Think of the income the State will enjoy with collecting $2. bridge tolls, 10% of which will go to fight Meth.

Visit soon:

HB 1017 - DIGEST
Provides that any compound, mixture, or preparation containing any detectable quantity of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine, or their salts, isomers, or salts of isomers, dispensed, sold, or distributed at retail shall be dispensed, sold, or distributed only by a licensed pharmacist or a practitioner as defined in RCW 18.64.011.

You now need a prescription to buy Sudafed and Claritin D in Oregon.

Or bus fare to Vancouver, Washington.

...or internet access to an online pharmacy.

It's a good thing those internet pharmacies don't advertise.

"Dear Lord, please let Tom Potter and the rest of the City Council get caught breaking this law. In a very public manner. I know it's a state law, but let's get some pay-back going for the aerial tram, please. Amen."

Can toilet paper be far behind?

I'm here for you. :-)

We really hate Portland govt around here don't we? Scott's even blaming them for a law passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. Oooh, watching city officials break silly state laws; That's GREAT payback for the tram... Next we will laugh with glee next time we see any elected official at any level of government JAYWALK! Sorry if I missed the point of how breaking the sudafed law has ANYTHING to do with the tram.

Now, I could see the humor in the council getting caught riding the tram up and down the hill high on meth that they cooked up from some over-the-counter meds. Then you'd have your wish.

Sorry if I missed the point of how one off-the-wall comment detracts from the validity of the criticisms here of both city and state government. And we don't hate Portland government, we're simply very disappointed in it much of the time.

The off-the-wall comment doesn't detract from the validity of the concern, but it certainly muddies the clarity of the message. I agree that the new prescription law is wack, and I'm not a mega tram fan. I just thought the silliness to conflate the two deserved a little retort.

I didn't get the connection either. Plus, when you write "aerial tram" on this blog, you're supposed to follow it with "[rim shot]".

Did you see the piece in Sunday's New York Times about all the New Yorkers bailing out of the Apple and moving to Philly?

I'm here for you. :-)

Thanks for the offer, Chris, but Lars Larson is already scoring me some Claritin for my allergies.

Loved it. Some of my planner/hipster friends were foaming at the mouth over the idea that no one would buy art from the transplanted Brooklynites in Philly... "Its a great article for Phila until that last moron artist's comment. Camden, or East Philadelphia as its new marketing campaign will state, is going to
provide plenty of willing art purchasers."

Another said, "I don't need them bringing their soul patch wearing, ironic tattoo sporting, vespa driving kind down here hiking up rents!" Sounds like Portland!

Maybe Randy Gragg will wind up there when they toss him out of Boston.

The Washington Post made an embarrassing mistake this morning by mis-captioning a photo of Gov. Kulongoski as the person who threatened a federal judge.

I'm living over here in D.C. and was reading the
Washington Post's commuter paper today, the "Washington Post Express" wherein Gov. Kulongoski's picture is used twice -- the first on page 3
regarding the sudafed drug law passed in Oregon, and then again on page 4 where they use the exact same picture of the Gov. but with the caption "J.D. Killen" by a story explaining that J.D. Killen had threatened a federal judge.

You can download the story at washingtonpost.com/express and then hit
the link in the upper right to download today's paper.

Meth is the scourge of this county, according to the cops and judges.

Or, just ask any high school counselor or nurse, if we haven't fired them all yet.

I think there is one left, in Roseburg, somewhere.

In meantime, suck it up, folks. You send your kids to school sicker than dogs, so why don't you go to work like that too?

"Scott's even blaming them for a law passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor"

Welcome first time reader! Try reading a little closer next time.

The sardonic comment was is my hope that *someone* in the gov't groups that affect my life would receive *some* punishment for the idiocy they pass:
- Aerial Tram [rim shot]: Costs so much that the tweekers in my neighborhood can't be caught because the City can't afford cops.
- Sudafed Law: Even the Oregonian quoted cops as saying that they know where the meth houses are, but they just don't have the money/desire to close them down. The bad guys aren't hiding, we just don't have the money to shut them down.

"Sorry if I missed the point of how breaking the sudafed law has ANYTHING to do with the tram."

Creation of the Sudafed law is related to the aerial tram [rim shot] - since the tram money could have stopped the meth problem in Portland. Instead, we have a feel-good law that will only give gov't a free-pass from actually solving the problem.

So, honest (semi-honest) question here, because what I have read has been pretty unclear. Is any Aerial Tram [rim shot] funding coming from City or County general funds or tax revenues? I'm trying to establish whether or not these funds could have actually been shifted to law enforcement had they not been dedicated for the tram. Wasn't the PDC putting up the funds? If so, No Aerial Tram [rim shot] = more luxury condo tax abatements and land giveaways, not meth crackdown.

Are you kidding? Scads of general fund money are going into the infrastructure (streets, sewers, etc., don't just magically appear) down there. I believe there's a million or so of core transportation money going into the aerial tram [rim shot] alone. And the city will wind up footing a bill well into six figures every year (if not seven) to subsidize the operation of the tram [drum solo].

Also, just because it goes through PDC doesn't mean it's suddenly magically state or federal money. Nearly 20 percent of all property taxes in Portland go to "urban renewal," which is where the pork for people like Homer Williams and Trammell Crow comes from. And since property taxes are strrrrrictly limited by state law, that's just less money that's available for basic services. No critical thinker is buying the "colors of money" mumbo-jumbo that's being peddled at City Hall these days. Ther's a kernel of truth to it, but not much more than that. Don't kid yourself: More "urban renewal" means less cops.

""""So, honest (semi-honest) question here, because what I have read has been pretty unclear. Is any Aerial Tram [rim shot] funding coming from City or County general funds or tax revenues?"""

This is exactly the levelof understanding the public agencies want.

OF COURSE, Gneral fudn money is being used for the tram [rim shot]

Urban Renewal, SoWa district 403 acres encompassing and surrounding Sowa wil be having their property taxes skimmed for at least 20 years and millions of it wil be going to that thing.
Millions which would be flowing to basic serices general fund budgets. Every single proerty has at least a 3% increase in assessed value every years.
All of which will go to SoWa and that thing instead of offsetting the rising costs of basic serices.
Which means replacement revenue MUST be identified.
All the while there is no planning for any replacment revenue or even transportation.

It's simply high density and toy trains and things.
That's it.

Crap in crap out.

Anyone remember Measure 11 from 2002? It authorized the issuance of $200 million in GO bonds to finance OHSU medical research AND OTHER CAPITOL COSTS. It was promoted as lowering the cost of financing the aerial tram (rim shot) and other OHSU capital improvements because it changed the method of financing from short-term dedicated funds (via revenue bonds) to a general obligation of the state (via long-term general obligation bonds). The source of money is the general fund, lottery funds, tobacco settlement and other sources but not including ad valorem property taxes. The crafters of this measure managed to get a ballot title approved that made it seem like a good deal for low-cost funding of medical research. In fact, it is simply a way of getting all of us to pay for the carnival ride. Wonder why the costs keep going up? There are $200 million to spend. They relied on all of us being uninformed.

People better put their foot down NOW
Yuo can start with the 10 year tax abatement for the trammel Crow tower

i may just be jealous, but seeing as i work downtown, i would like my own personal aerial tram (rim shot) to get to work.

or maybe just a static line i can strap a harness to.

if me and 254 other people did this, it would mean 1 less bus on the road.

Thanks for the explanation. I apologize for my terribly low level of understanding Steve, I've been merely a part time resident off and on for the past 8 years, so some of this flies under the radar. Nevertheless, I already knew much of what you and Jack described. To me, the argument that urban renewal money is set aside at the expense of services is still a subjective one. It's more about whether or not you think urban renewal is a worthwhile program, and moreover, whether you think SoWa, the Pearl and other recent PDC projects would have raised any substantial level of property taxes anyway without the intervention. We could all speculate, but we will never know. The truth is, arguing that funds designated for transportation, urban renewal, etc. are being spent at the expense of key services is no different than me saying: I don't use the parks. Parks & Rec spending is why the police can't stop the meth epidemic. Silllly.

The fact is, public safety and urban renewal are not mutually exclusive. Nor, I might add do cities and counties around the state without large urban renewal spending have the meth epidemic all figured out.

Oh, and Measure 11 also created an OHSU-specific exception to the constitutional debt limitation for GO bonds. Pretty sweet exception if you are one of the trough-feeding piggies who want to ride up and down on an aerial tram (rim shot) day after day. Not so sweet for those of us paying for it.

"if me and 254 other people did this, it would mean 1 less bus on the road."

Now you're talking! Will they put that bumpersticker on the aerial tram [rim shot]? If not, someone should.

NLP2P - "We could all speculate, but we will never know."

After living here 30+ years, there is no speculation. The non-downtown areas of the city ARE getting worse. And more trains downtown aren't going to improve the situation.

The objective problem is "Urban Renewal" is a variation of the Sudafed Law. That is, it gives the gov't folks an excuse to hide behind - because they did *something* - while that something actually makes the situation worse.