Good piece on chickens and property values

A local realtor talks some sense about the effect of pet hens on property values:

There has long been a movement to allow people to have chickens on their property. This movement is picking up some steam due to the recent economic woes. Stressing the importance of being able to grow your own food, C.I.T.Y (Chickens in the Yard) is making another push to remove the ban and allow chickens in Salem Oregon city limits.

So what does this mean for homeowners and property values? In my opinion, not much. Really…I mean think about it. Your neighbor has chickens and you start to stress that your property values are going to go down now? Do you not think that the house painted neon green next door, the ugly orange jalopy half taken apart in the driveway, or the barking dogs aren’t going to impact people either?

Will some buyers freak out about living next to chickens and pass on buying your house for sale? Yes. There are always those who get concerned about these things. BUT there are people that will pass on your house because your neighbor dog barks at them as well…Unfortunately we really can’t do much about our neighbor’s [sic]. I can’t choose their paint color, whether or not they play their music loud, or whether or not they have an obnoxious kid. These are all part of living close to one another with different value systems.

Home buyers also need to remember that just because you buy a house because there are no dogs, chickens, or loud noises around doesn’t mean that won’t change when the house next to you goes up for sale. Loud people move too.

Chickens in city limits really should not be a huge concern for home buyers. If you really hate the idea, many subdivisions have CC&R’s that don’t allow livestock. Those CC&R’s still trump any changes the city would make. If the ban gets lifted, then you can always live in one of those neighborhoods and know that you will be safe from chickens next door.

Inch by inch, step by step ... finally

Some good news on the Union St. bridge work!

Don't forget: Salem Progressive Film Series, 3/12

March 12, 2009 7 PM
Grand Theater, High Street at Court Street.

ADDICTED TO PLASTIC is a feature-length documentary about solutions to plastic pollution. The point-of-view style documentary encompasses three years of filming in 12 countries on 5 continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic's path over the last 100 years and provides a wealth of expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. These solutions - which include plastic made from plants - will provide viewers with a hopeful perspective about our future with plastic.

"Addicted to Plastic was a wake-up call for me as a marine scientist. This film presents the viewers with a grim, realistic look at how the food chain is being affected due to plastic confetti invading nearly every square centimeter on earth. It is a sobering must-see and needs to be shown at every educational level globally!" ~ Dr. James M. Cervino, Assistant Professor, Biology and Health Sciences, Pace University

Fascinating on how to make it so journalism can survive

Journalism arose in this land quite early, before the advent of the USA, and it continues, in a greatly weakened state to this day. We need journalists and especially more investigatory and critical journalism as an alternative to the "stenographers to power" that make up so much of the corporate media. But how will journalism survive when corporate newspapers finish collapsing, done in by their own fecklessnesss, free papers on the intenet, free classifieds on Craigslist, and the rising costs of moving heavy piles of dead trees around so that it can be saturated with ink and dumped, unread, back into the recycling bin? Here's some thoughts worth considering.

And cool at Salem Public Library

The Mad Scientist returns to Salem Public Library to lead families to the Land of Fire and Ice. Filled with dazzling demonstrations using fire, bubbling potions, and carbon dioxide gas frozen to 109°F below zero, this perennially popular science show will stimulate minds and spark imaginations.

Mad Science’s special brand of exciting, educational, high-energy science magic shows just how hot and cool science can be.

The show is free on a first-come, first-seated basis. Doors open 6:45 p.m.

All Family Festival of the Arts shows are free and open to the public with the generous ongoing support from the Friends of Salem Public

Cool exhibit @ West Salem Library

On Display ... The Work of Chuck Dolence:
Musicanical Engineer
March 1 - 28

Chuck Dolence blends the elegance and precision of ordinary metal objects into mechanical metaphors of the Industrial Era, using musical instruments, science, mechanics, and more. Chuck‘s work has been displayed at the Portland Art Museum, with Artists of Innovation in Beaverton, and at Andrews School of Fine Arts in Ohio.

Opportunity to hear Kitzhaber on health care

While LOVESalem does not belong to any political party --- believing, like Groucho, that we wouldn't want to belong to any organization that would have us --- sometimes it's one of the parties who is talking about things that matter to Salem, in this case health care.

We are honored to welcome Former Governor - Dr. John Kitzhaber on Wednesday, March 18.

Reservation requests for this event may exceed the capacity of our meeting space.
Early reservations are strongly encouraged. Reservations will be honored on a first come, first served basis. If your reservation is one of those that exceed our meeting room capacity, we will place you on a waiting list.

Dr. Kitzhaber will speak on the Health Care Reform at the Federal Level, a subject he presents in speeches and lectures through the country.

Make your reservation by:
e-mailing: mariondemoforum@yahoo.com or
calling our message line: 503-363-8392

2009 Politcal Outlook Series
Marion DemoForum
Welcomes

Dr. John Kitzhaber
Former Governor & Senate President
Health Care Reform Advocate
Prospects for Health Care Reform - Federal Level
Wednesday, March 18
Noon to 1PM
Kwan's Cuisine, 835 Commercial St SE, Salem

Reservations Required (Deadline Tues March 17)
Cost - $11 includes a buffet lunch, tea & gratuity

For more info, visit our web site

John Kitzhaber served as Governer from 1995 through 2003. Prior that he served in the legislature from 1981 through 1993 serving as Senate President from 1985 through 1993. One of his most notable accomplishments as a legislator and a governor was the creation and expansion of the Oregon Health Plan.

Kitzhaber is a physican. He worked as an emergency room physician from 1973 to 1986. He currently works as a medical educator and speaks throughout the nation as an advocate for health care reform. In 2006, he founded an organiztion called the Archmedes Movement to organize and advocate for health care reform.

To Make your reservation:
email: mariondemoforum@yahoo.com
Or call our message line: 503-363-8392

In your message, give your name, phone number, any special dietary needs, and the number of people who will attend. Please indicate that you are making a DemoForum reservation.

As always, we would like to welcome our guest speaker with a large audience. You can assist us in planning a successful luncheon and insure your place at the DemoForum by MAKING YOUR RESERVATION EARLY. Late reservations make an accurate headcount difficult and damage our business relationship with the restaurant.

We hope to see you at the DemoForum. Don’t miss it!

Andy Bromeland, DemoForum Coordinator

Capital Rally, March 15, 1 p.m.

Peace and Justice Works
Iraq Affinity Group
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065 (Office)
pjw@pjw.info
http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html

MEDIA ADVISORY/Calendar Listing

For immediate release February 14, 2009

Contacts: Dan Handelman, Peace and Justice Works (503) 236-3065, iraq@pjw.info
William Seaman, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (503) 344-5078, pprc@riseup.net

Event: March and rally: "Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan"
Date: Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM
Place: Steps of the State Capitol & Capitol Mall, downtown Salem, Oregon.

Peace Rally and March Planned
at Capitol in Salem Sunday, March 15, 2009
Across Oregon, peace and social justice groups mobilize to mark 6th anniversary of Iraq war and push state legislators to keep Guard home

Dozens of peace and social justice organizations across the state are gearing up for a big action in Salem this March to call for an end to the US war in Iraq and to urge Oregon State legislators to stop the Spring deployment of the National Guard to Iraq.

The action, titled "Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan" is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15th, at 1:00 PM, with a rally at the steps of the Capitol, followed by a march through downtown Salem. The full call to action for the event is listed below.

"This will be a great opportunity to show both the Obama administration and the Legislature that lots of Oregonians still want peace and are willing to work for it," said [Salem's] Peter Bergel, Director of Oregon PeaceWorks, one of the over 40 organizations co-sponsoring the March 15th action at the state Capitol.

The timing corresponds with the Rural Organizing Project's Annual Rural Caucus & Strategy Session which is held March 15th and 16th in Salem. The ROP gathering includes a statewide strategic planning session on Sunday, March 15th, taking place before and continuing after the peace march and rally, and a legislative visit day on Monday, the 16th, with the goal of informing legislators of Oregon's priorities for the 2009 legislature.

"Sending half the Oregon guard to Iraq is a big hardship for them and for Oregon," said Curt Bell, a member of the PDX Peace Coalition, another co-sponsor for the March 15th peace rally. "Some of them might not come back and they are needed here at home." Bell emphasized that the United States should be bringing troops home from Iraq, not sending more. "The authorization to send the Oregon Guard to Iraq and Afghanistan this spring is not constitutionally valid and our state legislature needs to step up and say no to deployment."

"We face severe economic dislocations in the coming months, with millions losing their jobs, their health insurance and their homes," said William Seaman, a volunteer with Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, "Our continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is the problem, not the solution to the ongoing violence there, and the astronomical spending on these wars and occupations would bring greater security worldwide if it were directed to creating jobs, rebuilding our collapsing infrastructure, and helping to put the country's economy back on track."

"The selection of our state capitol as the location for this protest was very deliberate," said Leah Bolger of Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 in Corvallis. "Congress has ignored the public call for a return of our troops from Iraq--now the people are turning to their state legislature to demand that they step up and challenge the illegal deployment of our National Guard troops. We want our country to stop spending $12 billion a month on Iraq and use that money to take care of human needs here at home," added Bolger, who also serves as National Vice-President of Veterans for Peace and is co-coordinator of the Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon.

Co-sponsors for the March 15th action in Salem include Peace & Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group (503-236-3065), Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (www.pprc-news.org), East Timor Action Network/Portland, War Resisters League-Portland (503-238-0605), PDX Peace Coalition (www.pdxpeace.org), Metanoia Peace Community-United Methodist Church, Rural Organizing Project, Oregon Wildlife Federation, Peace Justice and Environment Committee of the Portland Mennonite Church, Progressive Responses--a program of Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC), Oregon PeaceWorks (503-585-2767-Salem), Families for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 (Corvallis), American Friends Service Committee, Portland Alliance (media cosponsor), Alliance for Democracy - Portland Chapter, Portland Solidarity (portlandsolidarity@post.com), Silverton People for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72 (Portland), Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (www.auphr.org), Veterans for Peace Chapter 141 (Bandon), Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Yamhill Valley Peacemakers, Willamette Reds, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland Chapter, Street Roots, and KBOO Community Radio 90.7FM Portland/100.7FM Corvallis/91.9FM Hood River (www.kboo.fm).

Endorsers include Love Makes a Family Inc, Code Pink Portland, Tikkun Olam committee of P'nai Or, Women in Black, Rogue Valley Veterans for Peace Chapter 156 (Grants Pass), West Hills Friends Church, Freedom Socialist Party (503-240-4662), Stand for Peace (Cottage Grove), Central Oregon Peace Network (Bend), Institute for Peace and Justice at Linn Benton Community College, Oregon Green Energy Coalition, Radical Women, Portland Jobs with Justice, Eugene PeaceWorks and others.

For more information, please call Peace & Justice Works at 503-236-3065.

The full call to action for the March 15 event:

Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan

-- Money for jobs, education, healthcare and housing, not war!

-- End the Siege of Gaza! A Just Peace for Palestine-Israel!

-- Say NO to Scapegoating! Protect Immigrant Rights!

Our country needs a renewed and vigorous commitment to human rights, implementing UN resolutions treating rape as a war crime and supporting women as peace-builders. Never again the scourge of torture. Never again the secret prisons and renditions, the knock on the door in the dead of night. Those responsible for the crimes must be brought to justice. And the Oregon Guard must stay in Oregon!

As our country and our world slide deeper into recession, half of the Oregon Guard have been ordered to Iraq in an immoral war that Oregonians oppose. The Oregon Guard's place is at home, providing service for communities threatened by natural disasters.

- END -

SJ notices C.I.T.Y.

Story on the Chickens in the Yard movement.

Beware of con-men bearing miracles

The opposite of a transition towards relocalization is the manic urge to keep everything the way it was, or to get back to "business as usual" as quickly as possible.

This is best demonstrated by the old reliable of energy scammers popping up whenever energy prices cause economic havoc -- the unexpressed (and often unconscious) desire that people have to continue the energy party makes them very vulnerable to the scam artist who promises the magic potion (or technology) that will solve all the problems . . .

Given that most Americans are poorly educated in science and have long been encouraged to be suspicious of anyone who is not (those eggheads), there's a perfect opportunity awaiting for the scam artist --- a large population of economically distressed people who are easy prey for smooth talk about how "government is part of the conspiracy," which always seems to involve boundless cheap energy.

That's always the tipoff --- just like the Conquistadors would do anything for the Fountain of Youth, a lot of Americans are all-too-ready to ignore the warning signs and give money to scam artists promising super mileage or slashed heating bills. . . .

In any time of crisis, beware anyone who shows up offering a miraculous new invention/suppressed technology/hidden secret that can cure our energy woes.