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.
Testimony was limited, because Covid
In light of the Oregon Supreme Court's dismissal of
Sheehan v. Oregon Legislative Assembly which questioned the legality of Oregon's legislative districts, Legislative leaders from both parties sounded off on the decision. The Court opinion said, in part,
With respect to the Sheehan petition, the Court explained that the facts alleged by petitioners -- particularly, that the SB 882 reapportionment plan used many of the same district boundaries as exist in current law, and that oral public testimony had been subject to certain limitations -- were insufficient to permit a conclusion that the Legislative Assembly had created the entire statewide reapportionment plan for a partisan or otherwise improper purpose.
Oregon House Republican Leader and rumored Gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan (R-Canby) claimed that the Congressional redistricting map upheld protects incumbents. She used the occasion to call for moving the redistricting process out of the legislature. “This gerrymandered congressional redistricting map is an incumbent protection plan that Democrats desperately fought to keep. Rather than serve the interests of Oregonians, they have served themselves. This is why we need an independent redistricting commission to take this job away from politicians.â€
Oregon House Speaker and Gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek (D-Portland) and Oregon House Democratic Leader Barbara Smith Warner (D-Portland) praised the court's decisions calling the maps ‘fair, legal, and constitutional,’ as a special five-judge panel dismissed a petition against the legislatively adopted congressional maps enacted by
SB 881 during a September special session. This follows a Monday decision by the Oregon Supreme Court to dismiss two petitions challenging the reapportionment of Oregon's legislative districts enacted by
SB 882.
In response to these dismissals, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek and Oregon House Democratic Leader Barbara Smith Warner issued the following joint statement:
“These decisions affirm that the Legislature passed maps that are fair, legal, and constitutional. It was a tremendous challenge to complete this Constitutional duty in a very condensed timeline, and we appreciate the legislators who worked to get the job done for the people of Oregon.â€
Insiders note that Democrats may need some extra help this cycle, due to what many perceive is failure of Democratic policy on a national and state levels.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2021-11-24 17:01:01 | Last Update: 2021-11-24 17:42:32 |
