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Posts published in “Day: March 18, 2007”

Costs across the border

March 18, 2007

The high cost of growth isn't always local and immediate. Sometimes it gets shifted over to the neighbor.

Take the case of three new resort developments - called Remington Ranch, Brasada Ranch and Hidden Canyon - planned for central Oregon's Crook County. (Two are on the drawing boards, while construction is underway on the third.) Between them, they'd account for 4,550 houses and upwards of 1,000 "over-night units," all in relatively remote desert high country.

This raises a number of issues, one of which is addressed in today's Bend Bulletin, which looks at transportation concerns - not in Crook County, but in Deschutes County (Bend and Redmond), to the west:

"With all of those people potentially flying in and out of Redmond Airport and coming to Redmond for some of their shopping, city officials are worried that their roads won't be able to handle the traffic and that they'll have no way to pay for improvements."

This year’s protest

March 18, 2007
War protesters in downtown Portland
War protesters in downtown Portland

The Sunday war protest march in downtown Portland, one of many around the country, was energetic - it took its time getting started, but once it did the marchers moved briskly - though, seemingly, not especially massive.

Willamette Week reported a few days back that organizers "expect a turnout of up to 30,000 people at a downtown march planned for this Sunday, March 18, compared to an estimated 10,000 people who turned out for last year's third-anniversary rally." Seemed less than that, in our observation, though because of its location, stretched to odd shapes in the downtown blocks, we may not have seen them all, either. (Later estimates put the number at 10,000, which seemed closer.)

The organization was solid enough, though, and the highly visible police presence seemed to help keep things in order. They had some prominent speakers, including U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer. And the attitude, as you might expect, was all there.

Reports from Seattle, Tacoma (about 400 marchers there) and elsewhere suggest this type of scene was not unusual. The emotion may still be there, but the war has gone on long enough that the protests of it seem to be becoming institutionalized.