Monthly Archive for Oregon
Oregon Stories Posted in June 2008
Initiative Set for Ballot Would Curb Bilingual Ed
Category: Bill Sizemore · State: Oregon · Source: Oregon Statesman-Journal
An initiative to end bilingual education in Oregon has qualified for the November ballot, officials with the secretary of state's office said. If approved by voters, Initiative No. 19 — sponsored by Bill Sizemore — would ban bilingual education for all children in public schools learning English as a Second Language after two years of instruction. The proposed statutory amendment does allow for instruction of a foreign language to English-speaking students.
Pair Propose ‘Juries’ to Aid Voters
Category: Bill Sizemore · State: Oregon · Source: Eugene Register-Guard
The jury — 12 ordinary citizens gathered to weigh the facts and determine a defendant’s guilt or innocence — has served Oregon’s legal system since statehood. Now, a political reform group wants juries to help Oregon voters judge ballot initiatives. A pair who met in graduate school at the University of Oregon, Tyrone Reitman and Elliot Shuford, have formed Healthy Democracy Oregon, which plans to recruit citizens of various ages, party affiliations, education levels and geographic regions to serve on a 24-member citizens’ jury this fall. According to their plan, the jurors will spend several days at Salem’s Chemeketa Community College studying and discussing a yet-to-be-selected initiative and issue their independent assessment and recommendation to voters.
Measure 53 Recount Set
Category: Civil Rights · State: Oregon · Source: The Oregonian
Oregon elections officials said Tuesday that they expect an official recount of the votes cast for and against Ballot Measure 53 in the May 20 primary election to begin Monday and that the official recount results will be announced by June 30. In a tentative schedule announced by state Elections Division Director John Lindback, county elections officials will have until Friday, June 27, to complete their recounts. The Elections Division will then announce the results the following Monday, June 30. Lindback said the most recent count showed 489,445 votes for Measure 53 and 488,885 against, a difference of 560 votes. He said state law requires an automatic recount if the vote difference is within one-fifth of 1 percent.
Initiative History Being Preserved
Category: Oregon · State: Oregon · Source: Eugene Register-Guard
Every word officially spoken by and to Oregon legislators since 1859 has been recorded, itemized and stored within the marble walls of the State Archives Building. But what about the paper trail left behind by Oregon’s other lawmakers — the ones who have since 1904 passed statutes and amended the state constitution through the initiative system? For decades, they’ve been boxed up in basements and storage units, or worse, destroyed by floodwaters and set on the curbside for the garbage truck to haul away. But the Ballot Measures Archives Project is working to change that.
Other Monthly Archives for Oregon
- June 2008 (4)