is among 29 sponsors of a bill that would mandate education on genocide — with particular emphasis on the Holocaust — in public schools.
If passed, it would take effect July 2020, with the Oregon Department of Education providing school districts with technical assistance to implement the curriculum.
The instruction requirements are multifaceted. School districts would be required to “enable students to evaluate the morality of the Holocaust, genocide and similar acts of mass violence and to reflect on the causes of related historical events,” as well as “enable students to understand the ramifications of prejudice, racism and stereotyping.”
Other instruction requirements would “provide students with a foundation for examining the history of discrimination in this state; and explore the various mechanisms of transitional and restorative justice that helps humanity move forward in the aftermath of genocide.”
Read more: http://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/oregon-bill-would-require-holocaust-education
Former Rhode Island GOP candidate Taub arraigned in campaign fraud
PROVIDENCE — Former Republican congressional candidate and fundraiser H. Russell Taub was arraigned in U.S. District Court Friday on charges he scammed GOP donors out of more than $1.6 million through two illegal political action committees.
Wearing a dark pinstriped suit, Taub answered “yes” when Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan asked if he wanted to waive grand jury proceedings and still intended to plead guilty to wire fraud and breaking federal election law. He signed a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this month and is scheduled back in court on March 25.
Neither Taub nor his lawyers, Jeffrey Pine of Providence and Eric Levine of New York City, said much more.
“He’s not making any comment,” Pine said as the attorneys led Taub away from reporters on the courthouse steps.
Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190222/former-ri-gop-candidate-taub-arraigned-in-campaign-fraud
Raimondo predicts more wins for Democratic governors
{Rhode Island} Gov. Gina Raimondo spoke to reporters Saturday in Washington in her role as the new chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association, predicting more Democratic wins this year and next in more than a dozen gubernatorial races.
“The message from us is, we’re going to keep delivering ... with political wins because we have the wind at our backs, and we’re going to make [2019 and 2020] great years,” Raimondo said at the National Governors Association 2019 winter meeting.
Raimondo said there are three gubernatorial races this year and 11 in 2020. While some of those races are expected to be tight, “we plan to win,” she said.
Raimondo also noted that new Democratic governors are making policy achievements in their states.
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190223/raimondo-predicts-more-wins-for-dem-governors
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Vermont governor declares state of emergency over loss of veto power
MONTPELIER – Vermont Governor Phil Scott has declared a state of emergency today over the inability to veto House Bill H.57, which would codify into state law various abortion rights. Seeking funds from the federal government, Gov. Scott has called this the worst emergency he has seen since the midterm elections.
“I didn’t have to do this,” Gov. Scott told press this morning, “This bill doesn’t actually do anything or change anything. I could have waited to do this later, but I didn’t feel like it. I just felt like getting my veto power back right now. So, in many ways, this is a true emergency to me.”
Sixteen towns have already filed suits to block the declaration, although it is still unclear just what the “state of emergency” will do for the governor, and how federal funding will help him to overcome a veto-proof Democratic majority in the state Legislature.
“The rules are changing,” said Gov. Scott. “It’s clear that what we used to think of as an emergency, well, the word is being defined differently now. When the White House hears about this bill, and how I am unable to veto it, I think they’ll be very supportive. I’m expecting a lot of federal money, most of which we will probably spend on my re-election campaign and the campaigns of other conservatives in the state. We’re going to do whatever it takes to get that veto back. In fact, if the Legislature keeps voting the way I think they will, you might say it will be a kind of … natural disaster?”
https://vtdigger.org/2019/02/24/satire-governor-declares-state-emergency-loss-veto-power/
Some of Oregon's most exclusive neighborhoods could dodge state's bid to ban single-family zoning
Some of the state’s most exclusive neighborhoods could be effectively exempt from a proposal to allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes in single-family zones across the state.
House Bill 2001, sponsored by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, would allow the higher-density plexes and “cottage clusters” on any single-family lot in cities with 10,000 or more residents. The goal is to increase the supply of rental homes and drive down rents — and in the process open desirable neighborhoods, with amenities such as good schools and parks, to more people.
But restrictions recorded on property deeds when the neighborhoods were developed — even some from a century ago — sometimes prohibit the construction of anything other than single-family houses.
“In the residential areas, they show up with some frequency,” said Alan Brickley, a longtime Portland real estate attorney.
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/02/some-of-oregons-most-exclusive-neighborhoods-could-dodge-states-bid-to-ban-single-family-zoning.html
Lawmakers stripped of committees amid workplace culture change
SALEM – Growing political tensions at the Legislature boiled over Thursday as House Speaker Tina Kotek stripped a powerful Portland Democrat of two committee chairmanships because of his behavior.
Kotek at the same time booted a Republican legislator off a committee, justifying both steps as moves to keep governance in the Capitol civil.
She acted, she said in a statement, “to uphold the new standards we are all trying to model.”
Committee placements are not just a matter of ceremony or title. Chairs have significant influence over legislation, with authority to kill a bill by never giving it a hearing or advancing legislation to a floor vote.
Read more: https://www.salemreporter.com/posts/542/lawmakers-stripped-of-committees-amid-workplace-culture-change
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