Springfield uses a cam to track traffic in roundabout

KVAL

The city of Springfield a while back purchased a "handy-cam" to track traffic
for the city's new roundabout at the intersection of Harlow and Pioneer Parkway to record traffic patterns. [you'll notice a sign at the intersection stating such]

"So what we will do is we'll use the video to record the traffic and then in the office we will count the traffic usually just one person forward and back forward and back," says Brian Barnett with the city."

The camera according to Barnett, will save the city money by reducing the number of people required to count cars.

I hope that they will also count the number of finder benders, near misses and people like me that avoid that intersection at all costs because it feels like your taking your life in your hands just to get across the street.

And what about the EmX, is it going to add to the confusing at this intersection when the $40 million gateway project is completed?{funding}

Yes, I know that roundabouts work well in other countries, however when I talk to my friends that are from England where roundabouts are common, they tell me that they are much larger with much more room to maneuver and they even feel that this roundabout is dangerious.

Barack Obama: illegal immigration hits home

Robin's commentary:

Admittedly I have not been following all of the presidential election items as closely as I would've liked to, however, one thing that I have noticed listening to CNBC and other news services, including talk shows is the "hands-off" approach regarding immigration.

As you will recall, McCain along with Senator Kennedy years back tried to put into place an "amnesty bill", otherwise known as the immigration Reform Act of 2007 ( S. 1033) [Library of Congress]

April 3, 2006, Obama presented a statement to the Senate floor on endorsing a bill that would increase strong enforcement of our immigration laws. Citing as an example of his personal experience on immigration, he stated that fact that his father was from Kenya. Barack included in his statement on the Senate floor...

The American people are a welcoming and generous people. But those who enter our country illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law. And because we live in an age where terrorists are challenging our borders, we simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, and unchecked. Americans are right to demand better border security and better enforcement of the immigration laws. [Barack Obama.senate.gov]

The issue of immigration hits home for Barack Obama with the announcement last night that Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango is in the country illegally from Kenya, and was also denied a request for asylum four years ago after a judge ordered her deportation. [AP news]

Obama denies any knowledge of his aunt's immigration status. [ABC news] The interesting thing that if Barack Obama had been aware of his aunt's immigration status, Obama could be guilty of harboring an illegal alien. By definition,

Harboring -- Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) makes it an offense for any person who -- knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation. [ US Department of Justice]

In either case, Barack's belief in abiding by the laws of the United States regarding immigration will be challenged. e.g. it is easy to make a statement regarding enforcing a law when it involves a stranger. However, that could be a different matter when it's family or personal.

In the wake of the announcement days before the presidential election[which I agree with], an unusual nationwide directive within the immigrations and customs enforcement (ICE) stated that any deportations prior to Tuesday's elections would be approved at the regional directors level.[Fox news]

While I am not advocating for or against voting for Obama, I think that you'll have to agree that things are going to be very interesting as the story unfolds.

It's all in a day's work

KATU

It is 7:20 AM.

Oregon State police trooper Steve Thrapp finds himself in pursuit of a suspect who was weaving back and forth across the road and who failed to yield to his lights and siren on highway 58 east of Eugene.

In a attempt to stop the suspect, a roadblock was set up 11 miles east of Eugene.

As the suspect approaches the roadblock, he attempts to drive around a patrol car where he is tackled by trooper Casey Codding and arrested for disorderly conduct, failing to obey police officer and resisting arrest.


The suspect is tackled by a trooper while driving a car???

Not exactly!

The suspect was Robert James Frank, 39, of Eugene who led the state trooper on a 5 mph chase on a bicycle after a report of a bicyclist riding without lights and wearing dark clothing on highway 58.

Paul Newman has died from cancer, aged 83.

BBC News
Paul Leonard Newman born on 26 Jan 1925 in the Shaker Heights suburb of Cleveland, Ohio died Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 83.

He is survived by his wife, five children, two grandsons and his older brother Arthur.

rest in peace Paul

Remember Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green? We do!

Register Guard

Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green and challenger Rob Handy will be debating job growth and leadership for the first time Tuesday in the race for county commissioner.

All that I have to say is if you have any questions about Bobby Green, read the blue box on the left of this blog.

excerpt from Register Guard editorial dated April 6, 2007

"Ben Pooler is still upset. So upset he's leading an effort to recall Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green, one of three county board members who voted earlier this year to enact an income tax..."
[link to editorial]

Sirius satellite radio follows trend of AM radio by preempting regular programming for sports

Robin's Commentary

I am a subscriber to Sirius satellite radio because I was impressed with their channel lineup and programming variety… And for the sports enthusiasts, Sirius satellite radio offers about half a dozen channels for sports.

One of the major advantages about satellite radio is that you get the same programming and reception just about anywhere versus local radio, so you're pretty much guaranteed not to miss your favor show.

Last week Sirius started following a trend that is common in AM radio… When there's sports playing somewhere… AM suddenly becomes sports radio on all channels of the AM dial.

Now I realize that sports, especially football is a very popular game… However, not everybody wants to listen to sports all the time.

It is specially annoys me when I set aside time to tune into my favor talk show and it got preempted for some game. KUGN is especially famous for this.

So you can imagine how livid I was last Sunday when my radio classics program channel 118 was preempted for a football game. In fact, as I scanned the other channels, I discovered 11 other channels that were preempted for some football game.

I wrote satellite radio, and here's their response…

Dear Robin,

We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us regarding sports on RadioClassics Ch. 118. We are here to assist you.

Robin, we certainly understand your frustration as you do not enjoy listening to sports. SIRIUS remains dedicated to providing our subscribers with a wide variety of programming including music, news, entertainment, and sports.

By providing the entire NFL game schedule and over 1,000 NBA games per season, we offer the most comprehensive sports programming for fans to follow their hometown teams, from anywhere in the continental U.S. While most of these games are offered on our sports channels, it is necessary from time to time to share broadcast time with a few of our talk channels. We will re-air interrupted shows when possible

So my interpretation of this letter… Is that Sirius satellite radio is actually sports radio, and your shows don't matter.

I am not paying a monthly fee to listen to sports… But I like my talk radio (which was preempted) my Radio Classics show which includes old time mysteries such as Sherlock Holmes (which was preempted) and the comedy channels (which surprisingly was not preempted at this time)

Anyway, if you feel the same way that I do… Please e-mail customer service or call them at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474) and tell them that you do not appreciate them preempting channels that you are paying for because of sports.

If they feel that there are more games than channels, then they should either add more channels or prioritize the games that they wish to show on the available games channels.

SportsChannel line up
normal channel lineup

by the way, they just merged with their competitor, XM Radio, So the choices for satellite radio just became limited.

Update on fatal shooting in Springfield

Oregon live AP

Michael Wayne Wesley Jr., A suspect in the fatal shooting in Springfield is in critical condition after being shot by two police officers after he rammed his pickup into a patrol car, injuring one of the officers .

Wesley and 27 year old Ronald Joshua Smith, using a 45 caliber handgun and a shotgun fired at a man and woman on Wednesday morning, killing 35 year old Wendy Whitaker.

Smith was charged with murder and also faces theft, burglary and weapons charges.

Legendary country guitarist Jerry Reed dies

Grammy award winner Jerry Reed died on Monday (September 1) after he suffered complications arising from emphysema.

Reed appeared in 'Smokey and the Bandit' films as trucker Cledus 'Snowman' Snow along with Burt Reynolds and Sally field.

Reed was 71

Woman fatally shot in the Thurston area

Woman fatally shot in the Thurston area
KVAL

Wendy Jo Whitaker, 35 was fatally shot early this morning around 6:45 AM in the Springfield Thurston area around the 5100 block of E street.
Jerry hunter, who lives nearby, said he and his wife heard maybe five rapid shots just before 7:00 AM.

" Rick Harrison, Springfield police captain, said investigators have not ruled out the possibility of a drive by shooting."

(Photo courtesy of kval)

According to some of my sources, there's also some acts of vandalism in the immediate area that same morning resulting in multiple vehicles having their tires slashed.

The question that I have is how long is the public going to put up with the lack of protection.

Perhaps, if our public employees are unable to perform the job that they were hired to do, e.g. protect our citizens, then maybe it is time to start firing those employees.

For example, I'm not sure if Springfield has passed this ordinance yet, however both Eugene and lane county will not respond to a home alarm system. It is required that a security officer investigate the alarm before a police officer is dispatch.

So what is the point? The police claim that there are too many false alarms. I agree. That is the responsibility of the installer to ensure that an alarm system is reliable and the responsibility of the business or home owner to prevent false alarms.

However, it is like the little boy that cried wolf.

What really gets me about this is that it was published in the newspaper!

How does the above analogy relate?

The same way that it relates to the district attorney's office publicly announcing which crimes that they will not prosecute, that due to lack of jail space, when someone is arrested it is mostly a "catch and release" scenario similar to fishing. It invites criminals and criminal activity in the area because they know that there will be no consequences for their actions.

The solution…

Start enforcing the laws, open up more jails and also budget to staff them would be good for starters.

And on the issue funding… As I've always said, it is OUR tax money which is divvied up in to different budgets. However, it is still always "right pocket, left pocket, it is still the same pair of pants."

E.g. people need to decide which is more important. Protecting our citizens or more park's.

Forget the " exclusion zones" BS, as they are proposing in the city of Eugene. Get serious and start enforcing the damn laws.

United States sending millions of dollars to Mexico to help fight crime. What about us?

BBC News
Rallies were held in all of Mexico's 32 states, including 150,000 people gathering in Mexico's capital city, Zocalo square. Protesters were wearing mainly white clothing and marched in silence while holding candles to indicate that they had enough of the murders and kidnappings that were plaguing their country.

So far this year, at least 2700 people have been killed and three other people kidnapped mostly from drug related violence.

Last week as a result of the protest, the country's political and security leaders drew up an emergency 74-point plan to combat the ways of violence. Measures include firing corrupt police officers, new prisons and methods to combat drug trafficking.
Washington is also helping out with hundreds of millions of dollars.

I think that it is really great that the Mexican people are banding together to help improve their country. If those that snuck into United States illegally would return home to help, the Mexican people could take back their country and make it a better place to live.

Also, while it is very noble of Washington to help Mexico at in this area, I have to ask what about the crime in the United States?

Why is it that when it comes to helping other countries, we're always there with our pocketbook open, however, when it comes to helping people in our own country, like protecting our citizens for example, suddenly we do not have enough money.

Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture?