Basin Business for January 2019

January 2019

KLAMATH BASIN

Basin Business

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

New mobile unit travels to weddings, other events

Business

New Chamber tourism award announced — Page 4 Review your fixed-income strategy

— Page 6

Chamber Gala celebrates best of Basin

— Financial Focus, Page 5

Pembina cuts ribbon on new office

Klamath County Chamber Board President George Ormsbee takes the reins for 2019 at the annual awards ceremoney held at the Ross Ragland Theater last Saturday night.

— Page 7

A publication of the Herald & News

All photos coutesy of Charity Roach

Chamber: www.klamath.org

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Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

Basin Business

n Chamber Gala awards and after party

Klamath Chamber fetes business people Annual event honors some of the best and brightest of the Basin And the winners are: n Best Place to Work (15 or less): Basin Mediactive n Best Place to Work (16 or more): REACH Inc. n Big IDEA Innovation: ZCS Engineering n Commitment to Community: Steel Sensations n Environmental Leadership: Three Rivers Mosquito and Vector Control n Lifetime Achievement: Alan Eberlein and Neal Eberlein n Pathfinder: Matt Bogatay, Bogatay Construction n Spirit of Entrepreneurism: Chad Elbert, Rudius Quest Coaching n Chamber Ambassador of the Year: Peggy Roberts n President’s Award: Jennifer Scanlan, Chamber board treasurer n Small Business Supporting Education: Holliday Jewelry n Large Business Supporting Education: Fred Meyer

All photos courtesy of Charity Roach

Honored for a lifetime achievement in giving back to the Klamath community Saturday night were brothers, above, Neal, left, and Alan Eberlein whose nominators praised them for their 70 years in business in the Klamath Basin. Their nominators mentioned their entrepreneurial drive and vision for improving Klamath County for all who live here. The award is in recognition of an individual who has demonstrated exceptional business achievement and outstanding commitment to Klamath’s business community over their lifetime. They received the award to a standing ovation from the audience and remarked they are not done yet.

Basin Business

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

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Scenes from the Gala and Casino night

Jennifer Scanlan, Chamber board treasurer

Ray Holliday of Holliday Jewelry

Staff of ZCS Engineering were honored for the Big IDEA innovation Peggy Roberts was named Ambassador of the year.

Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot deals blackjack during Casino Night.

At top and right, gala goers enjoy some gambling during Casino Night.

Mark Fay, M.D. Scott Stevens, M.D. Physician/ Surgeon of the Eye Physician/ Surgeon of the Eye

Edwin Tuhy, O.D. Optometrist

Jennifer Sparks, O.D. Optometrist

New Patients Welcome

2640 Biehn St. • 541.884.3148 • www.klamatheyecenter.com

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Basin Business

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

Local business briefs

Herald and News adds new advertising, marketing staff

Klamath County Chamber Executive Director Heather Tramp at the Gala Saturday.

New chamber tourism award announced FROM A PRESS RELEASE The Chamber Gala is a great opportunity to recognize outstanding commitment and contributions to our communities. Without innovation and leadership, communities stagnate.

It’s impressive to see the list of awards and outstanding individuals being recognized this year for their dedication and benefits to Klamath County. And, it is in that spirit that Discover Klamath Visitor and Convention Bureau, the official tourism arm for Klamath County, presents a new award recognizing contributions to the tourism economy.

In recent years, tourism’s impact has grown to nearly $200 million annually, up from $100 million just a short while ago. Tourism accounts for nearly 2,000 jobs countywide. Crater Lake, for instance, has seen its visitation increase from 500,000 annually to more than 800,000.

Fueling the tourism economy is a growth in cycling, mountain biking, kayaking, fishing, camping and birdwatching. People come from all over the U.S., and internationally to visit Klamath’s attractions. And, visitors need to eat and sleep, which drives lodging stays and restaurant visits.

Discover Klamath’s Ride the Rim event — now in its fifth year — attracts nearly 5,000 cyclists from 10 countries and 30 states for an epic ride around the Crater Lake Rim — without any vehicles allowed on the roads. This event pumps more than $1 million into the local economy for two weekends each September.

In the spirit of encouraging further growth of the tourism economy, Discover Klamath is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the Tourism Leadership Award. Starting next year this award will be given to an individual, company, or organization that has an idea, or implements a program or activity that encourages visitation and economic growth.

Rosen

Belden

Durighello

Steve Rosen

• Director of revenue • Have worked with local, regional, national and international customers for over 30 years • Unique: Million-mile business air traveler visiting 45/50 states and 13 countries • Highlights: Owned a company for 5 years, authored two books • Favorite quote: You’re only limited by your own drive and creativity.

Susan Belden

• Local sales manager • 37 years of sales experience • Unique: Climbed to the top of Mt. Shasta • Favorite quote: If you don’t change anything, nothing changes

Levi Durighello

• Multi-media advertising rep • 10+ years of sales experience • Unique: Award-winning Karaoke singer • Highlight: Claims best beard in Klamath • Favorite quote: Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.

Meagan Dumas

• Multi-media advertising rep • 13 years of consulting-based marketing experience • Unique: Boring by nature, exciting by profession.

• Highlight: Assisted startup business in achieving No. 2 spot in pharmaceutical industry • Favorite quote: If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

Danielle Mays

• Nickel sales manager • 20 years of working at the Nickel — 30 years of sales and customer service experience • Unique: Grew up in the city, going to malls and shopping, and now an avid hunter and outdoorsperson.

• Highlights: Everything I’ve learned up until September of 2018 is self-taught

Dumas

Mays

Boozer

• Favorite quote: Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

Shawna Silva

• Digital marketing specialist • 25 years in sales and customer service Ronco Silva with 10 Years in print, advertising and marketing • Unique: A super nerd and love all thing gamingcomputers and tech • Highlights: working at MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation) NSA Naples; work with NATO and NSA Naples, Italy with Festa-Americana • Favorite quote: Never let your memories be greater than your dreams!

Brandi Ronco

• Sponsorship and event specialist • Recent college grad. 5 years in customer service • Unique: Love animals ... in fact email address (first initial last name) is bronco!

• Highlights: Certified in bartending and makes a mean spicy margarita.

• Favorite quote: All progress takes place outside the comfort zone

Heather Boozer

• Sales support specialist • In customer service for more than 20 years • Unique: At one point or another in my life I have worked in nearly every position in a food and beverage establishment from busser/dishwasher, to baker, chef, server, bartender and manager • Highlight: Found the bravery to change careers and industries from food and beverage to media and advertising • Favorite quote: The secret of getting things done is to act

Basin Business — FINANCIAL FOCUS —

Review your fixed-income strategy as interest rates rise

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hen interest rates rise, the value of your fixed-income investments, such as bonds, will typically fall. If this happens, how should you respond?

First of all, it’s important to understand this inverse correlation between interest rates and bond prices. Essentially, when interest rates rise, investors won’t pay you full price for your bonds because they can purchase newly issued ones that pay higher rates. So, if you sell your bonds before they mature, you could lose some of the principal value.

You may be seeing a price drop among your bonds right now, because interest rates generally rose in 2018 and may continue to do so in 2019.

While you might not like this decline, you don’t necessarily have to take any action, particularly if you’re planning to hold these bonds until maturity. Of course, you do have to consider credit risk — the chance that a portion of the principal and interest will not be paid back to investors — but unless the bond issuers default, which is usually unlikely, particularly with investmentgrade bonds, you can expect to receive the same regular interest payments you always did, no matter where rates move.

Holding some of your bonds — particularly your longer-term ones — until they mature may prove useful during a period of rising interest rates. Although long-term bond prices — the amount you could get if you were to sell these bonds — tend to fall more significantly than short-term bond prices, the actual income that longer-term bonds provide may still be higher, because longer-term bonds typically pay higher interest rates than shorter-term ones.

To preserve this income and still take advantage of rising interest rates, you may want to construct a “bond ladder” consisting of short-, intermediate- and longer-term bonds. Because a ladder contains bonds with staggered maturity dates, some are maturing and can be reinvested – and in a rising-rate environment such as we’re currently

experiencing, you would be replacing maturing bonds with higher-yielding ones. As is the case with all your investments, however, you must evaluate whether a bond ladder and the securities held within it are consistent with your objectives, risk tolerance and financial circumstances.

You can build a bond ladder with individual bonds, but you might find it easier, and perhaps more affordable, to own bond-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in bonds. Many bond funds and ETFs own a portfolio of bonds of various maturities, so they’re already diversified.

Building a bond ladder can help you navigate the rising-rate environment.

But you also have another incentive to continue investing in bonds, bond funds or ETFs — namely, they can help diversify a stock-heavy portfolio. If you only owned stocks, your investment statements would probably fluctuate greatly — it’s no secret that the stock market can go on some wild rides. But even in the face of escalating interest rates, bond prices generally don’t exhibit the same sharp swings as stocks, so owning an appropriate percentage of bonds based on your personal circumstances can help add some stability to your investment mix.

As an investor, you do need to be aware of rising interest rates, but as we’ve seen, they certainly don’t mean that you should lose your interest in bonds as a valuable part of your investment strategy.

Submitted by: Meredith Hoffman Financial Advisor-Edward Jones 1307 S Alameda Ave, Suite B Klamath Falls, OR 97603 541-273-2483

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

Local engineering firm has leadership transition FROM A PRESS RELEASE Anders Rasmussen, PE, has been named the Klamath Falls office principal of SHN, a consulting firm offering engineering, environmental, geology, planning and surveying services.

He takes over from Steve Donovan, who has moved out of the region. Rasmussen has contributed to SHN’s success since 2012 and has been involved with many infrastructure design and planning projects in the Klamath Basin and surrounding area, including the Falcon Heights Water and Sewer District’s wastewater system, the City of Klamath Falls’ wastewater collection system, the City of Medford’s trickling filter pump station, and the City of Tulelake’s water system improvements.

He has also provided engineering assistance to agencies in Southern Oregon and Northern California, including the cities of Paisley, Bonanza, Roseburg, Winston, Alturas, Fort Jones, Etna, and Shasta Lake, the South Suburban Sanitary District and

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the Lake Shastina Community Services District.

“Besides continuing work on infrastructure improvements, which I find fascinating, I’m also excited to assist the next generation of engineering and surveying students from Oregon Tech,” said Rasmussen. SHN has hired numerous engineering interns over the past years.

At SHN’s corporate office in Eureka, Calif., Mike Foget, PE has been named CEO. Working at SHN since 1995, Foget takes over from K. Jeff Nelson, PE who retired on Jan. 1. Foget is an environmental and civil engineer, noted for many projects including environmental assessments for the construction industry in Coos Bay and North Bend.

SHN is a small business that has been supporting rural communities in Northern California and Southern Oregon for 40 years. The SHN Klamath Falls office opened in 2012.

Job opportunities in region remain anemic FROM OREGON EMPLOYMENT SERVICES After several years of modest growth, both Klamath and Lake counties wrapped up 2018 with the employment situation little changed from the prior year.

Note: The ongoing partial shutdown of the Federal Government is currently affecting the employment situation of Central Oregon.

However, we will not see any effect in these December figures as the shutdown began after the reference week we use for the unemployment estimates.

Klamath County:

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6 percent in December, a statistically significant increase from 6.3 percent in November. The unemployment rate is up from this time last year when it was 6.1 percent. Klamath County lost 230 jobs in December, typical losses for this time of year. Employment levels remain down over the past year by 280 jobs (-1.2%). Retail trade and health care

posted job growth, but those gains were not enough to make up for losses in manufacturing; leisure and hospitality; and local education.

Lake County:

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in December, up from 5.8 percent in November.

The rate was also 5.6 percent in December 2017.

Lake County lost 20 jobs in December, fairly typical for this time of year. Over the past year employment levels remain unchanged.

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Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

Going mobile for weddings, events

Basin Business SOCIAL SECURITY

Benefits to increase in 2019

BY NICOLE TIGGEMANN

Tribune News Service (TNS)

BY LACEY JARRELL

Klamath Community College

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yatt Paul’s favorite events are weddings.

“Everybody is happy and I get to be a part of that,” said Paul, who is the owner of PourHorse Mobile Cantina and Libations, a beverage caterer that specializes in weddings and outdoor events.

Paul said he works closely with his customers to ensure everything on their big day is just right.

“It’s someone’s best day of their life. We really try hard to go the extra mile to meet that,” he said. “We provide bartenders and basic drink catering — whether it’s alcohol, coffee, hot chocolate, or bloody marys — there’s really nothing we can’t do.”

Paul said friends and family in Klamath Falls helped him get his business off the ground, and the mobile cantina now offers three service packages: basic, advanced and “the works,” which includes bartending services from a single horse trailer. Paul said the trailer service package can serve more than 300 people.

KCC classes spur success

Paul grew up in Klamath Falls and graduated from Mazama High School in 2010. He founded the PourHorse in 2016, then enrolled at Klamath Community College in spring 2017 to bolster his business acumen. Courses in the program include marketing, social media, accounting, and business law.

“I was lucky to link up with some awesome counselors, and they laid out a plan for all the classes I needed to take to get a business marketing degree as quickly as possible,” he said. “The classes are very helpful when it comes to being a ‘little guy’ starting a business.

“Business law helped me tremendously in understanding different types of contracts. It was a great resource to have, he added.

Dennis Oden, who instructs KCC’s

Lacey Jarrell photo

PourHorse Cantina owner, Wyatt Paul, and friend, Alycia Bair, explain PourHorse services and pricing to Jessica Holland at a bridal show in early January. Jessica Holland and Joseph Yaple will wed on June 27. business law course, explained that his course is designed to help students understand the foundational concepts of business law.

“I try to provide students with knowledge about issues they will face on a dayto-day basis, whether they are employees or managers,” Oden said.

Paul will graduate in June with an Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration, emphasis in marketing.

Paul attributes much of the PourHorse’s success to help he has received from Reba VanAcker at the KCC Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in downtown Klamath Falls.

“She’s like my ‘business mom,’ ” he said. “I’m extremely thankful to have some of her time.”

Priceless business advice

According to VanAcker, the SBDC provides no-cost advising to clients in any stage of their journey, whether they are just starting up or if they have an existing business.

“My goal is to meet the client where he or she is,” VanAcker said.

“If they are not in business yet, we can help with ideas, market research and feasibility. If they are an existing business we

can assist with business plans, a finance package, cash flow, marketing, human resource advice or whatever they need.

Different horsepower

VanAcker noted that although mobile beverage service is not new to Klamath Falls, the trailer cantina concept is a horse of a different color.

“Wyatt is a go-getter. He is not afraid to work hard,” VanAcker said. “Some people make excuses for not being able to get things done. Wyatt gets things done.”

Paul said VanAcker has been instrumental in building his business.

“There’s so much that goes into pour cost for a beer or per drink, and she helped break all that down,” he said.

Paul noted that July and August are popular months for weddings. He already has five weddings booked for next summer. He suggests clients reserve their date at least six months in advance.

“We’ll go anywhere as long as it’s in Oregon,” he said.

Paul’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: “If you truly like what you’re doing, go 110 percent into it. Don’t worry about all the distractions. Just focus and get it done.”

Each year we announce the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Usually, there is an increase in the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit amount people receive each month, starting the following January. Law requires that federal benefit rates increase when the cost of living rises, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The CPI-W rises when prices increase for the things the average consumer buys. This means that when prices for goods and services we purchase become more expensive, on average, the COLA increases benefits and helps beneficiaries keep up with the changing cost of living.

More than 67 million Americans will see a 2.8 percent increase in their Social Security and SSI benefits in 2019.

January 2019 marks other changes based on the increase in the national average wage index. For example, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll tax, as well as the retirement earnings test exempt amount, will change in 2019.

Want to know your new benefit? In December 2018, we posted Social Security COLA notices online for retirement, survivors, and disability beneficiaries who have a my Social Security account.

You will be able to view and save these COLA notices securely via the Message Center inside my Social Security.

Sign up for or log in to your personal my Social Security account today at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Choose email or text under “Message Center Preferences” to receive courtesy notifications so you won’t miss your electronic COLA notice!

This year, even if you access your COLA notice online, you will still receive your COLA notice by mail. In the future, you will be able to choose whether you receive your notice online instead of on paper.

More information about the 2019 COLA is available at www.socialsecurity. gov/cola.

Basin Business

Oregon’s credit unions deliver $1.8 billion boost to economy

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

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Ribbon cutting

FROM NORTHWEST CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION TIGARD — Oregon credit unions drove a positive, $1.8 billion economic impact last year, according to a new report by ECONorthwest, the region’s largest economic consulting firm.

The report, “2018 Economic Impacts of Credit Unions in Oregon,” commissioned by the Northwest Credit Union Association, measures jobs, economic output, and income supported by credit unions.

Each member benefits directly

Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives and do not pay stockholders on Wall Street. Instead, they reinvest in their members, typically by offering lower interest rates on loans and credit cards, better returns on savings, and by charging fewer fees for services.

Last year, Oregon credit unions delivered $152 million in benefits to members, an average of $74 for each member. ECONorthwest found those benefits generated a ripple effect “buying power” of over $333 million when members reinvested those benefits back into their local communities. “In today’s economy, every dollar makes a difference,” said Troy Stang, NWCUA President and CEO. “When you know these dollars are coming to you because of your membership in a cooperative credit union vs. being used to enrich Wall Street stockholders, you know that makes a difference for your household.”

A choice for consumers

No wonder so many Oregonians have discovered the “Credit Union Difference.” In the Beaver State, 50 percent of the population belongs to a credit union -- 2.05 million consumers. ECONorthwest found credit union membership is growing faster than the population; 14 percent since 2016, compared to 3.4 percent population growth.

Workforce Support

Oregon credit unions provide family-wage careers for 5,100 professionals. Each job supports 1.4 additional jobs in the economy, meaning the total impact of credit union employment supports 12,200 jobs.

A Financial Partner in Rural Communities

While the largest concentration of credit union membership is in Oregon’s larger cities, ECONorthwest found that credit unions offer vital financial services in rural communities.

“While many out-of-state, for-profit financial services institutions have closed branches in rural communities, local credit unions remain committed to serving these populations, providing services such as agricultural, home, vehicle, and small business loans that area consumers need,” the report noted.

ECONorthwest reported that 109,116 consumers — 34 percent of Oregon’s rural residents — are leveraging the benefits of credit union membership. “As a consumer in the marketplace, seeing that a not-for-profit cooperative credit union delivers these benefits to your friends, families, and neighbors, drives home the message that credit unions deliver value to Main Street, not Wall Street,” Stang said. Find out more about the Credit Union Difference. Visit http:// Oregonlovescreditunions.com

Photo by Gerry O’Brien

Pembina Co. Vice President Harry Andersen, center, cuts the ribbon on the firm’s new office in Downtown Klamath Falls Wednesday. Three to 10 people will work in the space on the ground floor of the former Oregon hotel building.

Klamath County Chamber of Commerce 205 Riverside Drive, Ste. A Klamath Falls, OR 97603 Office: 541-884-5193 Fax: 541-884-5195

Executive director:

Heather Tramp

twitter.com/AccessKlamath

Executive Board President: George Ormsbee First Vice President: Richard Schuster Jr. Second Vice President: Jennifer Scanlan

Treasurer/Secretary: Janet Buckalew Members: Jenine Stuedli, Pam Greene, Kim Buller, Dan Peterson, Mika Blain, Joe Spendolini Immediate Past President: Rachael Spoon

Email: heathert@klamath.org www.klamath.org www.facebook.com/Klamath Chamber

KLAMATH BASIN

Business

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Basin Business

Thursday, January 24, 2019, Herald and News

Januar y 2019 Newsletter Ore gon State Senator Dennis Linthicum – District 28 I represent the citizens of Senate District 28, which includes all, or part of Þve rural, mostly-eastern Oregon counties: Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Deschutes and Crook.

Senator Dennis Linthicum OR Senate District 28

As Senator of one of the largest Senate districts in our state, it Capitol Phone: is extremely important that my constituents remain in contact Capitol Address: with me about the issues and concerns that affect their lives.

I encourage you to use the information here as a resource and to contact my ofÞce by either phone or e-mail so that I can know how to best serve you. I am honored to be here in Salem Þghting for your freedom and liberty.

While their goals may appear noble, admirable or desirable since they defy logic, science, and Þscal rectitude they cannot provide Oregonians with a viable future. They can only lead to a larger, more rapacious state government. Nevertheless, the majority appears willing to use a gunsmoke and mirrors campaign to mask attacks on our Constitutional rights while promoting their own Utopian agenda.

They desire a world where wealth and prosperity are abundantly available and evenly distributed. But nothing in the universe is equally distributed; not height, weight, melanin, academic abilities, artistic aptitude, creative genius or mechanical inclinations.

Today's Utopians want free universal healthcare but keep driving the costs higher and higher while the care gets worse and worse. They want low-cost or free college education for today's students who will end up paying for it tomorrow. They also promise jobs galore and high-tech employment for everyone, yet the market has no way to efÞciently respond to this temporary, abnormal and artiÞcial ßood of competing job-seekers.

At the heart of the matter is an age-old collectivist vision delivered by government control. If you think I’ve gone overboard, read what the Utopian Robert Owen wrote in 1816 –– “Society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health

503-986-1728 900 Court St. NE, S-305 Salem, Oregon 97301

E-Mail: sen.DennisLinthicum@OregonLegislature.gov W Website ebsite:

Gunsmoke and Mirrors

After the recent elections, the Democrat Party has a “super” majority in both of Oregon’s Legislative chambers. They also own the GovernorÕs ofÞce. This means they have a 66% majority in the legislature and can pass any tax or spending increases without pesky Republicans getting in the way.

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greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal.”1 The reason Utopian dreams don’t work in the real world is because they don’t account for scarcity, human resourcefulness, compassion or commerce.

Human-beings are our only true source of wealth.

Wealth does not come from our state’s untapped natural resources or from state government. It does not come from our rivers, forests or land. These things become productive resources only through the innovation, creativity and genius of working people. Without the rich contributions of hardworking Oregonians, we would never have had lumber, crops, beef, concrete, wine, milk or cheese.

Only men and women can supply the creative genius to turn natural resources into usable goods that improve the well-being, quality and health in our lives. This means however, that Oregon must be willing to allow people to create and keep their rewards which ßow from the free-market system.

ConÞscating the fruits of a personÕs labor will naturally remove their desire for work.

While this may sound like common-sense, I fear our governor has missed this point. The Democraticsocialist party’s legislative agenda includes enormous disincentives for productive labor, capital formation and investment.

History tells us that increasing a tax, like the "sin taxes" on inhalant products, cigars and cigarettes will decrease their consumption. Yet, no one asks what

http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/linthicum might happen to the productive industries for malt beverages and wine when taxes are applied to those products. Also, imposing higher taxes on personal, corporate, and out-of-state income will decrease the activities that produced that income, not the other way around. The same negative consequences will impact our transportation industries as higher boating fees, aviation, diesel, and gasoline fuel taxes are bandied about.

Lastly, increasing our property taxes is supposedly the price we have to pay to live in Oregon.

What’s left to tax or regulate out of existence? Ohh,

yeah, … our 2nd Amendment rights! The gunsmoke and mirrors gang is just getting started.

Their propaganda message is, “Oregon’s children are only safe in gun-free zones.” In other words, your home must become a gun-free zone. However, we know that gun control laws only work for law-abiding citizens, which by default means only law-breakers and criminals will own Þrearms.

Guns are not the biggest problem which citizens, and/ or children, face with regard to their lives, health and safety. Have you seen the statistics for opioid overdoses or automobile fatalities? Recently, economist Antony Davies and political scientist James R. Harrigan, reported that Americans are artiÞcially tied up in knots over violent crime—particularly crimes committed with “assault weapons.”

They note, “This concern, statistically speaking, is fairly irrational. You are far more likely to be killed by being beaten or stabbed than you are to be killed by any kind of riße, ÔassaultÕ or otherwise.Ó Liberty and respect for the individual demands that we act in the interest of the individual – not in the interest of the state.

If we don’t stand for rural Oregon values, our 2nd Amendment and common-sense – no one will!