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Household Hazardous Waste accepted at new facility

     The Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste’s new Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facility will accept waste from businesses two days each month (Thursdays) and the general public four days each month (two Friday/Saturday collection events). Pre-registration and appointments are required.
     HHW facility is located at the Knott Landfill Recycling and Transfer Facility 61050 SE 27th St. in Bend. Some of the materials accepted include: fluorescent lights and bulbs, garden products (Pesticides, Herbicides, Fertilizers, etc), vehicle maintenance products (fuels, antifreeze, brake fluid, etc), paint, solvents, chemicals, fuels, poisons, aerosols, household cleaning products, thermometers and more.
     Paint and used motor oil are accepted, but may be recycled anytime at the recycling center during normal business hours.
     The public and businesses are asked to please call 317-3163 to make an appointment.  

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Senate votes to suspend emergency oil reserve shipments

     As the price of a barrel of crude oil continues to skyrocket, the Senate voted 97-1 on Tuesday to temporarily halt daily shipments of oil into the government’s emergency reserve until the end of the year.
     Both sides of the aisle feel the shipments should be added to the current market, which could possibly help to reduce prices. Democrats and Republicans also feel at over $120 a barrel the government doesn’t need to purchase more oil since it has a 97 percent reserve (701 million barrels).
      “We are buying the most expensive crude oil in history of the world and storing it,” Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. told the Associated Press. “When Americans consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought to be carrying the wood.”
     According to the Associated Press, Bush has repeatedly stated the 70,000 barrels of oil being diverted into the reserve is such a small amount it would have not affect on the energy market.
     White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president believes the emergency reserve needs to be increased “in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks” and that oil being put in – a tenth of one percent of global production “would have a negligible impact on gas prices” if put into the market.

Information gathered from Associated Press reports.

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Future of Public Transit Campaign – Organizational Planning Meeting

Submitted by Mike Schmidt, Co-chair of the Future of Transit Committee for the City of Bend. 

     Members of the Future of Transit Committee recommended to the Bend City Council that a measure be placed on the November 2008 ballot supporting public transportation in the Bend area. The City Council agreed and in November the citizens of Bend will be given the opportunity to vote to ensure the future of public transit.  Approval of this ballot measure will:

• Create a separate transit district – removing BEND AREA TRANSIT (BAT) from the control and management of the City of Bend to a new transit district and board of directors.
• Implement a .39 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value property tax – providing sustainable funding for an expanded BAT system
• Expand BAT service – adding two hours in the evenings, additional Dial-a-Ride service for this growing population, and adding a new service route on the east side of Bend from Juniper Ridge to Deschutes River Woods

     The Future of Transit Committee is launching a proactive grass roots campaign to pass this ballot measure. We are pulling together nonprofit organizations, interests from the lodging and tourist industry, community-base organizations, neighborhood associations, environmental organizations, transit riders, supporters of Bend 2030 and business interests to work together to pass this measure.
     We believe that providing public transportation is as much a social public policy issue as it is an economic issue. You are being invited to this organizational planning meeting to ask for your help. By working together we will insure the future of public transit is a CONTINUED reality. The organizational planning meeting will take place on May 20 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. at Aspen Ridge Retirement Community, Second Floor Great Room.
     The meeting will cover a recap of the Future of Transit Committee work and recommendations, review of registered voter transit polling, identify the Bend Public Transit Campaign Leadership Council, endorsements, and establishment of a meeting schedule for the Leadership Council.
     To RSVP use the following e-mail, Futureoftransitcommittee@live.com. If you’re unable to attend, but interested in helping, please send an authorized representative from your organization.