Usually our civic holidays inspire us. But sometimes—as in the case of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2020—the spirit of a holiday is so at odds with our current practice that it judges and indicts us. That spirit is impossible to summarize in one King…
At a work session this week, the Keizer city councilors received grim news from City Manager Chris Eppley and Tim Wood, the city’s finance director: there is no money now or in the forseeable future to add desired positions. Revenues from taxes and franchise fees…
Fifteen years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to turn Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship into a beacon of democracy, Iraq’s Parliament, amid shouts of “Death to America!” voted to expel all U.S. troops from the country. Though nonbinding, the expulsion vote came after mobs trashed the U.S.…
Via social media, readers responded to the Keizertimes article about the proposed public spaces camping ban based in part on the City of Salem’s ban. The Keizer City Council unanimously approved the ordinance at the January 6 session. Here some selected responses: Allowing camping in…
Is our current homeless crisis a political problem? A spiritual issue? No, it is a humanity issue. There are many different reasons someone becomes homeless. There is homeless and there is shelterless. Homeless may mean that someone does not live in their own abode. Instead,…
In response to Andrew Jackson’s December 20 column, A wish list for Keizer, we folks here in the Kennedy household have come up with our wish list for Keizer as well. VA benefits office: A place where retired and honorably discharged military veterans can process paperwork…
Fasten you seatbelts, 2020 could prove to be a bumpy time on all fronts. No one should expect a wave of civility to wash over the country anytime in the next 12 months. Not one vote has been taken in the presidential nominating races and…
To the Editor: Science says: The two most effective things we human individuals can do to mitigate climate change are, (1) drive less and, (2) stop eating red meat. Something to think about while you’re sucking exhaust fumes in the In-N-Out que waiting to order a…
Every year I promise myself that I will look back on what was accomplished with a somewhat less critical eye than I generally approach everything else. It’s a year’s end resolution that I fail at regularly. Two experiences in the past few months have made…