04.24.13: Your Morning Buzz

Parents Shouldn’t Text: 15 Of The Funniest Texts From Dad

The High Five

Letter from Texas: Ft. Worth Tries on Dallas-Size Ambition – It seems that Ft. Worth is giving Dallas a run for its talent, if not its tax base, by focusing on its livable, walkable downtown, while Dallas continues to focus on starchitecture to brand its identity. The headlines coming out of Dallas and Ft. Worth this week are pretty good metaphors for the ways the two cities work.
Just A Few Extra Transit Riders Can Do Wonders For Traffic – The common argument against more funding for public transit is that it doesn’t actually cut down on congestion. That argument might be bunk.
Twitter Hoax Sparks Swift Stock Swoon – A short-lived hoax on Twitter briefly erased $200 billion of value from U.S. stock markets on Tuesday, underscoring the vulnerability of financial markets to computerized trading programs that buy and sell shares without human intervention.
Why Americans aren’t mad as hell about failure of the gun bill – THE FIX | Post-Pew poll suggests that Senate vote last showed reflected how people generally felt.
Racing to Spread Word About New Health Plans – Health providers are joining organizers and insurance companies to spread the word in the six months remaining before insurance becomes available under the 2010 health care law.

4-1-1 on E-L-G-L

But they still love it:

Newest ELGL Member:

Rob Caballero, Willamette University, Graduate Assistant at Mark O. Hatfield Library

Holly Fellows, USDA Rural Development, Business and Community Programs Loan Technician

Next ELGL Forum:

May 1: Resume Review With Heather Gantz, Waldron HR

May 8: OPB President Steve Bass

Weekly Reader – Top 5 Blog Posts of the Week

I’m Just a Bill

And are often lamenting Avril Lavigne's career trajectory:

Oregon senators fighting Internet sales tax – Sen. Jeff Merkley says it would hurt Oregon businesses

Gay Marriage Measure Advances in Rhode Island – Rhode Island took a step on Tuesday toward becoming the 10th state to approve same-sex marriage when a major legislative committee forwarded a marriage bill to the State Senate.

Democrats’ PERS, tax plans hit the House floor: Oregon Legislature today – All eyes will be on the Oregon House today, as lawmakers take up two controversial bills cutting public pensions and raising taxes.

Fiscal Cliff

In final budget, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calls for reversing cuts to city services – The mayor seeks more tree-trimming and hiring of firefighters while avoiding layoffs and furloughs. He also calls for renegotiating a 5.5% pay hike for civilian workers.

Moody’s Doesn’t Rate – If the incompetence of the credit-rating agencies needed further proof, Moody’s recent downgrading of Britain would have provided it. It was not the downgrading that showed Moody’s incompetence, however; it was the high ranking that it had accorded Britain in the first place. Britain has been a bad long-term bet for years now. Anyone with the slightest instinct for economic affairs would long ago have foreseen the country’s poor outlook.

West Linn looks to cut staff positions in proposed city budget – Although total spending will rise from $84.5 million in the current two-year budget to $89.9 million, city officials say they would need an additional $2 million to maintain current staff and service levels. To bridge the gap, the city plans to lay off one employee, eliminate five positions, reduce four jobs to half time and reduce the hours of three more employees, leaving the equivalent of 124 full-time employees.

Sheriff laments budget constraints – Coos County Sheriff Craig Zanni said Tuesday he can’t cut his budget any further, and several county residents said the county needs more patrol cars on the roads.

Blame game begins as air delays soar – Both parties are scoring political points from an air traffic nightmare that’s only just beginning.

Budget woes threaten McNary tower – Uncertainties around federal funding for the control tower at Salem’s McNary Field are jeopardizing the possibility of expanding or improving services in the future — including bringing back commercial air service.

Inside Portlandia

They can be really mean for no reason:

Hillsboro sets blueprint for future recreation facilities, bringing back 53rd Avenue site – The blueprint is more of a road map, really, guiding the city’s Parks & Recreation Department as it plans for new indoor facilities. Two of the projects are largely conceptual, aimed at capturing residents in the city’s signature communities of the future, South Hillsboro and AmberGlen.

Gresham boosts jobs, energizes businesses with successful new programs – When it comes to numbers, however, Bess Wills, president of the Gresham Chamber of Commerce, has her own way of measuring whether things are looking up or down in Oregon’s fourth-largest city.

Anti-light rail group plans to sue city – A group of petitioners determined to get light rail on the November ballot will sue Vancouver over the city’s charter, Tim Eyman said Tuesday.

Planners to hear public input on Willamette Falls mill site – Oregon City has received bids from 14 consultants who’d like to lead visioning and master planning for the 23-acre Willamette Falls site of the bankrupt Blue Heron Paper Co. in collaboration with Metro, Clackamas County and the state.

County wants more voice in TriMet, ODOT – “We want to be heard” was the frequent refrain voiced by Clackamas County residents about two bills making their way through the Legislature.

Tigard City Council friendly to more relaxed version of law allowing poker, other social games – For almost a year, Tigard City Council has considered allowing businesses to host social games, like poker, blackjack and cribbage. These games, when played for money, are generally illegal under Oregon law, unless a local government permits it.

Outside Portlandia

Controversy over canceled Yakima annual public meeting – Yakima City Code indicates city council shall hold a public comprehensive plan meeting every February.

Letter from MIT: An Urban Planning Student On the Boston Marathon Bombing and a City on Lockdown – It was a strange walk studded with realizations of what my neighborhood looks like without the faces that usually draw my attention. There were things I pass everyday that I had never seen before. A cluster of low-slung row houses that had been standing for the last 100 years.

Career Center

Why Getting Comfortable With Discomfort is Crucial to Success – In an increasingly competitive, cautious and accelerated world, those who are willing to take risks, step out of their comfort zone and into the discomfort of uncertainty will be those who will reap the biggest rewards.

The Worst Jobs of 2013 – Working as a newspaper reporter was a dream job for Rochelle Gilken, but that changed as the years passed and the industry shifted gears. “The pay left a lot to be desired, and the stress – oh boy! I have two kids, and I have to say that I couldn’t balance home and work and be happy due to the stress,” says Gilken, who spent six years as a crime reporter for the Palm Beach Post.

Do Long Commutes Discourage Married Women From Working? A new study finds that they do — to a very considerable extent.

Is Your City Getting in the Way of Your Social Life? Measuring the “social interaction potential” of place.

Social Network

LinkedIn Doesn’t Matter To The People Who Need It Most – The career site’s struggle to court young adults and recent graduates.

How Twitter accounts—like the AP’s—get hacked – The Twitter account belonging to the Associated Press was just hacked and used to tweet that there were explosions at the White House. Markets immediately reacted accordingly, with the Dow dropping 144 points before recovering in minutes, demonstrating the power that such hacks have.

The One Function Twitter Desperately Needs – A staggering amount of misinformation spewed out of Twitter last week in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. There were reports of suspects being killed when they were very much alive, reports of arrests made while suspects were on the run, and worst, innocents had their names dragged through the mud by tens of thousands of otherwise well-intentioned people.

5 Cities Using Pinterest to Engage Citizens – The visual social-networking site is gaining popularity in government.