On this day, May 5, 1903, James Beard, US culinary expert, author (Delights & Prejudices), was born in Portland, Ore.
Also on this day, May 5, 1945, A Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing Mrs. Elsie Mitchell, the pregnant wife of a minister, and five children after they attempted to drag it out the woods in Lakeview, Oregon. The balloon was armed, and exploded soon after they began tampering with it. They became the 1st and only known American civilians to be killed in the continental US during World War II.
Also on this day, May 5, 1945, Bly minister Archie Mitchell, his pregnant wife Elsie, and five children from Mitchell's Sunday school class were on a Saturday morning picnic. Thirteen miles northeast of Bly, or about sixty miles northeast of Klamath Falls, Mitchell parked the car, and Elsie and the children headed to Leonard Creek. Mitchell later remembered: "As I got out of the car to bring the lunch, the others were not far away and called to me they had found something that looked like a balloon. I heard of Japanese balloons so I shouted a warning not to touch it. But just then there was a big explosion. I ran up there--and they were all dead." It was a Japanese balloon bomb. They were 70 feet tall with a 33-foot diameter paper canopy connected to the main device by shroud lines. Balloons inflated with hydrogen followed the jet stream at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Never underestimate the ability of tax-and-spend Democrats to create bigger government
There are many fine
suicide hotline programs and all of them could go away in an instant, replaced by a one-size-fits-all state operated program, supported by a new tax. Most of the current suicide prevention hotlines are run out of the county mental health providers.
Nationally there has been a call for a 9-8-8, system, modeled on 9-1-1 systems in which one three number combination can be dialed anywhere and all the switching mechanisms will identify it and route it to where it needs to go. Suicide prevention hotlines are a perfect application of this tool. Imagine a distraught young person or perhaps a veteran. They just need to talk to someone. One could easily see how it could make a difference by merely dialing 9-8-8, than having to make several calls or poke around online to find the right number.
Never underestimate the ability of tax-and-spend Democrats to take an important issue like suicide prevention and use it to create bigger government and increase taxes.
HB 3069, introduced by Representative Tawna Sanchez (D-Portland) creates a statewide 9-8-8 center supported by a tax on all phones. Presumably, the 15 or so existing, functional systems will just fade away.
The size of the tax increase has not been determined, but Oregonians who just had their cell phone taxes increased for rural broadband may not have an appetite for another tax increase -- whatever the size. The bill has passed out of the House Committee on Behavioral Health and is in the House Committee on Revenue.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2021-05-04 09:25:29 | Last Update: 2021-05-04 10:37:37 |
