News Blog
The newsroom blog is updated daily. We welcome comments on postings as well as on any items you see on our Web sites or printed products. We're also interested in your suggestions. Thoughtful comments will be posted here, and may also be used in our print product.
July 1 2009
How do you rate the Oregon Legislature?
Should it have cut more and taxed less? Or did it cut too much? Did vital services take too big a hit? What should have been cut so that more money could have gone elsewhere? Did legislators approve too many new rules — not enough?
Please send us your comments.
Previous blog subjects are listed under “blogs,” under “opinions,” in the Index, which has a tab at the top of this page. You can still comment on them.
Posted at 8:24 am |
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! Comments June 29 2009
If you could talk to Tom Tidwell, the new chief of the U.S. Forest Service, what would you tell him?
As the top administrator for the nation’s national forests, Tidwell has authority over forests in or near the Klamath County area that include more than 10 million acres. Would you talk to him about pine beetle damage, biomass production, logging, recreation use — or something else? Please send your responses to the news blog at
heraldandnews.com.
Posted at 4:17 pm |
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! Comments June 26 2009
How influential in the way children treat alcohol is the example set by parents?
Does “do as I say, not as I do” prevail? Do most parents consider the example they’re setting for kids? Does it even matter?
How should parents approach their children about the subject of alcohol use?
Please send your comments to the news blog at
heraldandnews.com.
Posted at 9:19 am |
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! Comments June 22 2009
What should be done that isn’t being done now to reduce alcohol abuse?
Overuse of alcohol is a huge problem in Klamath County. Is there anything that could be done differently through such things as law enforcement, treatment and community attitudes to reduce alcohol’s destructive impact?
Please send us your comments to the news blog at
heraldandnews.com.
— Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 12:08 pm |
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! Comments June 17 2009
How well do you think the federal government is handling the recession?
Is it on the right path, or is it pouring too many resources into it that are borrowed from the future? Is it creating an economy that is too much driven by political decisions rather than by the normal demand-and- supply cycle of the marketplace?
Are any problems for the future outweighed by benefits to the present?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 4:04 pm |
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! Comments June 15 2009
Should garbage pickup be mandatory in the Klamath Falls urban area?
The subject has come up to the Klamath Falls City Council more than once, but always failed. But is the urban area just too trashy without it?
And if so, should the county area of densely populated suburbs be included? Please send your comments to the news blog at
heraldandnews.com.
— Opinion Editor Pat BusheyPosted at 7:41 am |
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! Comments June 9 2009
Should downtown Klamath Falls have a different traffic pattern?
Is a one-way grid the best?
How about keeping a one-way grid, but reversing the present traffic flow on Main Street and Klamath Avenue? Would it improve business downtown and expose the historic area to tourists more so than at present?
Anybody for a return to two-way traffic? Please send us your comments
Posted at 3:34 pm |
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! Comments June 5 2009
What should the priorities be in arriving at school budgets for local school districts?
Both districts and their teaching staffs have been at odds over how to meet their budget needs.
The county district has arrived at a budget that will result in the layoff of 30 teachers. Fifteen others will take buyouts.
The city district is still putting together its budget and has asked the teachers to make concessions. The teachers’ union has said it expects the district to live by the contract approved in February.
Posted at 3:07 pm |
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! Comments June 2 2009
How do you feel about the death penalty?
Jessie Pratt, whose heinous murder of Carrie Love took place in Klamath County in 1986, was recently taken off Oregon’s death row.
Pratt was convicted first in 1988 and then again in 1991 after an appeals judge ruled that the trial judge had allowed improper testimony.
Oregon’s gone back and forth with the death penalty. Even though it allows the death penalty at present, the process functions in a manner that makes it more like suicide because inmates generally don’t get executed unless they voluntarily drop their appeals.
Posted at 3:46 pm |
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! Comments May 29 2009
Should the local school districts give more consideration to four-day school weeks?
Proponents say it would cut costs significantly for such things as substitute teachers, utilities, buses and school maintenance.
Please send us your comments.
— Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 4:19 pm |
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! Comments May 26 2009
What do you think of the large-scale turnover in board positions for the Klamath Falls City and Klamath County School Districts?
All six positions — three in each district — will have new people in them. In five of them, the incumbents didn’t run for reelection. Are you looking for any changes from the boards?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 9:26 am |
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! Comments May 18 2009
Should people be allowed to carry loaded guns in national parks and federal wildlife refuges if the practice is in accordance with state and local laws?
Both Oregon U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, have voted for such a law, which is moving through Congress. It’s attached to a bill dealing with credit cards and final approval isn’t certain.
In January, the Bush administration approved a rule change to allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and refuges if the they have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and the state allows weapons in parks. The change overturned a federal restriction established in the 1980s against carrying loaded weapons in such areas.
The proposed Bush administration change, however, was then blocked by a federal district court judge’s ruling that the Obama administration said it won’t appeal.
Posted at 4:07 pm |
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! Comments May 12 2009
Do you have suggestions to help solve the shortage of doctors in the local area?
The area is short of certain kinds of doctors and it’s tough to get them to come here. Any answers?
That’s one of a number of health-related problems in Klamath County. Another is that about 25 percent of the people don’t have health insurance, which means they go to the Sky Lakes Emergency Room for care.
Much of the emergency room cost is absorbed by the hospital and paid for by other patients.
Posted at 12:54 pm |
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! Comments May 6 2009
Do Forest Service fee increases look fair?
The Forest Service is increasing fees for people who own cabins on Forest Service lands by as much as 400 percent. An average $1,500 fee at Lake of the Woods would climb to more than $6,000. What do you think?
— Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 11:14 pm |
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! Comments May 4 2009
Are you taking any special precautions because of the flu outbreak?
Are you laying in a supply of sanitizers and surgical masks? Staying away from crowds? Changed travel plans? Please send us your Comments.
—Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 5:15 pm |
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! Comments April 30 2009
What do you think of special district races?
Voters are receiving ballots for the May 19 election. It includes contested races for the Klamath Community College board and the Klamath County 911 Emergency Communications District among many others.
Races for the Klamath County School District board and the Klamath Falls City Schools Board have their own blogs and can be found by going to the Web page at
herandandnews.com, clicking on the Index at the top and then on the blog entry under opinion.
The other special districtsraces are listed below. Please post your comments about them on this blog. Please make it clear which races and candidates you’re referring to.
Posted at 1:10 pm |
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! Comments April 22 2009
What do you think of the Klamath Falls City School District board races?
All three board positions are being contested: Zone 3, Jon Hicks vs. Lee Schroder; Zone 6, Debra K. Perdue vs. Rick Vaughn; Zone 7, Bill Jennings vs. Bob Boring.
Do you plan to vote? What are the most important issues the candidates need to address? What qualities are you looking for in a school board member?
Posted at 2:09 pm |
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! Comments April 15 2009
Is the Oregon Legislature going too far?
Do lawmakers have too much time on their hands? You might think so, judging from some of the proposals appearing in Salem these days.
A sampling:
• Prescriptions for cigarettes.
Posted at 5:42 pm |
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! Comments April 10 2009
What are your feelings about the Klamath County School District races?
There are two contested races: Zone 3 — Denise Kandra vs. Roger G. Taylor; and Zone 5 — Katie Bruner vs. Susan K. McDaniel vs. Jill M. O’Donnell. In Zone 2, Mike Noonan is running unopposed. Please send us your comments.
When this blog topic moves off the Herald and News opening Web page Tuesday, it will be accessible by clicking on the index tab on the opening page and clicking on blogs under opinion.
—Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 8:34 am |
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! Comments April 6 2009
Would your vote change?
If you voted in the March 10 election on merging the two local school districts, would you have voted any differently if you had known that your taxes would not go under the realignment plan already agreed to?
A state attorney general’s opinion last week said the tax rate for city voters will be unchanged by the realignment plan that eliminated the overlap district.
Information prior to the election had said tax rate would go up under the realignment plan, which the districts are now implementing. If the merger had been approved, the tax rate would have gone up even more.
Posted at 8:54 pm |
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! Comments April 3 2009
What’s the best approach to help the skatepark at Steen Sports Park?
The city of Klamath Falls wants to end its $35,000-a-year subsidy and has asked the operator there to come up with a plan.
What should be included to make it more self-sustaining? Is it even reasonable to expect that it be so? Could events aimed at drawing tourists to Klamath Falls to use the skatepark help?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 4:45 pm |
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! Comments March 31 2009
What advice would you give a 50-something person who just got laid off?
The financial impact, of course, could be huge. But what about a person who has been doing good work, and then is terminated while some colleagues are picked to stay? What’s that do to confidence, especially at a time when a person needs every ounce of self-assurance he or she can muster in a search for a new job?
For most people, 50 is too young to retire, so that’s not an option. Is it too old to retrain? How do you help someone deal with such a situation and if that “someone” is you, what kind of help do you feel most in need of?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 6:02 pm |
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! Comments March 27 2009
What can be done to strengthen relations between OIT students and Klamath Falls?
Joint activities of some kind? Making the fact that Klamath Falls is the home of OIT more visible?
How about putting up a sign in the downtown area that at least points to how to OIT’s location. There are murals in downtown Klamath Falls celebrating major points of local history — Kingsley Field, the coming of the railroad, the tribes — why nothing about OIT?
There’s a big blue water tower at the north end of town with a lot of space that just begs for something that says Klamath Falls is the “Home of OIT.”
Posted at 10:14 pm |
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! Comments March 24 2009
Is the Democratic Party due for a resurgence in Klamath County?
It’s already happened nationwide. The Democrats have also become Oregon’s power party. Will it happen in Klamath County?
There was a time not too many years ago when Klamath County Democrats elected state legislators and county commissioners. Will it return?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 4:24 pm |
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! Comments March 23 2009
What would you do if you find your under-aged son or daughter has been drinking?
How tough would you be? Would you believe it if he or she said it was the first time? What would you say? Please send us your answers.
— Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 11:26 pm |
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! Comments March 13 2009
How do you feel about the school district merger vote?
What good things came from election campaign? Bad things? Was it one more divisive element in an often-divided community?
Is there a value to closure of two schools that comes with the realignment plan that will now go into effect? Or is it more than offset by the problems the closures will cause for students and parents?
Please send us your comments.
Posted at 3:31 pm |
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! Comments March 11 2009
How do you feel about the city of Klamath Falls’ more aggressive annexation effort?
It includes using a “triple majority” process of going ahead when it has a majority of property owners with a majority of the property and with a majority of the assessed value in favor.
The city requires an annexation agreement in order to provide city water service and it’s up to the city to decide when to exercise the agreement. County residents also pay more for the water service than city residents do.
When the city boundaries include new property, the property owners pay significantly more in property taxes.
Posted at 12:10 pm |
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! Comments March 9 2009
The interaction between alcohol and teens claimed another life recently. What can be done?
Underaged drinking is a chronic problem in Klamath County. Any suggestions on how to stop the carnage? Please send us your comments.
Posted at 7:20 am |
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! Comments March 4 2009
In allocating money, what should the Legislature’s first priority be?
Schools? Law enforcement? The university system? Doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t raise taxes?
Please send us your comments.
— Opinion Editor Pat Bushey
Posted at 9:58 am |
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