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.
Reardon is the only member of this Caucus that voted for the bill
The Clackamas Caucus is made up of 14 Representatives and Senators from the metro area with districts fully or partially in Clackamas County. They are bipartisan, comprised of ten metro area Democrats and four Republicans in districts bordering metro. They sent a letter to Oregon’s Congressional delegation on March 2nd “to respectfully ask for help and support to elevate their concerns with the Oregon Transportation Commission, ODOTâ€. The Caucus has “serious concerns about the Oregon Department of Transportation’s current proposal to exclusively toll I-205 ahead of the rest of the Portland metro region†according to their letter. Tolling I-205 is a consequence of the passage of
HB 2017 in the year 2017.
The letter goes on to describe the negatives of tolling, most of which were raised as objections by primarily opponents of tolling back when HB 2017 was being debated. According to the Caucus letter, they include “no transportation alternatives for drivers that want or need to avoid a toll along I-205 except to drive on local roads. Little to no transit exists along this corridor, and no meaningful plan has been proposed to address this gap. Additionally, many local residents will not have the benefit of altering their schedule to avoid peak-pricing proposed by ODOT. Drivers don’t choose when their kids are dropped off at school, when they must show up for work, and when congestion happens around them. This plan will increase costs on everyday Oregonians at a time when inflation is already making life unaffordable for too manyâ€.
For one Clackamas Caucus member, Rep. Jeff Reardon (D-Happy Valley) this must be painful. Reardon is the only member of this Caucus that voted for the bill he now finds has unintended consequences. Reardon’s constituents have had time to wake up to the reality of this environmental lobby darling and the impact this bill will have on their daily lives. Many realize that adding lanes to a short stretch of I-205 with a two lane bottleneck will do far more to relieve congestion than a plan to punish motorists with tolling.
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
Washington legislators have objected to the effect tolling would have on their citizens traveling in Oregon. They are serious about imposing a 6% tax on all fuel refined in Washington that is sold to petroleum distributors in Oregon if tolling goes into effect.
What members of the Caucus are learning is that once they make a law and turn it over to state bureaucracy for implementation it can take on a life of its own. In this case they are finding ODOT and the Oregon Commission on Transportation doesn’t need them as much as the legislators need the environmental lobby for political survival.
--Tom Hammer| Post Date: 2022-03-07 12:12:04 | Last Update: 2022-03-07 15:17:53 |
