TOP STORIES
These iconic images from 9/11 are truly unforgettable
Statesman Journal
The country watched in horror as hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attack killed 2,996 people, making it the deadliest foreign attack ever on U.S. soil. Each anniversary brings a resurgence of memories from that fateful day, but the heartbreaking visuals are particularly striking. Here are the most memorable photos from the September 11 attacks.
US marks 9/11 with somber tributes, new monument to victims
The Associated Press
Margie Miller was among the thousands of 9/11 victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and others who gathered on a misty Tuesday morning at the memorial plaza where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood. She came to the site from her home in suburban Baldwin, as she does 10 or so times a year, to remember her husband, Joel Miller. Only a few fragments of his remains were recovered. “To me, he is here. This is my holy place,” his widow said before the ceremony began a moment of silence and tolling bells at 8:46 a.m., the time when the trade center was hit by the first of two terrorist-piloted planes. Victims’ relatives who had brought signs bearing photos of their loved ones wordlessly held them high.
Deaths from 9/11 diseases will soon outnumber those lost on that fateful day
Statesman Journal
Seventeen years out from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, nearly 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer. More than 2,000 deaths have been attributed to 9/11 illnesses. It will get worse. By the end of 2018, many expect that more people will have died from their toxic exposure from 9/11 than were killed on that terrible Tuesday.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Capitol roundup: Brown says no plans for property tax changes
The Bend Bulletin
Gov. Kate Brown says her budget proposal, due after the November election, will not include a property-tax proposal. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls on property tax reform,” Brown told reporters Thursday. “My office is not developing a policy and there will be nothing in my budget on this issue. It would require a constitutional amendment.” Brown said she would deliver a balanced budget proposal, as required by law. She confirmed aides are talking with proponents and opponents of property-tax reform but reiterated that her budget would not initiate any action on the issue.
ELECTIONS
On The Sidelines Of Democracy: Exploring Why So Many Americans Don’t Vote
Oregon Public Broadcasting
“I feel like my voice doesn’t matter,” she said on a recent evening at a park in East Providence, Rhode Island. “People who suck still are in office, so it doesn’t make a difference.” Davis might sound contrarian, but she’s not. Although these days more Americans say they’re enthusiastic about voting in a midterm election than at any point in the last two decades, come Election Day, nonvoters like Davis will still probably be the norm. For every 10 adults eligible to vote, only about four cast a ballot in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections.
Washington Post Puts Oregon Governor’s Race in National Context
Willamette Week
The Post put Oregon in the context of other blue states, including Vermont, Maryland and Massachusetts, where most voters are Democrats but the governor is a Republican. Although Democrats here and across the country are likely to tar Republican candidates by linking them to President Donald Trump, a polling expert told the Post that may not be successful.
John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, cautioned that the allure of Republican governors in some traditionally Democratic states appears to be persisting, despite the Trump presidency, because swing voters still prefer some ideological “balance” in state governments. “There is a real thirst and desire for people to see state lawmakers focus on issues that affect them in tangible ways, and sometimes that means reaching across party lines,” Della Volpe told the Post.
CLEAN ENERGY
Appeals court backs Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program
Portland Business Journal
Trade groups representing gasoline, diesel and ethanol producers, sellers and users argued the program, which requires fuel providers to meet gradually declining carbon intensity targets, discriminates against out-of-state fuels. But as it had in 2014 when it ruled on a largely identical California program, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Oregon program discriminates “against fuels based on lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, not state of origin.”
California Sets Goal Of 100 Percent Clean Electric Power By 2045
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill mandating the electricity target on Monday. He also issued an executive order calling for statewide carbon neutrality — meaning California “removes as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits” — by the same year. The bill specifically requires that 50 percent of California’s electricity to be powered by renewable resources by 2025 and 60 percent by 2030, while calling for a “bold path” toward 100 percent renewable power by 2045.
LOCAL
Portland mental health center failed to stop suicide after problems surfaced, report says
Oregonian/OregonLive
A patient died by suicide at the Unity Center for Behavioral Health two months after state investigators informed the psychiatric hospital that it was failing to safeguard patients, according to findings from the latest inspection released Monday. The suicide and other problems illustrate the Unity Center’s seeming slowness to fix serious lapses. Those included instances of staff members not properly restraining and secluding patients and not adequately monitoring patients who wanted to harm themselves. Patients also were able to escape.
California Woman Sues Port of Portland, Saying Police Tackled Her in Airport Sheraton Lobby
Willamette Week
Blanca Aguirre says Port of Portland police tackled her without warning or explanation, failed to read her Miranda rights, illegally detained her and refused to document her injuries or complaints. Aguirre is the second Latina woman to allege excessive use of force by the Port of Portland police this year. The first was Jathina Campos, who says police gave her a black eye and chipped her tooth in an altercation at the airport.
OPINION
Editorial: Health-care taxes for the poor should be broadly based
The Bulletin Editorial Board
Tina Edlund, senior health policy advisory to Gov. Kate Brown, has revealed some of the revenue options being considered in interviews. One she mentioned is to tax employers whose workers are on the Oregon Health Plan — that’s the state’s version of Medicaid. This concept is sometimes called a Walmart tax. The idea is companies that don’t pay their workers enough are getting a corporate subsidy from the government, so they should pay it. But it would likely have may unintended and unwanted consequences.
Guest column: Vote no on Measure 105
The Bend Bulletin
Imagine what it would be like if you were an undocumented immigrant and every time you considered reporting a crime to local law enforcement you thought you would be reported to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What would you do? You would refrain from reporting. By eliminating Oregon’s anti-racial-profiling law, some members of our community will no longer feel safe coming to law enforcement with crime tips, concerns or reports. In turn, crime rates will go up, and we will be less safe. That’s one reason why I strongly oppose Measure 105.