Carla Axtman lists the town hall meetings for Reps. Peter DeFazio and David Wu on BlueOregon.com.

The areas most vulnerable for fires are parts of southwest Oregon, northern California, coastal areas north of Los Angeles, and areas within the Sierra Nevada, according to the summary report by The Democrat-Herald.

Research also predicts extremely dry or drought conditions in western and central Oregon, central Coastal California and western Washington.

BlueOregon‘s Kari Chisholm acted quickly to spread the word by posting the candidate’s Friday-Saturday tour of Southern Oregon and posting an NBC interview with Clem.

On Saturday, The Ashland Daily Tidings published a complete list of possible candidates.

The Eugene public has opposed moving the police headquarters on three ballot initiatives, the most recent in 2005. This year, however, the city will use $16 million of the $22 million in the city’s Facility Reserve Fund to purchase a new police building. City Council voted 6-2 to move the police unit out of City Hall to a more seismically sound building north of the river. The motion passed under the condition that a new police sub-station is built in downtown.

Public forums in June 2009 expressed both dissent and approval for the move, demonstrating that the council’s decision will not satisfy everyone.

Councilors Taylor and George Brown voted against the proposal, with Brown emphasizing that the facility funds could otherwise be used to protect the “safety of millions that use the Atrium and the airport,” which, like City Hall, don’t meet current seismic standards. He also criticized the business plan to buy the proposed property at 300 Country Club Road, saying that it cripples the ability for the city to do anything else with the remaining $6 million.

“I think that we are doing this because someone wants to sell a building and someone wants to buy a building,” Taylor added.

Councilor Andrea Ortiz, who voted for the motion, has served the city for nine years as a councilor and on the Police and Human Rights Commissions and is confident about knowing the needs of Eugene’s police. Two hours after the Council passed the motion, Ortiz defended her vote by saying that the police want a place where they are protected and can uphold public safety.

According to Community Services Manager, Jan Bohman, who attended the public forums in June and agreed with the move, some who disagreed with the move claimed that downtown businesses would suffer because of declining patronage of police workers.

The director of Business Advocacy at the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, Jared Mason-Gere, says that police officers often pack their lunches and are too busy to visit the businesses and therefore are not a major source of sales. Instead, he thinks the move’s long-term impact will improve public safety when the city builds a police sub-station that concentrates on problematic areas in downtown, thus increasing safety and making downtown a popular destination for residents and tourists.

“This will improve the police morale,” says Mason-Gere.

Eugene resident Campbell Frey, 26, isn’t optimistic. He thinks the $16 million won’t add enough new jobs to the city.

“It seems that a lot of the reserve fund is being wasted,” Frey said Friday night.

City Manager Jon Ruiz will negotiate the sales agreement with Ward Beck, owner of 300 Country Club Road, and gather the Council for implementation and financing plans.

City officials claim that City Hall is one of the most seismically unsafe buildings.

“[City Hall] could collapse in a major earthquake, trapping Police Department personnel and emergency response equipment in the building when they are needed most to protect the health and safety of all Eugenians,” the City’s Web site says.

Eugene’s facility reserve fund has $22 million to help build a new City Hall and maintain existing structures; the new headquarters planned for 300 Country Club Road would cost $16 million.

In June, the Council held two community forums to collect input on the option to move the department.

Eugene’s Community Services Manager, Jan Bohman, said there were mixed opinions at the first meeting, but Councilman George Brown suggested that the input was mostly negative. Bohman said that some argued against the move because downtown businesses would lose customers if fewer police officers would be stationed at the new headquarters instead of at City Hall in downtown. They also worried that downtown would feel less safe with fewer officers present.

Bohman said that the second meeting favored moving the department and that Eugene residents demonstrated the need for a police headquarters that is safe, has space and seismic standards, and is economically feasible.

Although the new building demonstrates advanced seismic standards, it does less to prevent crime. Brown, who opposes the department’s move, says that moving the Police station won’t improve public safety.

Brown also doesn’t think the Country Club Road unit presents the best options for City Hall’s development. He offers other options for the facility reserve fund: Bring City Hall to seismic standards, create secure parking for police vehicles, expand police into the old Fire Station and in City Hall, upgrade police locker rooms, hire 10-15 addition officers, restore $1 million into the general fund, and spend about $10 million to address seismic problems at the airport, the Overpark and the Atrium.

Nicholas Chase, Co-Exhibits Director at The Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts feels he is missing the City Manager’s objective in moving the police headquarters. Chase has examined the issue since it reached the public last spring.

“I never really felt like I got all of the details,” says Chase.

Chase says that each decision should be scrutinized closely, and that there is usually a better plan.

“Don’t just do something because you can,” Chase says.

The next Council work session is on July 29, when the City Manager, Jon Ruiz, will propose the option to use the City’s facility reserve fund for a new police building.

“I think I will know the issues in Oregon better than anyone in the state,” he told Wired Oregon.

Alley will focus on creating jobs, and cites homelessness and hunger as major concerns.

Citizens can log into Alley’s tweets and track his trip by a Web site, not yet specified.

The costs of public services will be paid by those who use programs and services most directly, with revenue helping the specific program. For example, permit fees for power boats will help protect Oregon’s waters from invasive species, according to The Register Guard.

Here are the changes in fees.

John Charles, CEO of the Cascade Policy Institute, rejects the upgrade because it will affect only a minute group; he thinks the federal funds could instead improve the more popular highway system and motor coaches.

Kulongoski awaits congressional response  in October.

Kulongoski defended the taxes by saying that Oregon’s economic crisis is endangering education, public safety and health care.

The Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes group wants to collect 57,000 signatures for a special election. If they succeed by Sept. 25, voters will decide on the tax increase on Jan. 26.

Larson suggests that Americans are becoming more conservative because President Obama’s policies are “likely to put the nation further in the ditch.” For example, Larson blames the the new administration for “taking over” private companies and health care and dictating new economic policies for energy.