Oregon

With clear skies and sparse trees, the Oregon outback has long been regarded as a stargazers’ paradise. Now the region is home to the world’s largest dark sky sanctuary, offering pristine views of the night sky across 2.5m acres.

...becoming the largest of 19 sites around the world with the same designation. The sanctuary covers Lake county in south-eastern Oregon, a remote area roughly half the size of New Jersey, and could eventually expand to include more than 11m acres.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12797292

Bill SB1596 has passed the house and senate and was sponsored by two Eugene reps: House Rep Holvey and Senatator Prozanski.

"Oregon has joined the small but growing list of states that have passed right-to-repair legislation. Oregon's bill stands out for a provision that would prevent companies from requiring that official parts be unlocked with encrypted software checks before they will fully function." - Ars Technica

It now awaits a signature from Tina Kotek, if you are passionate about this bill, you can contact her here:

https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Pages/share-your-opinion.aspx

Bill info and votes:

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Measures/Overview/SB1596

From here, the bill will go to the senate where it is expected to pass.

Here's how to find your rep:

https://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=fd070b56c975456ea2a25f7e3f4289d1

Here's how to find out how your rep voted:

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Measures/Overview/HB4002

TLDR all voted for this bill except:

Rep Cate (R, Dist 11, Linn County)

Rep Gamba (D, Dist 41, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Northern Clackamas County)

Rep Chaichi (D, Dist 35, Aloha)

Rep Nguyen (D, Dist 48 Damascus and South East Portland)

Rep Pham K (D, Dist 46, SE PDX)

Rep Yunker (R, Dist 3, Josephine County)

Rep Diehl (R,Dist 17, East Salem and Turner to Detroit and Idanha)

Rep Cramer (R, Dist 22, Woodburn, North Salem, Gervais, Brooks, and Labish Village) (not present)

When a severe winter storm hit Oregon on January 13, Nicholas Brown's CenturyLink fiber Internet service stopped working at his house in Portland.

It took about 39 days for CenturyLink to restore broadband service to Brown and even longer to restore service to one of his neighbors. Those reconnections only happened after Ars Technica contacted the telco firm on the customers' behalf last week.

Brown's situation was almost exactly like one we wrote about in August 2023. In that case... CenturyLink left 86-year-old Minnesota resident Helen Marie Plourde without home Internet and phone service for over a month.

This makes me glad my mom was able to dump CenturyLink a year ago.

Context: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-demands-federal-review-of-crater-lake-concessionaire-contract

Bless this man 🙏🙏🙏

Are you tired of voting for the "lesser of two evils"? Wish you had a say in who you got to vote for? Well you can, if you vote in the primaries! If you want to vote in the primaries for a party, you must select that party on your voter registration. You can update your voter registration online.

The next statewide primary election is May 21, which means you need to register and select a party by May 1 to participate in a closed primary. The sooner you register, the better off you will be.

What positions can you vote on in the primaries?

• President
• Governor
• Attorney General
• Secretary of State
• Treasurer
• State Legislators
• Federal legislators (house and senate)

Voting is one important way you can be politically active. There are many other ways as well. I hope you explore all your options and engage politically.