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.
Does Tina Kotek walk in Kate Brown’s footsteps?
Editor's note: This is the sixth of a multipart series on Tina Kotek – her past and her future – as well as where her political ambitions might take her.
Education is at the forefront of this state. Unless we educate our students, freedom and liberties will always be at stake. Speaker Tina Kotek claims her 14 years in the House is her strength, what does that look like for education?
In 2013, Kotek sponsored
HB 3077 that enacted the Interstate Compact for Agreement among the states to elect the president by National Popular Vote. Whether you trust big states to vote for you or not, it forfeits Oregonian’s right to vote to larger states. The right to vote is the core to the Republic that insures liberties. Kotek voted to add civics as a requirement to graduate, so does she support the individual right and duty to vote?
Oregon Constitution, Article I, Section 1, says “we declare that all men, when they form a social compact are equal in right...†Governor Brown changed “equal in right†to equity in outcome, which translates into redistribution. Even after two federal judges ruled equity in outcome is unconstitutional, Kotek still supports Governor Brown’s change in agenda. She was chief sponsor of
HB 2001 during the 2021 session requiring school districts to retain teachers with less seniority if teacher has more merit and if retention of teacher is necessary to maintain school district's diversity ratio -- release of teacher would result in lesser proportion of teachers with cultural or linguistic expertise.
Kotek’s legislative biography also takes credit for championing the Student Success Act that is funded by the corporate activity tax, After two states abandoned the tax as taking too big of hit on their economy, she passed it on party lines. The tax increases funding for the state’s preK-12 public education system by $1 billion per year. Makes one question where it went if a 3.3 percent increase in the amount of $9.3 billion was need for schools for the next biennium. Will schools see that $1 billion when businesses can’t operate?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
It was Speaker Kotek that sponsored
SB 552 in 2011, designating the Governor as Superintendent of Public Instruction. At the feet of the powerful teachers’ unions, she’s presided over what is arguably the largest decline in effectiveness in the Oregon education system since statehood. That has sparked parent’s ire with her caucus passing
SB 744, which suspends graduation requirements showing proficiency in Essential Learning Skills.
As the gubernatorial election hastens, there is an important question on the table -- does Tina Kotek walk in Kate Brown’s footsteps?
--Donna Bleiler| Post Date: 2021-09-16 20:11:04 | Last Update: 2021-09-17 09:10:35 |
