Monday Mailing - November 30, 2020

RARE Monday Mailing Year 27 | Issue 11

30 November 2020 1. Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast, December 2020 2. In the Columbia River Gorge, A Local Program Adapts to Serve the Community Through Covid-19 3. Social Media Bots and the Community Planning Process 4. Inside Clean Energy: Arizona’s Net-Zero Plan Unites Democrats and Republicans 5. New COVID-19 Workplace Rule Poses Challenges for Oregon Farms, Ranches 6. Many Turn to Real Christmas Trees as Bright Spot Amid Virus 7. Rural Oregon Counties Hit Hardest by COVID-19 8. Indigenous Peoples, in Oregon and Beyond, are Decolonizing Maps (Katie McFall) 9. As Pandemic Wears On, Legislators Challenge Governors’ Authority 10. We’re Getting Closer to Knowing Where E-Bikes Belong (Katie McFall) 11. PODCAST: Rural Reporters on How Their Communities are Handling Coronavirus

Quote of the Week: “With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable.”

- Michael J. Fox

1.

Oregon Fast Fact Oregon is the number one producer of Christmas trees in the nation. In 2015, it was an $84.5 million industry and almost five million trees were sold.

More info.

Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast, December 2020 Oregon Economic Analysis While the economic recovery continues, the virus remains in control. Expectations were already that growth would slow noticeably over the colder, wetter months ahead. The latest surge in COVID cases all but ensures it. Businesses and consumers are likely to pull back out of fear of the virus, and more restrictive public health policies are being implemented such that the health care system does not breach capacity.

When the weak labor market and spreading virus is combined with months of federal inaction regarding both the pandemic and the economy, it brings the recovery to its most challenging point yet.

Read the full story.

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2. In the Columbia River Gorge, A Local Program Adapts to Serve the Community Through Covid-19 The Daily Yonder When Cindy decided to pursue a college degree after getting out of prison, she faced several obstacles. She needed a place to live, school supplies, and new prescription glasses, among other things.

In September of 2018, Cindy’s student support-services coordinator at Columbia Gorge Community College referred her to the Bridges to Health program. She was connected with Community Health Worker Josh Sendejas, who helped her find an apartment through the housing choice voucher program. Josh also helped her access what she needed to stay in school, like gas for her car and printer ink for research papers.

When Covid-19 arrived in Cindy’s community in the Columbia River Gorge, she faced new challenges. Her classes moved to Zoom, which has made it difficult for her to hear and engage. Right now, Josh is working with her to get noise cancelling headphones to help with her Zoom classes. Local food pantries have limited hours now because of Covid-19, so Josh has also picked up food boxes for Cindy when she’s working on school projects.

If it weren’t for Josh, “I would have put my education on hold,” said Cindy (we are not using her last name to protect her privacy).

Read the full story.

3. Social Media Bots and the Community Planning Process Planetizen New research published by the International Journal of Community Well-Being—written by Justin B. Hollander, Ruth Potts, Maxwell Hartt, and Miny Situ—examines the potential roles and risk of automated social media accounts to influence the community engagement components of planning processes.

Inherent to this investigation is an awareness of the growing awareness of land use development issues, as enabled by the Internet and its many social media platforms. As has been well documented with regard to issues of national and presidential politics, automated social media profiles can be deployed to corrupt the public discourse.

"Due to the low cost and high potential engagement, planners and policymakers have been quick to open electronic channels of participation to inform the decision-making process.

Doing so has created an opportunity for subversion from groups with alternate and possibly nefarious interests," reads the abstract for the research.

Read the full story.

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4. Inside Clean Energy: Arizona’s Net-Zero Plan Unites Democrats and Republicans Inside Climate News Arizona is showing the rest of the country how to set the terms for a transition to clean energy that is substantial and nonpartisan.

Considering that the state is controlled by Republicans and was known until recently for the way its largest utility, Arizona Public Service, was willing to go to great lengths to oppose progress, that fact in itself is incredible.

With a 4 to 1 vote last week, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a plan requiring regulated utilities in the state to move to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050. The plan includes interim targets of 50 percent carbon-free energy by 2032, and 75 percent by 2040.

Read the full story.

5. New COVID-19 Workplace Rule Poses Challenges for Oregon Farms, Ranches Capital Press Harvest season may be over, but Oregon farms are racing to comply with a new set of state-imposed guidelines aimed at curbing workplace outbreaks of COVID-19.

Oregon OSHA, the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has adopted a temporary rule for all businesses — including farms and ranches — that outlines requirements for wearing masks, maintaining 6 feet of social distance and sanitizing "hightouch" surfaces such as doorknobs and light switches, among other provisions.

The rule went into effect Nov. 16 and is expected to run through May 4, 2021. It comes amid a surge of new coronavirus infections in Oregon, which averaged 1,211 daily cases statewide between Nov. 17-24.

Read the full story.

6. Many Turn to Real Christmas Trees as Bright Spot Amid Virus Associated Press Ani Sirois, a respiratory nurse, has spent months caring for coronavirus patients at a Portland, Oregon, hospital, and she’s only getting busier as infections — and hospitalizations — surge before the holidays.

But on a recent sunny day, COVID-19 seemed far away as she, her husband and their 2year-old daughter roamed a Christmas tree farm in search of the perfect evergreen for a holiday season unlike any other. The family was tree-shopping nearly a week before Thanksgiving and, for the first time, they were picking their own tree instead of buying a pre-cut one.

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“It’s nice to have home be a separate safe space away from the hospital, and whether we can have a gathering with family or not, I know we’ll have our own little tree with the purple lights, and that’ll be something small to look forward to,” she said.

Read the full story.

7. Rural Oregon Counties Hit Hardest by COVID-19 The Lund Report Rural Oregon counties face the highest rates of COVID-19 in the state as the virus has spread from urban areas to agricultural and frontier communities.

As a population hub of Oregon, Multnomah County has experienced the most COVID-19 cases. But rural counties have been hit the worst when the case counts are compared with their overall population.

Malheur, Umatilla and Morrow counties have the highest case rates per capita in Oregon.

The high rates reflect local geography and the limitations of rural health services during the pandemic. Workers in agricultural jobs cannot work from home. Counties abutting Washington and Idaho have porous borders with traffic from neighboring states. Idaho has laxer restrictions than Oregon to combat the virus.

Read the full story.

8. Indigenous Peoples, in Oregon and Beyond, are Decolonizing Maps Oregon Public Broadcasting The creation and use of maps dates back to the prehistoric ages. One of the first known maps was carved onto a mammoth tusk, depicting the hunting landscape of the Czech Republic’s Pavlov Hills.

But in more recent history, Western mapmaking has largely focused on demonstrating property ownership and reinforcing power structures. That has led to the widespread erasure of Indigenous people from their traditional lands.

Now, Indigenous cartographers are actively working to counter that erasure by decolonizing maps.

“The cartographies of empire have been instrumental in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples of the lands they have called home since time immemorial,” reads a recent essay in the journal “Cartographica.”

Read the full story.

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9. As Pandemic Wears On, Legislators Challenge Governor’s Authority Governing With coronavirus cases spiking, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown recently set a limit on indoor gatherings of no more than six people, including Thanksgiving. She went so far as to suggest that neighbors should call the police if they witness violations.

“This is no different than what happens if there's a party down the street and it's keeping everyone awake,” Brown said last week. “What do neighbors do? They call law enforcement because it's too noisy. This is just like that. It's like a violation of a noise ordinance.”

Brown’s stance was met with derision, including a comment from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who called it “un-American.”

Read the full story.

10. We’re Getting Closer to Knowing Where E-Bikes Belong Oregon Public Broadcasting New rules take effect Wednesday that attempt to clarify where and what kinds of electric bikes are allowed on large chunks of federal public lands.

The decision inches the cycling community closer to clarity on where e-bikes belong and where they don’t. Part of the challenge in making rules for e-bikes has been defining what they are.

Generally, an electric bicycle looks like a non-electric bicycle. Two wheels, two pedals, a frame and some handlebars. E-bikes differ from their non-electric cousins in that they have a battery and a motor to help cyclists go faster or farther.

“They can get no help, a little bit of help or a whole lot of help,” said Stirling McCord, who co-owns Bend Electric Bikes with his wife, Kathy McCord.

Read the full story.

11. PODCAST – Rural Reporters on How Their Communities are Handling Coronavirus Oregon Public Broadcasting As coronavirus cases and deaths skyrocket across Oregon, pandemic fatigue is setting in. In some rural areas, skepticism about the governor’s new restrictions on businesses and social gatherings is common. Reporters in rural areas have been writing about how some local officials and community members are flouting the state’s restrictions. We check in with newspaper reporters Kelly Kenoyer of The New Era in Sweet Home, Antonio Sierra of the East Oregonian and Becca Robbins of the Klamath Falls Herald and News.

Listen to the full story.

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