Rogue Pundit on the loose

I always enjoy RoguePundit for his insights into the workings of rural (and small city) Oregon, and Oregon as a whole. I've just caught up with some of his investigative musings, and they are very worth reading.
He examins one of the latest laws to hit our state, the speed limit changes in school zones.

The following is an editorial from today's Grants Pass Daily Courier (dead tree only).

During breaks in their session in Salem, legislators might do well to drive around neighboring communities and see what confusion Senate Bill 179 from the 2003 session has wrought.

The bill was intended to simplify the speed limits around schools, so drivers would know better what speed to drive.

Previously, the rule was 20 mph "when children are present.

Driving the right speed through school zones in Oregon today is anything but simple, thanks to the 35 pages of rules produced by the School Zone Task Force for the new law.

He talks about the Caspian Tern. That variety of Tern occurs in most parts of the world, but the largest colony is in the Columbia River. And boy do they loooove salmon. Which presents a conundrum for environmentalists.

He looks at how school systems (specifically incidences in Oregon and Washington) protect teachers to the detrement of students when sexual molestation accusations are made.

A common theme in enabling predatory teachers to molest again is excessive secrecy. One can understand the need for secrecy, both to protect the victims and the potential harm false allegations can do to teachers. But, closed settlements can easily conceal guilt.

Lastly I liked this post on the League of Women Votors' statement about the "Ins and Outs of State Finance." The LoWV sometimes suffers from a pro-tax agenda and fiddles with the numbers.

...credit to the LWV for putting a lot of good tax and government spending information in one place. It's too bad they had to dent their credibility with some obvious errors, bias, etc.

I suppose it's hard to get funding to write such pamphlets if you don't pander to your supporters.