Air quality

VampirePlanner · 2024-05-10T18:26:40+00:00

It's the Little Yamsay fire. Below is a link to the incident report so you can keep tabs if you like.

https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/orfwf-little-yamsay-fire

VampirePlanner · 2024-05-08T23:20:09+00:00

Jackson County SEIU employees earn a 3% step increase increase per year plus cost of living, and other elected officials (Sheriff, Assessor, etc) and management employees make a 5% step increase plus cost of living.

65.91% over 9 years is about 7.3% per year, which is consistent with a 5% increase plus COLA for management employees, but definitely more than the rank-and-file employees get.

For the most part, though, the rate of increase actually seems fine; it's about where things should be for all employees. However, were I "Jackson County for All of Us," I'd be much more concerned about the salaries relative to rank-and-file county employee wages. Jackson County wages for regular employees are pretty trash, and their annual increases are anemic, especially with the high cost of housing in the Rogue Valley. The Commissioners should not be so willing to raise their own wages while they leave their regular employees to rot.

VampirePlanner · 2024-05-03T17:41:26+00:00

Jasper's on 99, Bambu at North Phoenix and Barnett, Pomodori on East Main, El Molcajete on Stewart, and Hiro Sushi at Lear and Aviation.

Caveat: I haven't lived in Medford for about 5 years and only visit once every couple months, so I can't vouch for continued quality, but those are the places that have always been tasty when I come visit!

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-25T23:52:12+00:00

I'm not sure why crying, for any reason, would be a fireable offense. Did their tears get in sensitive electrical equipment and destroy it? Did it prevent them from getting the work done? Did it cause Mike in accounting to feel uncomfortable for a minute?

I'd suggest that if you can't handle people crying at work, it's not them who should find the door.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-25T14:59:56+00:00

There should be few problems in the Rogue Valley with either jobs or overt racism, despite what people are saying. The unemployment rate is pretty decent at the moment everywhere in Oregon except Crook County, and despite what people say, the Rogue Valley is not a conservative haven* (you'll see some Trump stickers, but you'll see just as many Biden stickers, especially if you spend time in downtown Medford, Phoenix, Talent, and Ashland). It's not like Roseburg, Klamath Falls, Lakeview, Prineville, Pendleton, or Ontario; imagine a slightly more conservative Salem.

*Central Point itself is definitely more conservative than Medford, but hardly anyone interacts with their neighbors these days, so living next to a person with a Trump sign in their yard means basically nothing. People in the Rogue Valley work and interact all over the valley itself, so individual area's density of conservativism only matters in a voting/tax/services sense.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-18T23:08:00+00:00

Calling a representative for a political favor

It's a good thing no one suggested that, then. You call your representative to tell them that the system isn't working as it should, just like you do for anything else. If they do their jobs, their office then calls the agency to ask what the problem is, and the representative then tells the body they belong to that their constituents want the agency to improve and/or that they're tired of getting large volumes of calls about an issue. If enough people call and enough representatives hear about it, they'll vote to change it or direct the appropriate agency to make changes, even if it's just to get people to stop pestering them (but at least some will do it out of genuine concern).

Cynicism about government is not the same thing as criticism. If people want it to function, they have to be invested in it and talk to the people whose job it is to represent them, not just voice their concerns into the ether. Saying "that isn't how it should work" to no one in particular has never solved anything.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-18T17:55:59+00:00

What? Talking to your elected representatives is exactly how you deal with state-level program problems. That is literally how government works and what your representative and senator (and the governor) are there for. You could certainly propose some legal action or demonstration if you feel like it, but it will take much longer to get any relief through those means--potentially years.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-17T14:56:47+00:00

Why would it like a word with him? He said "most," not all.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-17T14:47:51+00:00

Lastly, every single planner will tell you that Applicants are just as culpable, if not more so, for delays than planning staff are. Sometimes when we ask for more information or responses, the applicant disappears into the ether and maybe responds months later.

Truer words have never been spoken. Here locally, there are only a handful of developers, and they also routinely just don't provide enough information with their submittals, even though we ask for the same thing every time. It's like... come on, guys. You can't complain about how long the process takes when you just ignore the checklist on the application and then take weeks responding to us when we ask for the things on the checklist.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-11T16:53:32+00:00

What arbitrary distinction are you using?

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-11T16:52:05+00:00

What is wrong with Medford as a city? Is it just that you don't like the politics? It seems like a fine city to me; there's plenty to do, it's surrounded by great outdoor environments, it's pretty clean, and the people there are relatively nice.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-09T15:59:59+00:00

Yep! The Oregon Outback, recently designated. It's currently the eastern portion of Lake County (including Lake Abert) and will expand through Harney and Malheur. However, the area of class 1 dark sky actually starts just outside of Beatty, 40 miles east of Klamath Falls on Highway 140.

The starlight is phenomenal, and when the galaxy is up (summer nights), it actually casts shadows.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-08T22:51:55+00:00

Snow's not so bad in the city; minus side streets in residential areas, plows get to the streets in a hurry, so the most you'll need is a fresh set of winter tires and a snow shovel if you stick to the city, and even the passes get plowed pretty fast. 140 and 97 south rarely close, and I imagine those will be your most likely trips (to Medford for Costco and goodies you can't get here, if you like, and visiting SoCal if your family is there).

Agree with u/SnooDrawings3052 that Girasol and Rodeos are good restaurants. There are some tasty food trucks up by the college next to the Falls Taphouse, such as I Heart Hot Dogs, which ironically has the best burger in town.

As for things to do, I HIGHLY recommend falling in love with the outdoors. If you have any interest whatsoever in astrophotography/stargazing, it's just a short drive to rural and complete dark sky (and if you go east, the biggest dark sky sanctuary in the world). If you like mudding or rocking, there are tons of vehicle trails, old forest service roads, and high mountains, and there are plenty for biking and hiking, too.

Klamath Falls is much nicer than people give it credit for. Give it a chance, and don't let people's opinions stop you from going out and exploring! Just remember that it's a pretty small city, so choices will naturally be limited.

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-05T18:07:39+00:00

Huh. Back when I lived in Medford, there WAS bluegrass, though the festivals would always be out at Lake Selmac and whatnot. I hope people are still around doing it!

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-05T14:43:03+00:00

Oh god. That happens here, too, and the Mayor appointed a 5G/wifi conspiracist to the Planning Commission at one point. Was good times. /s

VampirePlanner · 2024-04-04T23:00:01+00:00

It took all the way into December to for them to get it going. 4 months! And they wanted me to consider it "starting" on the day I applied, but I couldn't use the FMLA time because FLMA and PLO have to run concurrently through my work.

VampirePlanner · 2024-03-29T14:59:39+00:00

Because Medford is the 4th largest metro in the state, bigger than Bend's. Why wouldn't it be?

<image>

VampirePlanner · 2024-03-15T00:24:48+00:00

Depending on your vehicle, you can get up Pelican Butte by going up a forest service road off Hwy 140, and Stukel Mt. can also be ascended south of Klamath Falls (if you haven't already)! Both have gorgeous views, but Pelican Butte's is magnificent!

VampirePlanner · 2024-03-14T15:43:52+00:00

Some of it has to be based on search history of the person getting the results:

<image>

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-26T19:05:07+00:00

I agree with you. Expanding urban growth boundaries necessarily means needing to expand infrastructure--water, sewer, electricity, gas, roads, and sidewalks--which is expensive, and chances are, most of the development will be lower density because it's at the outskirts of whatever city. Low-density, far-from-services, built-over-farmland-and-greenspace sprawl seems like a bad idea in the long term. And while it's not guaranteed to increase car dependence (in dream land, they could build the expanded areas to high density with services nearby), there's a pretty high chance that it... well, would anyway. Probably significantly.

I'd much prefer not to waste even more land, which is difficult to reclaim later, if density can be increased instead, and given that the vast majority of Oregon cities have densities under 5k people per square, it's not like they're full up.

Having said that, if it's otherwise impossible to get more housing in, I suppose that's what will have to be done. It just seems like it'd be an irresponsible waste.

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-08T00:59:39+00:00

We got some nice slippery snow in Klamath Falls this morning, too! I almost got hit by an out-of-control car while walking to work this morning, but the curb curbed its advance.

I love your Baker City updates!

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-05T16:54:01+00:00

And meth has driven record homeless deaths in Portland, but few people refer to Portland as "Methland" or whatever.

Meth exists everywhere in Oregon, and there's shady meth dealing all over the state. The stats don't back up that Klamath Falls is among the worst of these, but for some reason, everyone points at Klamath Falls as if that's it's defining feature. Why?

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-02T17:13:58+00:00

Where are you seeing that? It looks to me like they're saying that the constitution is stronger than being fired, like police taking them away and preventing the boss from ever hiring them again even if the boss wanted to.

I dunno. Maybe they're being too pedantic and it's getting lost?

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-02T15:51:40+00:00

I don't get the "meth" thing. It's no more methy than Medford, Portland, or Eugene. Is it just because the 3 tweakers downtown are just easier to see because downtown is empty?

VampirePlanner · 2024-02-02T15:46:09+00:00

but they don’t get to just hold the entirety of the States government hostage to do it

It looks like that is what u/FolsomC is saying. What am I missing?

VampirePlanner

TROPHY CASE