Longtime Eugene entertainer and karaoke host Dan Henson died Sunday at age 58

Eugene Register guard--


Longtime Eugene entertainer and karaoke host Dan Henson died Sunday at age 58.

Friends and fans can visit www .caringbridge.org /visit/danhenson to get updates on a public memorial and how to help Henson’s family with medical bills incurred during Henson’s hospitalization for acute promyelocytic leukemia.


The Web site already has had almost 6,000 visitors since the family set it up in late November. Henson, the site says, never let a debt go unpaid. Henson’s adult children will keep his entertainment business going.

I knew Dan for years and he was a very talented person with a voice that was nothing but amazing for sure, and a talent for knowing that makes people get up to sing and dance.

He tried numerous times unsuccessfully to get me behind the mic, but my chicken feather came out, and I am sure that I did the crowd a big favor by not singing


The last time I spoke with him was when he was playing at the Red Lion on Coburg rd and he has mentioned that he was thinking very seriously about going back on the road again with his one man band.

Dan was one of the best in karaoke in Eugene, in fact some say that be made karaoke popular.

if any one can help the family with medical costs that would be really great.

Dan's celebration of life will be held on Sunday, January 17th between 1-5 at the Valley River Inn.

Some of his music may be heard at www.danhanson.com and purchased for $15.00 by e-mailing dadsfund@yahoo.com

Rest in piece my friend, you will not be forgotten.

lets lower crime in Eugene by adding more private security guards

The Register Guard --

The "Downtown Safety Task Team" committee in which city officials formed in October after a homeless man was attacked and set on fire in downtown Eugene amid the dismay of area merchants, residents about public drunkenness, panhandling, drug dealing, vandalism and other crime are recommending more officers and jail time for offenders.

The committee, which consists downtown business owners, people connected with the arts, a nonprofit group, a downtown resident and a juvenile counselor [sounds like the beginning of a TV sitcom] are recommending assigning more officers to the downtown area, including at night when the area's numerous bars are open is on the committee's highest priority.


The second highest parity was to develop a "comprehensive, collaborative approach" to area crime, partly by changing the way private security firms operate downtown. The red capped downtown Eugene Inc. guides and different security firms that were downtown could better share information with each other and police.

Dave Hauser, president of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, which manages DEI, and a committee member, said the mentality among downtown security guards is that once a troublemaker leaves their area, “it’s somebody else’s problem.”

well duh! security guards getting paid minimum wage, what else do you expect them to do?

The committee also recommended placing parole and probation officers closer to the people that they oversee would help deter crime, for example they could be housed in a downtown police substation, which city officials want to build with Lane community college's proposed building.

Top five priorities of the Downtown Safety Task Team

More police officers downtown

Develop collaborative public-private approach for downtown security

Downtown-based parole and probation officers

More jail beds for downtown offenders

Improve downtown cleanliness

the first thing I like to address is the "red capped downtown guides" I have seen these people in my rare trips to Eugene downtown, and except for the red cap you have no idea who these guys are. In fact, I was kind of wondering if I should call the police myself on them when I've seen what looks like some types of weapons peering out from underneath their coats.

If these are so-called "guides" they are in the public interest, then unless I missed it, there should be some type of identification rather than just a red cap.

I've asked myself on many occasion, "who are these guys? street gang?

Secondly, like the old saying goes, "locking the barn after the horse got out", I applaud Chief Kerns for his efforts in forming the committee and I really do hope that they can find a way to solve Eugene's downtown problem. Unfortunately, I think it is going to take a little bit more than what the committee is proposing.

For example, I am not really a big fan of cameras in a public spaces unless the cameras are marked or identified as who the owner is, however in this situation it might not be a bad idea.

While cameras are not a solution, they might help as a deterrent. But then again, somehow you will have to bite the bullet and find some money for the cameras, installation, monitoring station and the personnel, etc.

which I will bet you could be found by better prioritizing the available money.

Like maybe, millions of dollars spent of the EmX boondoggle for starters?

they're saying the recession is over... as food stamps numbers increase

KATU--

Food stamps -- what really comes to mind when you think about food stamps, and the people that use them. How many times have you heard somebody complained that these people that are relying on food stamps are driving away in their Cadillacs?

The food stamp program in 2009 alone has seen an increase of 133,000 recipients bringing the total to 650,000 which include not only homeless people but people who are also underemployed.

People who never dreamed that they would need public help are now applying for food stamps.

“It’s real embarrassing when you have to go in there when you have been financially independent,” said Debbie McCollum. “I have worked all my life. I used to make over $30 an hour, and now I am poor.”

“It would make things a lot harder for me if I didn’t have it,” said Mike Silva, a 29-year-old waiter. “I can definitely see for other people that it would really be something major for them. It would really set them back or really hurt them if they didn’t have something like this.”

One other example is found in a bankruptcy filing were a man living in a $750,000 home in Portland, owns two BMWs and is now unemployed and receive nearly $400 a month in food stamps after he lost his job.

but how can this be? What were hearing on the news lately is that the recession is over, in fact, according to a December 2 report, "the University of Oregon Index of economic indicators in October shows that the states recession is over." now of course if it comes from the University of Oregon, it has to be true

With all kidding aside folks, like I have said for quite a long time we have a see no evil, hear no evil type of government that only cares about its own welfare, and they are enjoying the fact that with a tight economy, people don't have the time to get involved in politics which in turn pretty much leave the fox to guard the henhouse so to speak.

If the government doesn't get in there and tighten its belt like the rest of us have had to, and put money back in the hands of the people instead of increasing taxes, things are going to get a lot worse than they are right now.

Speaking of, I recently wrote Senator Ron Wyden and asked him the question in his opinion about the mindset of our representatives who are constantly focusing on raising taxes. The answer that I received back from his office, was the same old political BS form letter which of course did not even come close to answering the question. But then again, to be honest I really did not expect anything else.

PC correctness be damned... we want our tree!

Daily Tidings--
Bellview Elementary School Principal Michelle Zundel, who decided to remove the schools Christmas holiday tree and replaced it with snowmen after a family and a couple students complained that the tree was offensive and a religious symbol decided to return the tree after more than 300 people were upset that the tree had been removed.
this is really great news... the majority have spoken!

It's about Time

CNN Money --
Google today filed a lawsuit against Salt Lake City-based Pacific WebWorks, which is an application service provider and software development firm for allegedly using Google's company name and logo to promote fraudulent work-at-home moneymaking schemes.

these advertisements or spam appear in various places around the web when people are searching for items such as "work at home opportunities", and also appear in e-mail.

In 2008, the Better Business Bureau received over 3500 complaints against work-at-home companies, including 382 complaints regarding Pacific WebWorks.

Google commented the other names that users should be wary of are:Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.

when you see these ads, they're very tempting to sign up for them, especially if you're in a financial crisis. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take the time to do any research on these companies and then fall victim to them.

I'm very pleased to see Google filing a lawsuit against the company and hopefully any other companies that decide to use their name illegitimately, and hopefully will send a message to these people that pray on others in that it will no longer be tolerated.

I can only hope.

... the kids go for their non-religious gifts under their nonoffensive snowman at Christmas

Mail Tribune

The holiday giving tree... Green... surreal and offensive.

Offensive?!?

Students returning from Thanksgiving break were surprised to find that there Christmas holiday gift tree had been replaced by a couple of snowmen where the tree had stood.

Bellview Elementary School Principal Michelle Zundel at Ashland, acting on a family's complaint and complaints from a few students, that the school's Christmas holiday gift tree was a religious symbol and therefore immediately ordered the offending tree removed.

After which, Zundel created new guidelines for school school sponsored holiday displays which effectively bans all decorations that are "legally categorized as secular" which includes Christmas holiday trees, Santa Claus figures, and dreidels.

"these children felt somehow less welcome at their own school, having that symbol so prominently displayed." Said Zundel .

Zundel acknowledges that the US Supreme Court has ruled that Christmas holiday trees are not a religious symbol and that they may be legally displayed in schools, however, for the sake of religious neutrality she felt that they should be taken down.

"Because we have compulsory attendance in our schools, we need to be more sensitive than the law requires," Zundel said. "The displays promoted by a public school should be religiously neutral."

Alison Hamik, a Bellevue parent who help organize the giving tree program said, "we didn't put religious symbols on it." Hamik said that she had spoken with more than 100 Bellevue parents who were upset from the Christmas holiday trees removal.
Under the new guidelines, wreaths, candles, candy canes, snowflakes and snowmen are acceptable for holiday displays and considered religiously neutral and boring .

and it starts again... one or two people who are "offended" ruins it for everybody else. These people need to get out and get a life and get real.

And for all those people who are offended about Christmas, I hope that you plan to go to work on Christmas day and not take advantage of the holiday, in addition, don't expect time and a half.

you know the economy is bad when a local temporary jobs service starts laying off

KVAL-

According to the US Labor Department last Thursday, 542,000 people filed jobless claims last week. That's up over 27,000 from the week before. In Lane County alone, more than 43, 000, which is 12.4% of Lane County's population according to the 2008 US Census Bureau estimate of 346,560 people.

And unexpected casualty in these high Times of unemployment, is one of the local temporary services like so many other businesses in Oregon, has started laying off personnel themselves.

The story just does not end there for one of the individuals who recently lost their jobs at this temp agency. Sandy Harris now being faced with being unemployed herself, these cited to try something a little different.

She is going to try to make money by going green.

She contacted a California company which manufacturers bio-degradable paper products out of pulp from sugar cane and signed up to be a distributor and was sent samples of plates, napkins, and told the paper.

"I cringe if I go to a restaurant and they give me a 'to-go' box and my salad's in Styrofoam. I know it's never going to go away, so I need to get my product out there," Said Harris.

Bryan Rodney, local economist with the Oregon State employment Department sees money in going green.

"sometimes being laid off is an opportunity for people." Said Rodney, "business is the engine to the economy and if somebody is trying to get into green technology that's probably the way to go."

let's check back with him after he's laid off and see if he still feels the same way... remember Rodney, it's an opportunity

Although Harris has yet to require any clients, she said that she's not going to give up and is hoping to get her website up and running within the next couple days.

when you think about it, when things are so bad that a temporary agency starts laying people off due to the lack of demand for jobs in the area, then you really know things are bad.

But what is somebody to like Harris who used to work for temporary agency to do? Where do you go to look for work? Back to your own temporary agency?

Kudos to her for keeping a stiff upper lip and trying to find alternatives.

"it makes me think" Says County commissioner who is charged with a tax that he created

The Oregonian --

Commissioner Roy Rogers from Tigard, who has been a Commissioner since 1985 understands all too well why there are "system development charges" for parks and schools, electrical, mechanical and building permit fees as he was one of the individuals who was responsible for implementing and voting for increases of these fees.

"Government needs money and I don't take any exception to that."

However, as the old saying goes, "the shoe is now on the other foot." When Mr. Rogers decided it was time to replace cubicles with offices at his accounting firm, he got a taste of his own medicine that business owners face when they try to build or expand.

$6,700 traffic impact fee... $700 wastewater fee for a $700 sink installation.

The traffic impact fee, Rogers voted to create it in 1990 and since then has approved annual increases to it. Needless to say that he was startled when he learned how much the fee was especially since his expansion wouldn't be adding any new people or cars.

He began to wonder why projects like this that don't add any road wear and tear should be of such a large sum. welcome to the real world Mr. Rogers, government normally doesn't have to justify their reasons.

"I'm really mixed on this thing," he said. "It's an imperfect system."

and then there is this little bar sink in his office for tossing out guests coffee or pop. The sink plus the installation costs was about $700. The Clean Water Service Charges ended up to be $700 including a $50 processing fee.

Rogers who approved the sewer agencies fee amount each year because he and other county commissioners double as its board of directors, knows that the money is supposed to help pay for the burden added to the wastewater system, however, he didn't realize it would be that high for a sink that he uses once a month.

"wow, that seems a little unusual," said Rogers

And Mr. Rogers gets another dose of reality when he discovers that there is a $1217.32 lien on his property. The lien itself was for $360 of uncompensated labor and materials with the balance being for fees such as a $500 lien fee, $300 title report a $52 recording fee and a five dollar finance charge.

Mr. Rogers told his general contractor that he paid everything that was owed him. The contractor agreed. However, the company had subcontracted some of the work out and had a dispute with the subcontractor and therefore did not pay the bill. The subcontractor instead of sending a revised bill, put a lien on Rogers property.

State law directs subcontractors if they wish to file a lien to place it against the property owner's property, even if the balance had been paid in full to the original contractor.

get me out of this," Mr. Rogers told the contractor, which had his insurance coming takeover so Rogers would be off the hook

Rogers is glad that he got a firsthand look at the process and even though he now has a better idea of what they mean, he still stands by his vote.

"We get isolated a bit," he said of elected officials. "We're all trying to do the right thing. But what's the right thing? There's nothing wrong with debating issues and saying ,'Is it flexible enough?

A tax they came back to bite its owner. This is hilarious, a county commissioner got to experience first-hand of the consequences that a little tax here and a little taxpayer, "it's only a penny or two increase" no big deal really starts to add up.

$700 tax for a $700 sink. The same reason why a lot of people have moved away from their home phones where their taxes and fees have reached beyond the 55% of the bill.

As Mr. Rogers stated, "government needs money...", and I do not disagree with him. However, the government needs to learn how to spend more wisely. Just like the rest of us has to, if we wish to survive.

The attitude that we need money for projects, and all we have to do is pass a tax or fee increase to get the money for those projects, Mr. Rogers is correct, they do get a bit isolated from the source of the money and the impact that it has.

So Mr. Rogers, I do not feel sorry for you one bit. In fact, I think it's wonderful that you actually got a taste of your own medicine. And I hope that you take that knowledge and use it wisely.

Want Something Done in Eugene?Send The City Council Anonymous Information

Robin's commentary --

USA Today

When I saw this article from USA Today, I think I spent a good five minutes just laughing.

The article itself brings up a very interesting point on the issue of crime in downtown Eugene.

"The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission says between 2007 and 2008, violent crime in Eugene was up 16.4 percent and property crime was up 25.8 percent. Crime rates in both categories dropped in Portland, Salem and nationwide."

To those of us who have lived in Eugene area for some time, are totally aware of the problems that plague Eugene and the downtown mall. Hell, there's no way I'll go to the downtown mall especially after dark. The fact that crime is on the rise in Eugene is nothing new to us. And not surprising that that is what's happening. I constantly remind people on this blog about the DA there will times publicly announcing which crimes that he will not prosecute.

I mean, how stupid can you get?

And of course the consequences for game playing like this over their budget woes will only result in opening Pandora's box in crime that we may not be able to close.

We as citizens have been complaining for a long time about the lack of police coverage in the Eugene area, and our concerns always fall on deaf ears.

"We don't have the money in the budget..." as we would constantly hear as a city builds another skateboard park, bike-path or some other nonessential project.

The humorous part of this whole thing is not so much that there is a high crime in the City of Eugene, it's how people have gone about getting the city Council's attention to look into it.

Not too long ago in the news, headlines were made when an anonymous group that photographs of some of the crimes and garbage in the downtown mall area. It got their attention.

Monday was the councilors' first opportunity to discuss the topic since an anonymous citizens group called the Eugene Advocates sent e-mails and photos of public drunkenness and other downtown ills.

to my knowledge, this is the second time that an anonymous group has formed and received the Eugene city Council attention. unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of that group which is formed by a bunch of businessmen in the area. Council of nine? Council of 11, something like that.

The point is, it doesn't matter when the people are mad, or lobby, or demand a public vote on it, if you want something done in Eugene, it's proof positive that all you have to do if form some type of an anonymous group and your issue will be heard.

and finally according to the article, "The Eugene city Council is debating on proper balance between providing social services and law enforcement."

Well, if anyone of the Eugene city Council members has ever had their house broken into or their car stolen like I have, I think that would be a very easy decision to make on their part.

we take for granted how merchandise gets to the stores...

TONOPAH, Ariz KPHO--

This story for me is a little bit closer to home because until a few days ago, I was driving one of these big rig's for this company.

Edward A. French, 45, of Long Beach, Calif., was pronounced dead at the scene after losing control of his rig and crashing into a caretaker's house at a rest stop.

"Fortunately, one of the subjects could see the trailer coming and told everybody in the backyard to run," said DPS Officer Roger Hansen

Several people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were airlifted to the hospital.

Investigators said it doesn't appear as though the driver fell asleep at the wheel however, he may have had a medical episode like a heart attack or stroke. Final determination is still under investigation.

it's a hard life being out on the road driving a truck. Drivers are pushed to the limit to make sometimes unreasonable deadlines and try to stay in compliance with DOT regulations which can weigh heavy fines on both the driver and the company if the hours of service HOS are violated.

For those that are unfamiliar with the hours of service laws, a driver may not drive any longer than 11 hours in a 14 hour day. The driver is required to take a 10 hour break to restart the 14 hour clock. No driver may be on duty more than 70 hours in one week without taking 34 hours off to reset the 70 hour clock.

So sometimes, just like the lawsuit a long time ago with Domino's pizza, you remember the advert that "if it's not there within 30 minutes, it's free" well, the driver pays for that pizza. In the case of dominoes, one driver got into an accident and sued Domino's for being placed under such pressure to make the delivery on time that he got careless and got into an accident.

The same goes for the trucking industry, except that if you violate the rules it becomes very expensive.

Did you ever wonder why some time you will see a truck parked near a offramp? Chances are, he ran out of hours for the day and was forced to pull over and stop, despite the fact that there may be a rest area or truck stop 30 minutes away, he faces heavy fines if he continues to drive.

I know we all take it for granted, I am just as guilty. Truckers especially starting out, spend weeks away from their family, make very little money (I was making $.30 a mile... not very much when you consider the time involved) and are under a lot of stress to stay within compliance and to make the delivery on time, in addition to the stress that is involved anyways when driving a 70 foot vehicle in heavy traffic.

So next time you go to the store, pause for a moment and give some thought of just how the merchandise got to the store, and think about the men and women that brought it there.