January 7, 2018

If Julian Castro Is Running for President, He Should Stop Running Away From Dallas

Looks like former San Antonio mayor and HUD Secretary Julian Castro is really running for president in 2020. Great. Maybe now HUD will show me those documents it's been promising for a year and a half.

It’s simple. If he’s going to run for president under the Democratic flag, then Castro needs to clear the decks on what he did to Dallas when he was at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This isn’t me making a mountain of my personal molehill. This is simple political physics.

From Castro’s days as America’s youngest mayor of a big city to his tenure as Barack Obama’s housing secretary, he has consistently declared racial desegregation of housing in America to be an important verse in his personal battle hymn. How could he not? He’s a Democrat.

But saying it and doing it are two very different things. Housing is the brick wall the American civil rights movement finally ran into. All Democrats say they’re for housing integration, but when you start talking about putting federally subsidized housing into middle-class or, God forbid, affluent white areas, the better-off and whiter Democrats start shuffling for the exits with their eyes down and hands in their pockets.

Read more: http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/if-julian-castro-is-serious-about-the-white-house-in-2020-he-needs-to-explain-dallas-in-2014-10222700

January 7, 2018

US Figure Skating Championship Results: Pairs, Women and Men

Pairs Championsship

Place Start Name Short Program Free Skate Total Score
Place Score Place Score
1 15 Alexa Scimeca-Knierim, DuPage FSC
Christopher Knierim, Broadmoor SC 1 71.10 1 135.50 206.60
2 14 Tarah Kayne, Southwest Florida FSC
Danny O'Shea, Southwest Florida FSC 2 68.93 2 131.87 200.80
3 12 Deanna Stellato-Dudek, Southwest Florida FSC
Nathan Bartholomay, Southwest Florida FSC 3 67.84 3 129.81 197.65
4 10 Ashley Cain, SC of New York
Timothy LeDuc, Los Angeles FSC 8 60.03 4 127.11 187.14
5 13 Haven Denney, SC of New York
Brandon Frazier, All Year FSC 4 63.63 5 122.69 186.32
6 8 Marissa Castelli, SC of Boston
Mervin Tran, SC of Boston 6 60.75 6 121.63 182.38
7 11 Chelsea Liu, Orange County FSC
Brian Johnson, Detroit SC 5 62.35 9 105.12 167.47
8 9 Jessica Pfund, Southwest Florida FSC
Joshua Santillan, All Year FSC 7 60.52 10 103.10 163.62
9 6 Jessica Calalang, DuPage FSC
Zack Sidhu, Las Vegas FSC 12 50.43 7 111.80 162.23
10 7 Erika Choi Smith, SC of New York
AJ Reiss, Los Angeles FSC 11 50.95 8 108.08 159.03
11 5 Nica Digerness, Broadmoor SC
Danny Neudecker, Seattle SC 9 53.78 11 100.32 154.10
12 4 Winter Deardorff, Northern Kentucky SC
Max Settlage, Broadmoor SC 10 51.15 13 94.51 145.66
13 3 Caitlin Fields, Indiana World Sk Acad FSC
Ernie Utah Stevens, Indiana World Sk Acad FSC 13 45.49 12 96.63 142.12
14 2 Alexandria Yao, Peninsula SC
Jacob Simon, Skokie Valley SC 15 40.97 14 87.15 128.12
15 1 Allison Timlen, Columbia FSC (MD)
Justin Highgate-Brutman, St. Clair Shores FSC 14 41.70 15 84.35 126.05


Womens Championship

Place Start Name Short Program Free Skate Total Score
Place Score Place Score
1 22 Bradie Tennell, Skokie Valley SC 1 73.79 1 145.72 219.51
2 20 Mirai Nagasu, Pasadena FSC 2 73.09 2 140.75 213.84
3 21 Karen Chen, Peninsula SC 3 69.48 4 129.11 198.59
4 18 Ashley Wagner, SC of Wilmington 5 65.94 3 130.25 196.19
5 17 Mariah Bell, Rocky Mountain FSC 6 65.18 6 127.16 192.34
6 14 Starr Andrews, Los Angeles FSC 8 62.55 5 127.36 189.91
7 19 Angela Wang, Salt Lake Figure Skating 4 67.00 7 121.01 188.01
8 16 Amber Glenn, Dallas FSC 9 61.62 9 106.44 168.06
9 11 Courtney Hicks, All Year FSC 11 57.81 8 107.67 165.48
10 6 Tessa Hong, Los Angeles FSC 13 55.82 11 101.04 156.86
11 13 Caroline Zhang, All Year FSC 10 60.29 14 96.09 156.38
12 9 Franchesca Chiera, Panthers FSC 14 53.85 13 97.14 150.99
13 12 Hannah Miller, Lansing SC 12 57.57 16 91.57 149.14
14 10 Kaitlyn Nguyen, Los Angeles FSC 17 46.30 12 99.90 146.20
15 3 Brynne McIsaac, Broadmoor SC 20 43.97 10 101.57 145.54
16 1 Emmy Ma, SC of Boston 18 45.55 15 92.47 138.02
17 4 Megan Wessenberg, SC of Boston 22 40.90 17 90.83 131.73
18 7 Katie McBeath, Westminster FSC of Erie 15 48.53 18 76.11 124.64
19 8 Vivian Le, Los Angeles FSC 16 46.65 19 75.95 122.60
20 2 Emily Chan, Dallas FSC 19 44.79 20 59.64 104.43
WD Polina Edmunds, Peninsula SC 7 63.78
WD Ashley Lin, Dallas FSC 21 42.33


Mens Championship

Place Start Name Short Program Free Skate Total Score
Place Score Place Score
1 21 Nathan Chen, Salt Lake Figure Skating 1 104.45 1 210.78 315.23
2 18 Ross Miner, SC of Boston 6 88.91 2 185.60 274.51
3 16 Vincent Zhou, SC of San Francisco 5 89.02 3 184.81 273.83
4 19 Adam Rippon, SC of New York 2 96.52 4 171.82 268.34
5 17 Grant Hochstein, SC of New York 4 92.18 5 163.13 255.31
6 20 Jason Brown, Skokie Valley SC 3 93.23 6 160.45 253.68
7 15 Timothy Dolensky, Atlanta FSC 7 85.06 9 151.27 236.33
8 12 Alexander Johnson, Braemar-City of Lakes FSC 10 79.60 8 153.02 232.62
9 10 Max Aaron, Broadmoor SC 12 74.95 10 149.25 224.20
10 13 Aleksei Krasnozhon, Dallas FSC 8 82.58 13 141.00 223.58
11 11 Jimmy Ma, SC of New York 11 75.28 11 147.13 222.41
12 6 Tomoki Hiwatashi, DuPage FSC 15 63.48 7 154.05 217.53
13 14 Andrew Torgashev, Panthers FSC 9 81.32 14 135.69 217.01
14 7 Sean Rabbitt, Glacier Falls FSC 13 73.22 12 141.24 214.46
15 1 Jordan Moeller, Northern Ice SC 20 55.35 15 124.86 180.21
16 3 Ben Jalovick, Centennial 7k SC 19 56.12 16 122.21 178.33
17 4 Daniel Kulenkamp, FSC of Southern California 18 60.15 17 117.80 177.95
18 9 Emmanuel Savary, University of Delaware FSC 14 64.65 18 112.48 177.13
19 8 Sebastien Payannet, Los Angeles FSC 16 61.29 20 111.60 172.89
20 2 Scott Dyer, All Year FSC 17 60.17 19 111.87 172.04
21 5 Kevin Shum, SC of Boston 21 52.04 21 111.29 163.33

Results from: http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2018/26192/results.html

January 7, 2018

"Will Rap 4 Weed" and Other Independent Candidates for Governor You Probably Won't Hear About Again

Dallas billionaire Ross Perot did it in 1992 and 1996. Satirist Kinky Friedman and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn did it in 2006. They each got on the ballot as independent candidates in the November general election—Perot twice for president, and Friedman and Strayhorn as candidates for governor. None won, but they were on the ballot and votes for them got counted. This year, “Will Rap 4 Weed” and sixty-nine other people have given notice to the Texas Secretary of State that they intend to run as independent candidates for state and federal office this November.

But getting on the ballot as an independent in Texas is no easy task. A want-to-be candidate can’t just buy a spot; they’ve got to collect signatures on a ballot petition. For governor this year, valid signatures are required from a number of people equal to one percent of the total vote in the 2014 gubernatorial election—47,183 signatures from qualified voters. To make it even more difficult, the petition drives can only occur between the end of the major party primaries for the office the independent is seeking and a deadline of 5 p.m. on June 21. And the individual signing the petition cannot have voted in a primary or signed a petition for another candidate running for the same office.

“Texas is the only state that requires independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy virtually an entire year before the general election,” said Richard Winger, editor of a national election-focused newsletter, Ballot Access News. Federal courts struck down similar laws in South Carolina in 1990 and in West Virginia in 2016, he said, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1983 decision noted that independent candidates with substantial support usually only emerge after the voting public know the names of the Democratic and Republican nominees. But Texas required independent candidates to file their intent to run for the 2018 election by December 11, 2017. “If the federal judges in Texas were of higher caliber, the Texas December deadline would have been struck down long ago,” Winger told me.

Nevertheless, the law remains intact along with its petition requirement. The rule of thumb to get on a ballot is that an independent candidate needs about three times the required number of signatures just to guarantee he or she has enough valid ones. Perot turned in 160,000 to the Texas Secretary of State for his 1996 presidential bid. In 2006, Friedman turned in 169,574, and Strayhorn submitted 223,000.

Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/will-rap-4-weed-independent-candidates-texas-governor/

January 7, 2018

Oregon suing agrochemical giant over PCB pollution

PORTLAND — Oregon is suing the agrochemical giant Monsanto over PCB pollution the state says has contaminated its waterways and wildlife.

The lawsuit filed Thursday by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum seeks $100 million to mitigate pollution that state officials say has accumulated over decades.

Monsanto did not immediately respond to the lawsuit when contacted by The AP. It called a similar lawsuit brought by Washington state in 2016 meritless.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in many industrial and commercial applications.

Read more: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/36308425-75/oregon-suing-agrochemical-giant-over-pcb-pollution.html.csp

January 7, 2018

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler defends decision to invest in pricey affordable housing complex

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called his decision to spend public money on a pricey but innovative housing project in the Pearl District a good example of tapping private and federal resources to increase Portland's affordable housing supply.

The mayor released a statement Thursday defending the project and calling the city's $6 million investment in the $29 million housing complex "modest." Portland City Council candidate Jo Ann Hardesty, however, told Willamette Week that the investment does not make sense for addressing a housing crisis.

Willamette Week wrote in a Wednesday story that the mayor's decision ignored Portland Housing Bureau cost guidelines and defied his campaign promise to spend less per square foot to produce more units.

Portland Housing Bureau spokeswoman Martha Calhoon told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an email Thursday that the cost guidelines serve as "preference criteria, rather than a requirement." She said the bureau's solicitations have "always" contained preference for leveraging other financial resources.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/01/portland_mayor_ted_wheeler_def.html

January 7, 2018

Former first lady Hayes faces $100,000-plus in fines for ethics violations

SALEM — The Oregon Government Ethics Commission on Friday unanimously voted that there is enough evidence to show former first lady Cylvia Hayes violated ethics law 22 times, largely by using her public position to win a paid fellowship and several contracts for her environmental consulting firm between 2011 and 2013.

Hayes served as a “super lobbyist” for private consulting clients who paid her to advocate on green energy, Commissioner Daniel Mason said.

Commissioner Nathan Sosa described her actions as “a case study in what you are not supposed to do as a public official. For that reason the statute gives us the authority to levy significant fines and I think that’s what we should do.”

Hayes and her attorney were absent from the meeting Friday where the commission reached its decision.

Read more: http://www.dailyastorian.com/da/capital-bureau/20180105/hayes-faces-100000-plus-in-fines-for-ethics-violations

January 7, 2018

Rep. Earl Blumenauer Refuses to Attend President Trump's State of the Union Address

Rep. Earl Blumenauer has decided that the upcoming State of the Union address will be a waste of his time. So he isn't going to show up.

The Jan. 30 address will be President Donald Trump's first address to the full Congress since his joint address last February.

Blumenauer says he will be in Oregon.

"Rather than listening to yet another destructive and divisive speech by Trump," Blumenauer said in a statement, "I will be working here at home listening to Oregonians about what they think about the State of the Union."

The congressman has a habit of skipping Trump's big days. He also left Washington, D.C. during the inauguration to meet with his constituents. Blumenauer did attend Trump's joint address last winter, and responded with a one-word statement: "Resist."

Read more: http://www.wweek.com/news/2018/01/05/rep-earl-blumenauer-refuses-to-attend-president-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/

January 7, 2018

Upcoming bill would tax tech industry

Oregon lawmakers this week released an overview of a carbon cap and pricing plan they want the Legislature to pass during the six-week session that starts in February.

It’s based on a bill that Democrats introduced the day before wrapping up a longer session earlier this year. Sen. Michael Dembrow of Portland and Rep. Ken Helm of Beaverton oversaw work groups that refined the concept in recent months.

The two Democrats outlined features that they say are in two drafts of the bill, one to be introduced in the House and one in the Senate. They expect to make the bills public on Jan. 8.

A group pushing for the plan, Renew Oregon Action Fund, had estimated large polluters would pay the state $1.4 billion per biennium under an earlier version of the plan. That would be a huge influx of money, given the state’s two-year general fund budget is around $21 billion.

Read more: http://oregonbusinessreport.com/2018/01/upcoming-bill-would-tax-tech-industry/

January 7, 2018

Union-backed group sues Dennis Richardson over election rule change

Our Oregon, a liberal political group funded by public employee unions, filed suit Thursday on behalf of a Multnomah County voter against Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson in an attempt to halt changes to ballot measure rules Richardson approved earlier this week.

The crux of the suit is that Richardson's rule changes are unconstitutional and violate state law. The suit, filed in Marion County Circuit Court on behalf of voter Christine Mason, also alleges the rule changes "serve to undermine the peoples' power to initiate and refer measures."

The new rules, which took effect Tuesday, allow backers of a proposed ballot measure to gather signatures using a short summary written by Oregon's attorney general -- even during the period when that summary is under appeal at the Oregon Supreme Court.

Richardson, Oregon's first Republican secretary of state in 30 years, rebuffed the suit's claims in a tersely-worded newsletter sent Thursday night from his government email account. He cast the lawsuit as an effort by "wealthy special interest groups" to hamper voters' rights.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/01/post_199.html

January 6, 2018

Salmon farm sues after state cancels its lease

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – Cooke Aquaculture Pacific is appealing after Washington state canceled a lease for one of its farmed salmon operations in Port Angeles.

Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz ended the company’s net pen lease last month saying it had violated the terms. The farm holds nearly 700,000 salmon.

The company’s net pens at another location, at Cypress Island, collapsed in August and released thousands of non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound.

Cooke says it was not in default at the Port Angeles site and that agency had no basis to terminate the lease. It sued Thursday in Clallam County Superior Court.

Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jan/05/salmon-farm-sues-after-state-cancels-its-lease/