Health Options Digest
May 22, 2005
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review: Hospitals and Health Care
You might think the game of "Musical Hospitals" is winding down. PeaceHealth will dedicate the RiverBend site on June 2 and the Eugene City Council is eager to help McKenzie-Willamette relocate to the EWEB site. But it was Dave Barry -- or rather his evil twin -- who said that things are rarely so simply in Eugene.
In the latest twist, PeaceHealth plans to cut its Ask-A-Nurse program, citing the rising cost of charity care. It blames McKenzie-Willamette for not doing its share of charity care. We don't know the details, but can PeaceHealth really claim with a straight face that it can't afford its Ask-A-Nurse program when it can afford a $350 million-new hospital? As The Register-Guard editorialized about this schoolyard brawl, "Knock it off!"
More to the point, perhaps health care in this community is too important to leave solely to the hospitals. Perhaps it is time to form a Lane County Health Advisory Committee. Actually, such a group already exists. The Lane County Board of Commissioners is seeking applicants by the May 27 deadline. But what is this committee and Lane County doing to ensure the high quality and accessibility of health care in Lane County?
In other news, perhaps a new McKenzie-Willamette hospital at the EWEB isn't just around the corner. EWEB will take more time studying how much it would cost to move all or part of its operations to a different site. The study will delay any deal with Triad.
Lastly, after Oregon doctors and others lost at the ballot box in an attempt to limit medical malpractice awards, they are looking to the state legislature to enact reforms.
Week In Review: Related Issues
Frequent readers of this space know that "Health Options Digest" isn't just about health options and hospital siting. Health issues are interwoven with issues of public safety, taxation, other development, Measure 37, transportation, local and state politics, etc. Here we try to connect the dots between issues, explaining how they are related.
This week, a unifying theme is TAXES. Of course, no one likes to pay taxes. But lately some people seem to believe that if you simply cut taxes to the bone, then government will magically become super efficient, or perhaps just go away.
But over 200 years ago, our forefathers proclaimed: "We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Lane County is looking to establish a public safety taxing district to pay for sheriffs, jails and the like, i.e., to "establish justice" and "ensure domestic tranquility."
In the past, Lane County has benefited from timber receipts. With these down, in recent years the federal government has stepped in to fill the gap in revenues. But with the Bush administration looking to cut taxes and trim federal spending, payments to counties might be reduced.
Meanwhile, lack of adequate funding for the county jail prompted Springfield voters to approve a bond measure to construct their own jail. But last Tuesday, Springfield voters rejected the idea of taxing cell phones and other utilities to pay to operate the jail. Fortunately, both sides of the vote agree on the need to provide operating funds and are beginning to look at other possible sources of revenue.
Lane County is also short on funds to repair and maintain roads. Because cities in Lane County get some of their road revenues from the county, cities are similarly short on funds. In response, Eugene and Springfield have instituted gas taxes. Florence did as well, but voters on Tuesday overturned the tax. Fortunately, the county and cities are still talking about if and how a countywide gas tax might provide sufficient revenues. As The Register-Guard pointed out last week, it is really the state that is failing in its responsibility to adequately fund road maintenance.
We would add that the federal government shares in the blame. The attacks on 9-11 provided a perfect moment to teach Americans about the need to be less reliant on oil from politically volatile nations. The shutdown of our airline system for almost a week should have signaled the need to diversify our transportation system, in particular, by strengthening intercity rail and bus service. At a moment when Americans wanted to pull together and sacrifice for the greater good, it would have been a perfect time to raise gas taxes to fund such needed infrastructure improvements while encouraging energy conservation and reducing dependence on foreign oil. Alas, a former oil executive from Texas now occupying the White House was unwilling to provide such practical leadership.
Other public services are suffering, too. The small city of Wood Village just approved the first sales tax in the state, which may be a sign of things to come. Corporations are paying less than they used to in state taxes. Oregon's overall tax burden is well below the national average, although we have a higher than average income tax because we have no sales tax.
In all this there is a simple truth: There is no free lunch. You can cut federal taxes and see higher state and local taxes and fees. Or you can cut taxes by privatizing services and see the costs of privately purchased goods increase correspondingly. Or you can simply not fund jails, patch potholes and educate children and see what happens.
Over 200 years ago, some pretty wise people came together and constituted a government because they understood that doing so was the best way to "establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our posterity." They knew that liberty, justice and prosperity did not come for free. Sadly, many people today appear to believe in the "Free Lunch" theory of America.
With health care also, there is no free lunch. As health care costs continue to rise, Americans will need to decide who pays for what kind of health care, and what kind of care is worth it and what isn't.
In other news, Arlie Chief Operating Officer Scott Diehl (formerly of the Register-Guard) challenged Ed Russo's story last week on mixed-use (or nodal) development. Speaking of which, we hear that Arlie director of planning and development Larry Reed has left Arlie. What's with that?
Watch the Region 2050 50-year planning effort as it goes public this summer.
Symantec and Wal-Mart are both looking to expand in Springfield. Good for Springfield today. What happens in 20 years when they run out of land? That's what the Region 2050 project is asking.
Citizens in the Santa Clara area prevailed in opposing a land swap that would have given them a park at the expense of development on farm land. The Register-Guard correctly noted that this was a triumph for participatory democracy (but managed to also say some silly things about local politics).
In case you haven't noticed, LTD has started construction of Bus Rapid Transit. That's the work being done in downtown Eugene on East 10th and 11th Avenues.
Measure 37 continues to be a mess, and it is getting worse. Last week, the Lane County Board of Commissioners gave two county residents permission to violate county laws, over the objections of staff. At the state level, this coming week the senate is expected to vote on a bill, Senate Bill 1037, that would reinterpret Measure 37, but not necessarily make it clearer, more fair or better. All around the state, public planners are spending more time figuring out if and how people can violate laws intended to ensure orderly development than they are figuring out how necessary public facilities and services (such as roads and jails) can be efficiently provided.
Lastly, it seems like the Springfield News not only can take a joke but can also publish one -- much to their chagrin. Perhaps to make up for their mistake, they have taken to publishing old Dave Barry columns, even if Dave himself is having too much fun on his sabbatical to cause any trouble himself.
Looking Ahead
Three-and-a-half years ago, Eugene voters narrowly approved moving forward with the West Eugene Parkway (WEP). Since then TransPlan has been amended to include all of the WEP, those amendments were challenged in court, ODOT discovered that the WEP as wouldn't work as planned and would end up costing almost twice as much, ODOT decided that the eastern half of the WEP would be built as a city street to be owned and maintained by the City of Eugene, and the Bureau of Land Management and Army Corps of Engineers have expressed serious concerns about the impacts of the bypass highway on the West Eugene Wetlands. But there has been little public news about the WEP in almost a year. To learn where things stand today, attend the Active Bethel Citizens meeting this Thursday.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
Thursday, May 26 -- Active Bethel Neighbors talk WEP
8:00-9:00 pm, Willamette High School, Cafeteria, 1801 Echo Hollow Rd., Eugene
The Active Bethel Citizens (ABC) meeting agenda for Thursday, May 26, will include a presentation from 8 to 9 pm about the current status of the proposed West Eugene Parkway planning. The presentation will be given by Alex Cousins of Jeanne Lawson Associates, a public involvement consulting firm working with ODOT on the WEP, and by Gary McNeel, senior transportation analyst for City of Eugene).
This will be the first public and semi-official hearing about the WEP in several years, so please share this information with people who may want to attend.
The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 pm at the Cafeteria at Willamette High School on Echo Hollow Road. The Cafeteria is located at the north end of the campus, and there is a parking lot at that end.
Jeanne Lawson Associates were contracted by Eugene and ODOT to do outreach concerning WEP planning. They have been meeting for some time with property and business owners along the proposed route.
For more information, contact Linda Swisher, 689-2338.
Saturday, June 25 -- McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center: 50th Birthday Party
| McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | |
10 am to 2 pm
Everyone is invited to celebrate 50 years of extraordinary care with McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
Join us for hospital tours, prize drawings, birthday cake, free health screenings and more. See our latest technology and remodeled spaces. Learn about new services. Take a walk down memory lane with McKenzie-Willamette. Meet employees and volunteers who have provided "extraordinary care" to our community for the past five decades. Help us make our big FIVE-0 a party worth remembering!
Opportunities
Commissioners have an opening on health panel
| The Register-Guard | April 17, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners seeks applicants for the health advisory committee, which makes recommendations on matters of public health, planning, policy development, control measures, funding, public education and advocacy.
The term is four years. The deadline to apply is May 27. Applications are available in the Board of Commissioners' Office, Public Service Building, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene. To request an application by mail, call 682-4207.
For more information, call 682-4035.
PeaceHealth
Hospital quarrel turns to dispute about charity
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | May 17, 2005 |
CORRECTION (ran 5/18/2005): McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center offers around-the-clock neurology coverage for emergency room and general hospital patients. The hospital does not staff neurosurgeons for trauma patients. A story on Page A1 on Tuesday erroneously characterized the available treatments at the hospital. News sources or readers who see errors in The Register-Guard are encouraged to call 485-1234 and ask for the News Department.
A dispute over whether each of Eugene-Springfield's two rival hospitals is bearing a fair share of caring for the medical needs of the poor broke open Monday, with dominant Sacred Heart Medical Center appearing to suggest that smaller McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is slacking.
Sacred Heart officials announced they will eliminate the popular Ask-A-Nurse medical information program. And they blamed the move on a need to cut costs because of soaring expenses related to indigent patients coming to Sacred Heart.
Sacred Heart officials implied there's an imbalance between the amount of charity care they provide and that provided by McKenzie-Willamette.
And in an e-mail to staff last month, Sacred Heart's top executive wrote that McKenzie-Willamette appears to be sending indigent emergency room cases to Sacred Heart.
But McKenzie-Willamette denied it is skimping on care for the indigent. The Springfield hospital's chief executive officer said that some new data indicate that McKenzie-Willamette is in fact providing a higher level of indigent care in relation to its size than is Sacred Heart. (more...)
PeaceHealth plans to cut programs
| The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
Increased charity care and a growing number of Medicare patients at Sacred Heart Medical Center have caused hospital officials to eliminate and reduce programs, according to a statement released Monday.
Several factors, including a $28 million increase in charity care and bad debt over the past two years, have created a $6.4 million gap in the operating budget of the coming fiscal year.
According to hospital officials, this gap is forcing PeaceHealth to make reductions in programs, including the elimination of the Ask-A-Nurse program on June 17. (more...)
Editorial -- An uncharitable feud: Uncompensated care sparks hospital dispute
| The Register-Guard | May 22, 2005 |
Sacred Heart Medical Center is accusing McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center of failing to shoulder its fair share of medical care for people who can't afford to pay their hospital bills. McKenzie-Willamette denies the charge and counterpunches with data showing that it has outperformed the much larger Eugene hospital in providing uncompensated care.
It's an unproductive tiff that evokes an image of two surly siblings bickering about who "started it." Someone needs to shout "Knock it off!" (more...)
Center turning heart failure into success
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
Doctors have gotten better at treating heart attacks, artery blockages and strokes, but congestive heart failure remains a growing, costly problem.
The number of deaths attributed to heart failure has nearly doubled since 1979, Eugene cardiologist Jerold Hawn said, and some 550,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed each year in the United States. It's estimated 5 million Americans are living with heart failure, including 10 percent of people over age 75.
That's why PeaceHealth has opened the Heart Failure Center next to Sacred Heart Medical Center. The new clinic is intended to help heart failure patients better manage their disease through improved drug treatment, diet, education and support. The result should be fewer visits to the hospital and improved quality of life. (more...)
Business Beat -- Kudos: Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation
| The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
The Board of Directors of the Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation has elected new board members and its slate of officers for the coming year. Mark Musgrove and Mike Solomon will become directors, and Pat Cellers, president of Base Area No. 2 Hospital Guild, will represent the guild on the board. Officers are: Bob Fenstermacher, president; Mike Coughlin, vice president; Joe Gonyea III, treasurer; and Yvonne Hamson, secretary. The board also recognized the leadership of Bob Newburn, who will remain on the board after serving as president; Sister Monica Heeran, who will become a director emeritus; and Fred Hample, who is retiring from the board.
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
EWEB's new study will delay Triad deal
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
The Eugene Water & Electric Board on Tuesday expanded the scope of a design study to determine the costs to move all or part of the utility's campus from downtown to west Eugene.
While seemingly innocuous, the action taken by EWEB commissioners will have the effect of delaying any potential deal with Triad Hospitals Inc., which wants to purchase about 22 acres of the utility's downtown riverside campus and build a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center there.
Whether Texas-based Triad, majority owner of McKenzie-Willamette in Springfield, can live with the delay was unclear Tuesday night. Representatives of the hospital were not at the meeting. (more...)
Health Care
Deal on medical liability assailed
By James Sinks
WesCom News Service | May 20, 2005 |
SALEM -- After a nasty ballot-box battle last fall over a failed attempt to limit court damages to medical-negligence victims, the state's doctors and lawyers signaled they were willing to seek a truce over malpractice reform.
But that uneasy detente may be fleeting.
A Senate committee will air a potential compromise today that was cobbled together after months of talks by doctors, attorneys and legislators, but the plan still has critics on all sides. (more...)
Push for cheaper health care
By Joshua Freed
The Associated Press | May 22, 2005 |
MINNEAPOLIS -- Some health insurers are adding a new twist to the old approach of charging more for what's known as out-of-network care. They're measuring individual doctors' quality and fees -- and then charging more to see doctors deemed more expensive.
Not surprisingly, it's a major change that has some doctors and patients upset. Many doctors warn that quality care could be at risk if they are sifted on the basis of cost, while patients grumble about being forced to switch physicians to avoid higher charges. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Letter -- Arlie favors nodal development
By Scott M. Diehl, Chief Operating Officer, Arlie & Company, Eugene
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
I was surprised by Ed Russo's May 9 story on mixed-use development. Somehow out of a positive discussion about mixed-use and nodal development, Russo focused only on the challenges.
He used words like "trendy, idealistic and new urbanism" -- strange words to describe what was the normal course of development and growth until our society took a wrong turn with urban planning in the 1950s and started designing cities around automobiles instead of people. Nodal development allows us to return to a community where we know our neighbors and our local store owners.
We live in a city with limited resources and infrastructure to accommodate growth. The urban growth boundary is not expanding, and buildable land is becoming a very scarce commodity, causing the cost of housing to outpace incomes. How do we manage growth so our children will be able to afford to live in the city they grew up in? Mixed use or nodal development offers a smart solution to this dilemma.
The tone of Russo's article does not reflect Arlie's commitment to mixed-use development.
Mixed-use or nodal development can be difficult, but the benefits for our community far outweigh the challenges. This is an issue we can address as a community and can put hard work into so Eugene is the city we want it to be for our children and grandchildren.
Arlie & Company is committed to the success of Crescent Village and mixed-use development in Eugene.
Letter -- Take advantage of riverfront
By Henry E. Masterson, Eugene
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
Edward Russo's front page article "Mixing uses is a hard sell" (Register-Guard, May 9) was well done, timely, informative and instructive. I have visited the Orenco Station development and noticed one glaring omission: no waterfront! Eugene has the waterfront and no development. How can this be?
Russo's presentation included details about the past failure of such developments in Eugene-Springfield. Recent dynamics may have rendered moot the previous paradigms. Enter the Eugene Water & Electric Board waterfront property with its huge potential as a moneymaker for developers and gem quality asset for Eugene-Springfield urban growth. The waterfront property was omitted from the discussion. Why?
The local media have gone silent on this issue since the well-publicized flap between Arlie & Company and the Eugene City Council. Following that, Mayor Kitty Piercy, on two successive weekly radio shows, dismissed questions about the site with implied "it's a done deal" answers. The third weekly show produced no questions on the subject. Are we to assume that it is done and the wheels are frantically turning in secret to complete the hospital development before further public comment?
Hopefully, Russo's article will arouse new spirit and interest to this very important development decision. Eugene decision-makers would do well to follow Springfield Mayor Sid Lieken's lead and form private partnerships to arrive at the best decision. This is a once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity!
Slant -- Downtown Eugene
| Eugene Weekly | May 19, 2005 |
Our cover story package this week on downtown might be seen as overly optimistic. After all, we and other local media have been writing about the future of downtown for many years, and yet storefronts remain vacant, old buildings continue to deteriorate, and nightlife is only in scattered pockets. What's new this time around? There is a buzz of anticipation and excitement downtown that we haven't seen in a while, and it's due to lots of little and not-so-little infusions of energy and innovation, from the massive new federal building to the great little eateries on Pearl. We hope it's true that commercial property owners Connor & Woolley are ready to do their magic downtown and create wonderful living spaces and places. If they delay again, revitalization will still happen, just more slowly. Regardless of how we feel about growth and development, Eugene is about to be discovered. All we have to do is look around. Medford and Ashland downtowns are booming, urban Bend is taking off, Oregonian headlines this week scream of skyrocketing real estate prices in Portland. The big question for us is, how do we as a community stay ahead and guide what's coming? We need an on-going discussion of how we can evolve sustainably and create a vibrant urban core where our own little pocket of civilization can flourish. Let the debates begin in earnest.
Group to towns: Imagine the future
By Scott Maben
The Register-Guard | May 16, 2005 |
Many people struggle to focus on next week, let alone think about life decades from now.
A group that has put considerable thought into what much of Lane County will look like in 2050 checks in with the public from time to time, between long months of crunching numbers and analyzing land use maps.
The Region 2050 planning effort once again would like folks to take a little time and imagine the future.
Imagine the area with another 160,000 residents -- another Eugene plus 20,000. That's how many more people will squeeze onto streets and highways, into schools and neighborhoods, in the next 45 years, according to growth estimates.
Where will they live and work? How will they move around? Where will they get their water and other utility services? Will there be enough parks and protected spaces? Will the air be breathable?
Those are some of the farsighted questions driving Region 2050, which strives to coordinate growth planning among 10 cities and other government bodies in the county. (more...)
Springfield council takes step toward public safety taxing district
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | May 17, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The City Council gave the first show of support for a countywide public safety taxing district Monday night, narrowly agreeing to a change in the metropolitan growth plan necessary to create the district.
The council voted 3-2 to amend the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Plan so a new taxing district could be established to pay for county jail staff, prosecutors, rural sheriff's deputies and youth services.
The Eugene City Council votes on the same question next Monday, as county officials start to pursue a lengthy list of approvals that culminates with the biggest hurdle of all, voter support for the district in the November 2006 election. (more...)
City Council narrowly OKs changes to metro plan that will let county try for it
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
Springfield city councilors narrowly approved an amendment that would make it possible to create a countywide public safety district.
In a 3-2 vote, councilors decided to approve an amendment to the Metropolitan Plan, moving the process toward creating a safety district one step forward. The Eugene City Council will take action on the proposed amendment Monday. Lane County commissioners will hold a fifth reading June 1.
The county is looking at creating the special district to generate revenue to fund services. All three jurisdictions must sign off on the amendment before it can move forward. (more...)
Editorial -- Lane County must get serious about crime
| The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
Great news! Thanks to the Lane County District Attorney's Office, the days of "matrixing out" hardened criminals from the jailhouse may be over.
That's because the DA's office has announced that it can no longer afford to prosecute folks for petty offenses like stealing your stereo or cleaning out your checking account with fake checks.
Why?
Well, why else? Budget problems. (more...)
Slant -- Public Safety Taxing District
| Eugene Weekly | May 19, 2005 |
A public safety taxing district for all of Lane County would require complicated and far-reaching changes in the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Plan. Springfield city councilors gave their nod to the changes this week and Eugene councilors will have their say Monday evening, May 23. The county is pushing for the taxing district, but it's an all-around bad idea and the Eugene council needs to cut it off at the knees. Now. Not later when it might be too late. The plan amendment would in effect exempt the taxing district from any of the policies in the Metro Plan. The district could even set its own boundaries. And if voters are frightened into approving a new district, the tax burden would affect other taxes that are already committed, such as Eugene's local option school funding. The pie is only so big, due to tax-limiting Measures 5 and 47. Do we really want the county dictating Eugene Police funding? And what happens if not all the cities in the county agree to the taxing district, a likely scenario? Lane County DA Doug Harcleroad is playing the fear card with his recent announcement that his office will no longer prosecute most property crimes. The timing of this announcement points out its political nature. Harcleroad wants an infusion of $20 million to $40 million a year to fix a deficit of a few million dollars. Harcleroad says it's the "only viable solution," but it's just not true. Yes, public safety in Lane County is underfunded, but the county has ways of raising money for its general fund that would free up money for public safety. A good place to start would be system development charges (SDCs) to fund transportation and parks. How about closer auditing of administrative services and expense accounts? Throwing local government into the shredder with a broad new tax district is not the answer.
County payments may get OK
| The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
The House Resource Committee unanimously passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Reauthorization Act of 2005 this week. The legislation would reauthorize the "county payments" law for an additional seven years.
In February, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Reps. Greg Walden, R-Hood River and Darlene Hooley, D-West Linn, introduced the legislation, HR 517.
Although the committee approved it, DeFazio is concerned because the Bush Administration continues to hold off its full support of the bill. (more...)
Voters repeal Springfield utility tax; sparks flying
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Spurred on by a campaign that drew tens of thousands of dollars in support from telecommunications companies, voters flatly rejected a 5 percent city utility tax passed by the council late last year.
Early returns showed Measure 20-104, to repeal the municipal tax, winning by a wide margin. (more...)
Voters put the smack on tax
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
And the "yeas" have it -- or is that the "nays?"
Initial results Tuesday night showed Springfield residents don't want another tax. At 8 p.m. 6,836 registered Springfield voters had been tallied. Of those, 73.68 percent or 5,037 voted "yes" compared to the 26.32 percent or 1,799 who voted "no."
In this case, yes means no, snuffing plans to use the tax to operate a municipal jail. (more...)
Editorial -- What next in Springfield? Voters say no to utility tax -- but not a new jail
| The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
Springfield voters overwhelmingly rejected the city's new utility tax in Tuesday's election, but that shouldn't be interpreted as a rejection of the planned city jail the operation of which the tax was supposed to fund. (more...)
Former ballot-box foes seek new jail plan: Both sides agree it must be built, run
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
With the utility tax soundly defeated, another way to fund the municipal jail's operating expenses must be drummed up or its construction won't occur.
Though they held opposing positions on the vote to repeal the utility tax, or Measure 20-104, parties from both the "yes" and "no" campaign camps agree that it's time to reconnoiter as a community and generate some revenue possibilities for jail operations. (more...)
Springfield task force will study jail options
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- In the wake of Tuesday's election defeat of a new utility tax, the mayor will appoint a citizen task force to help figure out how to pay for running a proposed municipal jail. The tax was to pay for jail operations. (more...)
Springfield City Beat: Development agency to run on city funds
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield Economic Development Agency, formed to manage the newly created urban renewal district in Glenwood, will most likely get its first operating money by borrowing from a $2.2 million city fund.
That fund was created when the Chambers family bought city-owned land in the Gateway area that Royal Caribbean later picked for a call center; the money is earmarked for economic development.
Economic Development Manager John Tamulonis said the urban renewal agency could borrow the city money more cheaply than it could obtain operating money by going to the bond market. (more...)
Symantec Submits Plans For Local Expansion
SPRINGFIELD -- Security software maker Symantec Corp. has submitted preliminary plans to double the size of its campus here by adding a research and development facility.
The California-based company said it hopes to construct a two-story office building just west of its existing 198,600-square-foot customer service center. (more...)
Symantec considers expansion
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Security software maker Symantec Corp. is considering doubling the size of its Springfield campus by adding a 205,000-square-foot research and development facility. (more...)
Symantec Officials Meet With City of Springfield
Symantec officials met to discuss the company's potential expansion with planners and engineers from the city of Springfield Thursday afternoon.
As we first told you last night, the software maker is considering building a mirror image of its current building on some adjacent land. Before it submits a formal application to the city, Symantec requested a development issues meeting. The meeting gives the city a chance to address questions the company has regarding the possible expansion.
Springfield Planner Colin Stephens explains, "We'll sit down in a meeting room with them, and talk about their questions, and any other issues that may have arisen during the review of the materials that they submitted."
Symantec says, even though its requested this meeting with the city, nothing is set in stone yet. Sony still owns the land Symantec wants to build on. Although Symantec has an option to buy the land from Sony, it hasn't made the purchase yet.
Symantec currently employs around 900 people, and the proposed new building could house as many as one thousand more.
Symantec considers property buy
By Ben Raymond Lode
The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
The Springfield division of California-based Symantec has filed a new land use application with the City of Springfield for a 14.8-acre piece of vacant property on International Way.
The vacant parcel of land is currently owned by Sony Corporation. (more...)
Symantec gets ready to proceed
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Symantec Corp., a California-based software maker, is laying the groundwork to move quickly should it decide to double the size of its Springfield facility by building a 205,000-square-foot addition.
Symantec is hoping to start construction on Aug. 1 "to get ahead of the rainy season," Jeff Birdwell, Symantec's development representative, told city officials at a development issues meeting Thursday.
He didn't mention when the project in the Gateway area might be completed, or how many jobs might be created. The meeting was closed to the public, but The Register-Guard obtained a tape recording of it from the city. (more...)
Wal-Mart to expand Olympic Street site
| The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
The Springfield Wal-Mart may soon be bigger than ever. An approximately 70,000-square-foot expansion was approved with the company's previous site plan in 2001. The retail giant is currently working on building permit approval, which city officials say could be complete in a week or two.
The existing facility, located at 2659 Olympic St. in Springfield, is approximately 149,000 square feet. With the expansion, Wal-Mart will be about 219,000 square feet and will include a drive-through pharmacy window at the west end of the building.
The expansion will also include a drive-through/pick-up garden sales area at the stores existing east end. According to city officials, Wal-Mart is also proposing a facelift for the existing building's facade.
11th hour nears for land swap
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
The controversial Santa Clara park-for-housing land swap has floated aimlessly for months, waiting for Eugene officials to survey public opinion and gather facts.
With that done, the City Council today will resume debate on the land deal, a hot topic in north Eugene. (more...)
Land deal narrowly rejected by council
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
It's back to the drawing board for a large park in the Santa Clara area -- to the relief of many Santa Clara residents.
A narrowly divided Eugene City Council on Wednesday voted to abandon a controversial land swap proposal with developers that could have led to a 77-acre park and an adjacent 120-acre housing and commercial development just beyond the city's northern limits.
The proposal had brought strong opposition from many residents, who feared that the development would clog roads and schools. (more...)
Editorial -- A lesson in democracy: Santa Clara residents lobby to stop park plan
| The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
Political junkies could stay high for weeks debating the ramifications of the Eugene City Council's narrow vote to abandon a controversial land swap with developers that could have led to a large park and housing development in the Santa Clara area. (more...)
Power Shift
Gas-fired plant proposals go up in smoke while wind power gathers steam.
By Kera Abraham
Eugene Weekly | May 19, 2005 |
In a victory for local environmental activists, a South Dakota-based energy company, Black Hills Generation Inc., withdrew its application to construct a natural-gas-fired power plant north of Coburg. (more...)
Transportation
Community groups fear impacts of ODOT plan
The Oregon Department of Transportation is planning a Franklin-I-5 interchange
By Emily Smith, News Reporter
Oregon Daily Emerald | May 19, 2005 |
Eugene citizen groups are concerned that the proposed Interstate-5 and Franklin Boulevard interchange will have negative effects on Alton Baker Park and increase traffic in the Fairmount neighborhood, east of the University.
The Oregon Department of Transportation wrapped up Phase I of the project Wednesday morning at a Board of County Commissioners meeting. The presentation addressed a plan that would make it easier for Eugene-bound motorists to exit Interstate-5 onto Franklin Boulevard when heading south.
Thus far, city and county officials have supported the project and the Eugene City Council "seemed generally supportive of the open public process" ODOT is utilizing to work with stakeholders and community groups, ODOT Senior Transportation Planner Tom Boyatt said. (more...)
LTD summer bus schedule changes to begin June 12
| The Register-Guard | May 22, 2005 |
Lane Transit District has announced its summer bus service changes, which start June 12, along with construction details for its bus rapid transit line that will affect traffic Monday and Tuesday.
...
In addition, construction for Eugene-Springfield's new bus rapid transit system will require closure of High Street in Eugene between 10th and 11th avenues at 6 p.m. Monday and through the night until as late as 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The four-mile-long "Franklin EmX line" will run between Eugene and Springfield along Franklin Boulevard. It is scheduled to open in late 2006. Construction crews are building dedicated lanes that will allow special Lane Transit District busses to pass rapidly between the city stops.
Following that, LTD plans to build a seven-mile spur linking downtown Springfield with the site of the planned Sacred Heart RiverBend hospital project. The agency hopes to complete that line in 2010.
For more information, visit LTD's Web site at www.ltd.org or call 687-5555. (more...)
I-105 work putting slow cars in fast lanes, and vice versa
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
Construction on Interstate 105 has unintentionally created havoc by reversing the natural order of freeway traffic.
Construction signs tell drivers to slow to 45 mph and to move into the left lane. Conscientious drivers obey the signs and become what the hurry-up driver hates most: a slow driver in the fast lane.
So the hurry-up driver is whipping around the conscientious driver on the right. (more...)
Tracking Tie-Ups
Eugene -- It is day two of the first phase of closures on I-105. Eastbound lanes over Interstate 5 are closed. So far it's been a fairly smooth transition, but ODOT officials say some areas of Eugene-Springfield are experiencing major traffic congestion.
City officials are doing their best to monitor traffic while keeping residents safe and informed. (more...)
Interstate 105 Latest
Eugene -- Crews are busy working on the East bound lanes of I-105 over I-5.
Officials say the closure is effecting one out of two people in the Eugene-Springfield area.
The Oregon Department of Transportation says the Eugene-Springfield area has never seen a construction project with this magnitude of traffic impact and the worst is yet to come. (more...)
County drops gas-tax plan
| The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
Lane County commissioners decided to pull back from a possible countywide motor fuel tax, citing concerns from city managers representing the county's 12 cities. (more...)
Florence's gas tax hike hits a red light
By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
FLORENCE -- Voters on Tuesday soundly thumped the idea of hiking local gasoline prices, despite the mayor's fervent efforts to convince them that it was the prudent thing to do. (more...)
Lawmakers laud Senate's approval of highway bill
By Matthew Daly
The Associated Press | May 18, 2005 |
WASHINGTON -- Northwest senators on Tuesday hailed a mammoth highway and transit bill that would bring in more than $6 billion for transportation projects in Washington and Oregon.
The Republican-controlled Senate, brushing aside a presidential veto threat, passed the six-year, $295 billion measure, arguing that massive spending was necessary to fight traffic congestion and unsafe roadways. The bill includes about $2.6 billion for Oregon projects and $4 billion for Washington state.
The Senate bill also includes a $15 billion tax-exempt bond package sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jim Talent, R-Mo., that would provide states even more money for new roads and bridges. (more...)
Measure 37
Two Measure 37 claims granted
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
The Lane County Board of Commissioners granted relief from land use restrictions Wednesday to two property owners with claims under the property-compensation law passed statewide by voters last November. In doing so, the commissioners rejected the recommendations of county staff. (more...)
Vote Due on Measure 37 Fix
By Rob Manning
OPB Radio | May 16, 2005 |
PORTLAND -- Oregon Senators could vote as soon as Monday on a proposed legislative fix to Ballot Measure 37, the complicated initiative that enabled landowners to challenge land use regulations.
Senate Bill 1037 tackles one of the biggest sticking points with Measure 37--that property owners who are allowed to build houses under the initiative can't necessarily sell them as legal dwellings.
Senate Democrats, especially, also want to fine-tune the initiative in other ways -- by exempting some lands from claims, and creating a system for compensation -- which was mentioned in the text of the measure but has no funding mechanism now.
Governor Kulongoski says he likes the bill's broader view of Oregon's land use system. (more...)
Lawmakers tackle Measure 37
Land-use bill moves forward, but many call it imperfect
By Peter Wong
The (Salem) Statesman Journal | May 18, 2005 |
A Senate committee put the finishing touches Tuesday on a bill to revamp Oregon's land-use system and revise compensation that voters approved for landowners under Measure 37.
But virtually nobody likes Senate Bill 1037.
The Senate Environment and Land Use Committee voted 3-2 to send it to the full Senate. (more...)
State joins Measure 37 suit on gorge authority
By Matthew Preusch
The Oregonian | May 18, 2005 |
The state has stepped into a court fight over whether Measure 37 applies to land use rules in the federally protected Columbia River Gorge.
Last month, the Columbia River Gorge Commission asked a state court in Hood River to decide whether landowners in the gorge's National Scenic Area can use Oregon's new property rights law to bypass strict regulations there.
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is seeking to join the suit on the side of the commission, which was formed through a compact between Washington and Oregon after Congress created the 85-mile scenic area. (more...)
Measure 37 casts 10,000-acre shadow
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | May 21, 2005 |
Every week or so, Martin Chroust-Masin hunkers down over his computer with a stack of Measure 37 documents and uses electronic mapping software to locate the affected tax lots. Then he color codes them.
Every time the Yamhill County Planning Department formally notifies a property owner that current regulations prohibit him from doing what he wants with his land, a necessary precursor to a formal claim filing, Chroust-Masin shades them mustard yellow. When a claim is actually filed, a simple mouse click changes the color to dark blue.
Chroust-Masin, a county planner, has been doing this since Measure 37 took effect Dec. 2. With the six-month mark fast approaching, the county reached a milestone this week:
The steadily growing mass of potentially affected land topped the 10,000-acre mark. As of Tuesday, Chroust-Martin had 10,790 acres shaded in, 5,577 acres representing actual claims and 5,213 acres representing potential claims officials expect to soon see filed. (more...)
County blocks two big Measure 37 plans
By David Bates
The (McMinnville) News-Register | May 19, 2005 |
Large-scale Measure 37 applicants went one for three Wednesday at the hands of the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners.
As expected, Maralyn Abrams won unanimous authorization to develop 342 acres west of McMinnville. The family is looking at mainly residential development, with some commercial perhaps mixed in, carried out in phases over time.
But the board's unanimous rulings in two cases from the Newberg area cut the scope of one to less than 50 acres, only 10 of which may be subdivided, and effectively denied the other altogether. (more...)
Yamhill County adds its OK to Measure 37 claim
By Laura Oppenheimer
The Oregonian | May 19, 2005 |
Yamhill County commissioners approved a Measure 37 claim Wednesday for a subdivision and commercial development on 343 acres of farmland. Maralynn Abrams, the owner, received state go-ahead last week to divide her property west of McMinnville into 1-acre lots and recruit businesses. Local and state permission are required to waive farmland protections in many Measure 37 cases.
Abrams and her family have said they plan to continue living on their land and probably won't develop it as intensively as they requested. They have agreed to follow the county planning process for subdivisions, which entails detailed applications and public comment opportunities.
The Abrams case generated statewide attention -- and criticism from some Yamhill County residents -- as one of the first with potential for major development. The county does not require public hearings for Measure 37 claims but held one in this case because of its significance. (more...)
Most county Measure 37 claims seek land divisions
Two-thirds of the claims made under Measure 37 in Douglas County involve requests to divide resource farm or forest land.
Of the eight claims filed locally since the law went into effect early this year, six sought modification of zoning regulations regarding lot size or asked permission to place an additional residential dwelling on the property. (more...)
Cases pit Measure 37 against nature
Commissioners may consider environmental exemptions
By Don Hamilton
The (Portland) Tribune | May 20, 2005 |
Here's a quick public policy quiz.
Which is stronger? Measure 37 or Portland's environmental rules?
That's the question city officials started looking at during a Thursday work session. Aides said commissioners could deny Measure 37 claims that are based on city environmental zones if they determine that the rules protect public health and safety. The rules are designed to reduce the threat of flooding, landslides and fire.
A decision that these regulations are immune from the property rights law could embolden other cities to do the same thing and set off a legal showdown between environmental protection and Measure 37.
No decisions were made by the council Thursday but the idea seemed to have some support. (more...)
Other News
Lane County, union reach agreement
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | May 20, 2005 |
CORRECTION (ran 5/21/2005): Lane County government and negotiators for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have a tentative agreement for a three-year employment contract. A story Friday on Page C1 reported the incorrect number of years.
Lane County's human resources manager and the president of the county's largest union said Thursday that the two sides tentatively have agreed to a new two-year employment contract. (more...)
Coburg police levy defeated by voters
By Karen McCowan
The Register-Guard | May 18, 2005 |
COBURG -- Many heavy-footed Interstate 5 drivers are likely to be celebrating -- along with "no" voters in this town of 1,000 -- after the overwhelming defeat of a local police operating levy Tuesday.
The measure, which lost by a 7-to-3 ratio, would have allowed the city to continue its "24/7"" police service -- and its controversial two-officer freeway traffic patrols.
City residents said in a February survey that they wanted to continue round-the-clock police coverage. But their ballots showed they didn't want it enough to pay extra taxes. (more...)
Business Beat -- People: JRH Transportation Engineering
| The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
Brian Genovese has joined JRH Transportation Engineering, a Eugene professional consulting firm, as a design engineer. He will manage JRH's major transportation design and analysis projects. He previously managed the city of Eugene's alternative modes program and also managed transportation design projects for both the city of Eugene and Lane County.
Gabe Bradley -- Apathy epidemic
By Gabe Bradley, Columnist
Oregon Daily Emerald | May 17, 2005 |
The concept of free public education for all citizens originated in America. It makes sense that a society that recognized the value of education for all people would be the first to experiment with democracy on a grand scale. After all, if the people are going to rule, the people need to get some learning.
And that's exactly why we developed free public education -- to make better citizens. In the America of the Puritans, being a better citizen meant being a better Christian, so early public education was largely religious. However, the emphasis on education as a necessary prerequisite to a functioning democracy persisted even after the notion of separation of church and state was established.
Sadly, it seems the purpose of education in our society is no longer to make better citizens. When we're growing up, we're told we need to go to college so we can get a job. When we tell people what we're studying in school, the next question is almost always concerned with how we'll use that degree to make a living. (more...)
Greg Shaver -- We need to keep our numbers to ourselves
By Greg Shaver
The Register-Guard | May 19, 2005 |
You may have read the May 13 news story of Comcast losing files left in an employee's car that was subsequently stolen. Those files contained personal information on me and about 1,200 other new local cable TV and Internet subscribers. Besides our names, phone numbers, addresses, etc., most files contained Social Security numbers or (in my case) a driver's license number. Unfortunately those last pieces of information are exactly what is needed to perpetrate identify theft. (more...)
Hynix Nixes Paying Taxes
| Eugene Weekly | May 19, 2005 |
Over the last decade, the city of Eugene has given Hynix almost twice as much in tax breaks than the corporation has actually paid in taxes. From 1996 to 2005, Eugene gave Hynix $51.2 million in property tax breaks and Hynix paid only $26.5 million in taxes.
Most of Hynix's enterprise zone tax exemptions have now expired. But because of the rapid depreciation of the corporation's chip plant equipment, the factory has lost about 90 percent of its assessed value, and Eugene has lost out on most of the taxes it could have realized from the original $1.3 billion factory. -- Alan Pittman
Report: State corporate taxes down 75% since '70s
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard | May 21, 2005 |
Look at it this way: Oregon's corporate community is our roommate, and the state budget is the apartment we share.
Thirty years ago, our roommate was responsible for an 18.5 percent share of the rent. That share is now down to 4.6 percent, and the rest of us are stuck with the balance, according to a Silverton-based think tank. (more...)
Oregonians ponder Wood Village's sales tax
| The Associated Press | May 21, 2005 |
WOOD VILLAGE -- The Wood Village City Council this week approved Oregon's first general retail sales tax, and city leaders think it could be the start of a trend. (more...)
Editorial -- We're choking on all these tax plans
| The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
Our tax system is seriously messed up, and is long overdue for a major overhaul. Of course, when you read a sentence like that, usually it's followed up with a call for a sales tax.
In fact, a sales tax is the exact opposite of what we need. We need fewer taxing mechanisms, not more.
Why is that? Well, it's pretty clear. If you had a business that had 20 different offices all over town doing work that could be done by one or two offices, it would be pretty easy to save some big bucks by closing down 18 offices.
It's the same with taxes. Property tax, income tax, cigarette tax, LTD payroll tax, your Sno-Park permit fee, building permit fees, gas tax, hotel room tax, liquor tax, capital levies, This-Land-Was-Your-Land forest user fees -- every single one of these comes with its own special set of costs for administration, collection and enforcement.
Can you think of a less efficient way to generate money? Well, we can -- adding a sales tax to the mix. But you see the point.
The system comes with other consequences, too. Accidents of history and ballot-box expressions of voter exasperation have resulted in some agencies (ODOT springs to mind for some reason) getting all the cash they need, while others -- like the Lane County Sheriff's Office -- can't even come close to meeting their obligations.
And that's an expensive problem. Light law enforcement serves only to encourage our criminals to move on to larger and more costly offenses. Lack of mental-health funding floods our streets and emergency rooms with the temporarily or permanently crazy, which jacks up our medical costs and puts everyone at risk.
Meanwhile, taxes are high and getting higher even as what we get for our money plummets. Why? No, it's not the unions. No, it's not health care costs. It's because the value of every dollar we send to City Hall, Salem or Washington drops every year as more layers of administration are added.
The solution is to simplify our collection system. We should pay taxes just once, using one mechanism, and let the people we elect to run our government for us control how it's distributed.
It's high time for us to put a stop to this penny-ante insanity. It's a recipe for nothing but waste, frustration and voter disgust.
Editorial -- Good luck with a sales tax now, Ben
| The (Bend) Bulletin | May 20, 2005 |
It was party time in the state Legislature last Friday when the most recent budget forecast boosted revenue expectations by about $220 million. The additional money should be enough for lawmakers to realize their $12.4 billion budget agreement, so they were understandably relieved.
One exception to the general merriment, it seemed, was Sen. Ben Westlund, who did the equivalent of serving raw vegetables (without dip) at a preschooler's birthday party. Westlund pointed out that the improved revenue picture would still leave the state's schools woefully underfunded, and he warned that "Oregon is spiraling into mediocrity and below, and it will continue to do so until we solve the insanity of our tax structure." Look for Westlund's invitation to the next revenue bash to get lost in the mail.
But Westlund's right. Oregon is one of only five states without a broad-based sales tax, according to the Legislative Revenue Office. In its absence, the personal income tax is the state's primary revenue engine, accounting for over 70 percent of all state tax dollars in fiscal year 2003. A big problem with this essentially one-dimensional tax structure is what the LRO dryly calls "the responsiveness of the personal income tax to changing economic conditions." When times are good -- the 1999-2000 fiscal year, for instance -- receipts can go up over 13 percent. But when they're bad, as they were during the 2001-2002 fiscal year, collections can drop almost 20 percent. The effects of such shifts are predictably terrible for state services, particularly public schools, which are the state's biggest budget item.
One way to even things out is to create a sales tax, as Westlund has been trying to do for some time now. It's a tough sell. Voters have rejected sales taxes in different forms over the years, and convincing them to support one requires state leaders to push at the right time.
Which was, oh, a few years ago. The best time to ask voters to change the state's tax structure is when they can't avoid facing the problems of the structure that exists.
Now that the money's flowing into state coffers again, any politician who points out the obvious problems with the state's tax structure and tries to get voters to fix them is just going to look like a party pooper. It makes no difference that he's right.
Janet Calvert and Kappy Eaton -- Know the facts before talking taxes
By Janet Calvert and Kappy Eaton
The Register-Guard | May 22, 2005 |
Everyone has an opinion about taxes. Some see them as dues that citizens pay to support a representative form of government. Others believe that taxes are excessive, that the money is wasted and that many of the services are not useful. Unfortunately, many tax discussions are based on inaccuracies, hearsay or outdated information.
The League of Women Voters believes that reasonable tax discourse needs to stem from a clear understanding of Oregon's revenue system. For that to occur, a number of myths about Oregon's taxes should be measured against some facts: (more...)
Lack of environmental bills frustrates some advocates
By Niki Sullivan
The Associated Press | May 16, 2005 |
SALEM -- With the clock ticking on the legislative session, no major environmental protection or restoration bill has passed in the Senate or House. Funding for some programs is tied up in a partisan budget tug of war, so environmental advocates are calling on Gov. Ted Kulongoski for help. (more...)
Jim Weaver -- How the Rajneesh land swap in the '80s was stopped
By Jim Weaver
The Register-Guard | May 22, 2005 |
Bill Bowerman came into my congressional office in the Federal Building one day in the early 1980s. A gruff, outspoken man, he was someone I liked a lot. Bill told me of a religious band called the Rajneesh, that he considered evil.
I was shocked, thinking the Rajneesh were a harmless cult that could be left to go its own way. They had bought a huge ranch called the Big Muddy in Central Oregon, across the John Day River from Bill's old homestead. They had built a city populated with their young, saffron-robed acolytes. The Big Muddy was a checkerboard of land sections owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the Rajneesh.
Now the BLM was proposing a land swap with the Rajneesh, and Bowerman said they had to be stopped. (more...)
Deadline 'joke' embarrasses The Springfield News paper
| The Springfield News | May 20, 2005 |
A copy editor's idea of a great deadline joke made it into Wednesday's edition of The Springfield News, resulting in a major factual error and an even more major embarrassment for the paper.
The error was at the top left-hand corner of Page 3, in the text of an "info-graphic" that purported to share the poll results for Springfield's Measure 20-104 -- the successful bid to repeal Springfield's new utility tax.
The text should have read, "Shall the City of Springfield's tax on certain utilities be repealed?" Instead, it read, "Shall the evil money-grubbing utility megalopolies be taxed?"
In addition to the obvious inappropriateness of this "joke," the way it was worded made it look as if voters had overwhelmingly approved the utility tax, when in fact they resoundingly rejected it.
"Obviously, this does not represent The News' viewpoint on this," Springfield News Editor Finn John said. "All it means is that (1) somebody with a bad sense of humor picked a really bone-headed place to express it, and (2) I didn't catch it on the final proof, before it went to press."
John said internal processes had been changed to ensure that the situation would not recur.
"I'm really sorry this happened," John said. "We try to make The News a fun read, with a frank and casual kind of tone, but when it comes to facts, we take what we do very, very seriously."
Buying a car? Dave Barry has some consumer tips!
By Dave Barry
The Springfield News | May 18, 2005 |
The First Rule of Car Buying is one that I learned long ago from my father, namely: Never buy any car that my father would buy. He had an unerring instinct for picking out absurd cars, cars that were clearly intended as industrial pranks, cars built by workers who had to be blindfolded to prevent them from laughing so hard at the product that they accidentally shot rivets into each other. (more...)