Spanning the State: "It smells a little like dirty socks" Edition

Carla Axtman

I was away most of last week, so I missed writing Spanning the State and have been playing catch up trying to find some juicy nuggets of Oregon to share. Also, the weather has been BEAUTIFUL and honestly, who wants to be inside surfing newspaper sites when one can be outdoors soaking up Vitamin D?

But I was willing to make the sacrifice to bring you the REALLY important stories...the stuff that most likely flew under your news radar. That's just the kind of gal I am.

So without further adieu, let's Span the State!

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You may be wondering about that "dirty sock" comment in the title. Wonder no more. Oregon State University is expanding is expanding their cheesemaking program. First of all, I had no idea they even had a cheesemaking program. Second, the high school students who contributed the piece think the process smells like dirty socks..and they're probably right. Plus, all the really good cheese smells like feet, or at least that's what they told me when I was in France.

It's unlikely I'd be one to rappel in most any situation, and certainly not to hang a protest sign across the Interstate Bridge. Also, the story says that protesters "formed a blockade" on the bridge. I presume this means that they blocked traffic. I'm no genius when it comes to planning protests, but it seems to me that if you want to get sympathy for your cause, blocking traffic on the bridge is not going to get you there.

Correction: According to several sources in comments, the folks formed a blockade on the river, not on the bridge. See comments below to this post

Rural fire districts in Columbia County are coming up short on volunteers. The Holbrook and Chapman fire stations are completely staffed by volunteers. Currently, Holbrook has one volunteer and Chapman has six. Ideally, the stations each need 10 volunteers to properly function.

Eleven year old Carson St Denis of Tigard is the Pokemon National Champion (Junior Division). Just over a week ago, Carson defeated Hayden Prytz from Newberg at the championships in Indianapolis to take the title. Pokemon is a strategy game that pits imaginary monsters against one another in battle. Carson will now go to the international competition in Vancouver, B.C. in August.

The Baker County Planning Commission has denied conditional-use permits for construction of a pair of wind farms near Huntington and Lime. Concerns about the potential impact on adjacent property values and people not wanting to “look out and see” the turbines seemed to be what carried the day. The decisionis expected be appealed to the County Commission.

By Carla Axtman July 29, 2013