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Reduced Snowpack and Earlier Snowmelts Means Less Water for the Willamette Valley
In the West, the vast majority of annual precipitation falls during the winter months. Most of it falls as snow in the mountains, where it’s conveniently stored in snowpacks. In the Willamette Valley, these snowpacks, once melted, provide the majority of our water during our dry summers—anywhere from 40 to 80 percent. Winter snowpack irrigates ...
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Biking in the Wrong Direction: Causes One-third of Bike-Car Crashes
Tempted to ride the wrong direction in a bike lane? Don’t do it! Bicycles are considered vehicles under Oregon Revised Statutes and cyclists are required to ride with the flow of traffic when riding in the street. Most Corvallis bicyclists obey traffic laws and practice safe riding, but some ride against the traffic flow, creating ...
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Corvallisites Take a Vacation with Airbnb: A Home Away from Home
Got a sense of adventure and want an inexpensive getaway? Then you might want to consider Airbnb.com or similar websites that provide an interesting alternative to hotels. The crux: you’re staying in an individual’s home, and subject to all of that person’s peculiarities or perks. You might have roommates, in the form of a cat, ...
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Right to Die: End of Life Rights for Oregon’s Aged and Terminally Ill
You’d want a hospital to do anything to keep you alive, right? Well, maybe not. The flippant answer of life = good, death = bad isn’t quite as easy as that. At the hospital, the default is to do anything it takes to keep you alive. That could mean sticking a tube down your throat ...
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Get Out of the Left Lane: New Bill Will Penalize Driving Slow in the Fast Lane
A bill moving through the Oregon Senate would make the left lane off-limits for everything but passing vehicles. The most common response to this, made by most anyone who has spent any amount of time on I-5 in Oregon, ranges between “Thank God” and “Can we now please raise the speed limit to reflect the ...
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Portland Aquarium: No Good for Fish or Humans
What does an aquarium have to do to get a majority of people on Yelp give it a one-star review? First, have it run by people who’ve been arrested for illegally acquiring animals. Second, let children stick their hands into the tanks to ensure that your fish are stressed out and miserable. Third, let all ...
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The Fate of Our Local Old Growth Forests: Of Voles, Logging, and Rural Oregon Communities
Walking past River Jewelry on 2nd Street, you may notice something rather unusual for a jewelry store. Attached to the front door and covering much of the wall space throughout the shop are newspaper clippings and photographs of snowy mountains, lush rivers, and giant trees. Store owner and local conservationist Reed Wilson is a member ...
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Eradication by Mastication: Ten Edible Invasive Species in Oregon
Invasive species are essentially a form of biological pollution—they degrade habitats, displace desirable species, and cost Oregonians millions of dollars annually in control treatments. But many of them happen to be edible. And so we have invasivores—people who eat invasive species. An invasivore helps protect native flora and fauna by dining on tasty and nutritious ...
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The Strange State of Oregon Property Taxes: March City Club Recap
Property taxes, and the difficulties of funding services within the current Oregon tax system, were up for discussion at March’s City Club meeting this week. No one seemed to disagree that current property tax rules, particularly limitations imposed in the 1990’s, are problematic. Agreement on solutions was not as easy to come by. Meanwhile, preliminary ...
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Willamette Partnership Gets Nod From President Obama: Annual Report
The Willamette Partnership, formed in 2004 but originating from the 1996 Governor’s Willamette Basin Task Force, released its 2011-2012 Annual Report last week—and the conservation group’s achievements during the year include a nod from President Obama. The source of presidential praise was a water temperature trading program in the Rogue Basin led by the Freshwater ...
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Quinoa in the Pacific Northwest: Ancient Grains in Oregon?
According to OSU Today, the Pacific Northwest could have its first local crop of quinoa (keen-wah) growing locally within three years. Oregon State University is working with collaborators from Washington State University and Brigham Young University to develop a quinoa seed crop that will thrive in the Pacific Northwest. Kevin Murphy of Washington State University ...
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Wolves Return to Oregon and California: But Protecting Them May Prove Difficult
Twenty-five wildlife conservation, education and protection organizations in California, Oregon and Washington have formed an alliance committed to recovering wolves across the region. The Pacific Wolf Coalition’s mission is to ensure wolf recovery in the West. They envision populations of wolves restored across their historic habitats in numbers that will allow them to re-establish their ...
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Linn Sheriff Mueller, and Just What Is Posse Comitatus?: The False Dichotomy of Gun Control
The ongoing gun control debate in this country sometimes seems like a cross between an episode of The Flying Nun and a scrambled egg. Real facts and reasoning are lost in the hubbub of what seems to be largely a false dichotomy. I know, this isn’t news, it’s just the 21st century. Fair enough. But ...
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Muddy Waters: Will Oregon Ban Suction Dredge Gold Mining?
Wild, vast, and rugged, the West has always attracted individuals looking to turn its rich natural resources into quick cash. Yet as over a century of exploitation has proven, these resources are neither inexhaustible nor is the larger system in which they reside impervious to detrimental change. As such it is imperative that we as ...
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Tuition Equity for Undocumented Students in Oregon: Growing Our Educated Workforce
Currently, undocumented immigrants who wish to attend college in Oregon State are required to pay out-of-state tuition, regardless of how long they have lived in-state. Considering the estimated $14,000 cost difference between OSU’s in-state and out-of-state tuition, that residency distinction can be the difference between attaining a higher education and entering the workforce without a ...
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Shipping Midwest Coal Through Oregon: Albany Fights Back
If coal and shipping companies get their way, Oregon’s Coos Bay, along with four other Pacific Northwest ports, could soon become a major hub of US coal transport to China and other Asian countries. By 2023, Coos Bay could be shipping out over 11 million short tons of coal per year on 200 vessels, with ...
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The Furry Underbelly of Groundhog Day: A Crazy Tradition’s Historical Roots
Groundhog Day seems so clear cut: adorable, hibernation-weary marmot is prodded from his den on Feb. 2, and if a shadow is cast the area is due for another six weeks of cold winter. Who would have guessed that it springs from an ancient Pagan celebration of the beginning of spring? (OK, maybe that one’s ...
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ODOT’s High-Speed Passenger Trains: Coming to the Willamette Valley?
The Oregon Department of Transportation is currently working on a plan to bring high-speed passenger trains to one of four proposed routes linking the Columbia River above Portland to the Springfield-Eugene urban area. With all likelihood, a high-speed train could pass through Corvallis. According to ODOT, “Over the next 25 years, the population of the ...
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USDA Offers New Microloans to Small Farmers
If you’ve ever considered starting your own farm but lack the financial resources necessary to translate your dream into reality, you may be in luck. A new program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to provide affordable microloans for small-scale farming operations. Aimed at assisting family farmers, veterans and socially disadvantaged individuals, ...
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Gun Control in Oregon: There Really Isn’t Much
In Oregon, there are few laws or licenses that might be considered “gun control.” No permits are required to purchase guns, no registration is needed, and owners are not required to be licensed under normal circumstances. Openly carrying a gun is also allowed in the majority of the state. Diana Simpson, Benton County Sheriff, said ...