What Killed Admissions Tax In Clark County?

The vote to kill the proposed admissions tax came as a surprise to some, including me. Clark county sports fans seemed ready for a new Summertime attraction, professional baseball, even if it meant paying a little more to see a movie in a theater or to play some golf.

After hearing that the tax went down, I was suddenly reminded of a budget statement that Clark county emailed to KXL Monday, about 24-hours before commissioners rejected the admissions tax. 

The statement was a notice of next week's public hearing on the county budget. (December 6, 6pm) One proposal to be discussed would expand use of the county's real estate excise tax to pay for things it wasn't originally meant to pay for.  That clearly shows Clark county's revenue picture isn't healthy.  On top of that, Olympia is looking at more cuts that would impact counties.

If you read between the lines you'll see that Clark county is expecting the economy to stay sluggish for years.  I wonder if that was the tipping point for the one commissioner who was on the fence about the admissions tax.  What do you think?

-Steve Leader

Is Raising an Obese Child Considered Abuse?

A Cleveland 3rd grader, who weighed 200 pounds was taken from his mother after she failed to get him the help he needed to lose weight.  She says she loves her son and is trying to embrace his new healthy lifestyle, but it's hard.  Investigators became aware of the boy when he was taken to the hospital with trouble breathing because of sleep apnea.  

 

Should the mother lose custody of the boy?  Should he be taken to foster care? Does it make a difference that the woman's 90 pound 3 year old was also taken into state custody years ago?  What are the legal options doctors and state case workers have?  We are talking about it with our legal expert this morning at 7:20am.    You can also sound off on our Facebook page.  Just type in KXL.

 

 

 

 

State Board of Higher Ed vs. Richard Lariviere

Later this afternoon, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education will vote on whether or not to renew Richard Lariviere's contract.  He is the President of the University of Oregon and it came out last week that the board had already decided not to renew his contract.  The board claims Lariviere isn't a team player and doesn't work under the rules of the Oregon University System.  Specifically, the board mentions Lariviere giving professors and other staff members raises, even though he was instructed not to by the OUS.  This has caused quite the backlash from students, professors, and big donors, like Nike's Phil Knight.  At this weekend's civil war football game, many people sported t-shirts and signs saying "I Stand with the Hat", making mention of Lariviere's trademark fedora.  When Lariviere came on the field during the game, the crowd erupted in cheers. 
It appears that Lariviere wants to make the UO more independent, possibly even a private school, eventually.  Do you agree with this, or do you think the OUS is correct?  Please leave your comments below and listen to Portland's Afternoon News.  Mike Turner will be at today's meeting, covering the expected protestors, the meeting itself, and reaction.
-Lacey

Happy Monday! Cyber Monday!

We hit record shopping numbers from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Americans spent more than $54 billion which is $11 billion more than last year. Will we have any money left for Cyber Monday? Last year, consumers spent a billion dollars on Cyber Monday. We'll be tracking what's hot and the online shopping numbers today. Dealnews.com is supposed to be a good site to track for the best deals.

Also on KXL this morning, we'll be talking about what's next for the NBA now that the lockout is over. Speaking of basketball, Steve Leader will profile a very special high school football coach in Vancouver. You don't want to miss it. Hear it at 6:20 and 8:20. We'll also launch our series this week about alternative Christmas gifts and how people are doing out-of-the ordinary things for each other this holiday.

Rebecca

Did The Supercommittee Know This?

Bring the Green, it's Black Friday.

The line at the Hollywood Fred Meyer was growing at 4am when I stopped by. There seemed to be a lot of first timers. They had never stayed up all night to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. They were all taking it in stride (some were a little crabby--like the 13 year old who wanted to be in bed).  You can always tell the veteran shoppers, because they've got chairs, warm blankets over them and a long list in their hands. Either way, it seemed everybody had socks on their list of things to get at Fred Meyer. That's a big hook for the store chain. Aside from that, video games and TVs topped the agenda. One man asked me what I wanted for Christmas and said he could be my Santa.  I thought that was a good time for me to leave. I got my latte at the nearby Starbucks and was on my way. Happy Shopping everyone!

Rebecca Marshall