Estella Pyfrom brings computer technology to underprivileged students and underserved neighborhoods on the Brilliant Bus that she bought and equipped using her own public school teacher retirement savings.

Estella Pyfrom, who retired after 50 years as a Florida public school teacher and guidance counselor, is doing something about the digital divide in classrooms, which she says is real and getting worse. Her Brilliant Bus mobile learning center brings technology to under-served communities and underprivileged students.

Pyfrom's work has not gone unnoticed. She was named a CNN "Hero," but she didn't become a household word until Microsoft made her the center of a Super Bowl commercial. That exposure could lead to a rapid expansion of her program and clones just like it in other parts of the country.

After she retired in 2009, Pyfrom took money from her personal savings to buy and equip a bus with 17 computer stations and high-speed Internet access. Since then, she's plugged in thousands of kids without access to a computer at home or school and who would otherwise be unplugged from the opportunities for online learning.

The Brilliant Bus is all business. Students must log into their own accounts. Gum is a no-no, along with Facebook. What students will find is a busload of educational software linked to the educational curricula in public schools. Pyfrom and members of her team monitor student progress and only allow students to advance to the next level when they display 90 percent proficiency in a subject area. Older students can get help with GED or college preparatory material, as well as tune into anti-bullying classes.

By all indications, Pyfrom and her Brilliant Bus are making a difference in the academic success of the students they reach.

Parents learn about computers through the program, too, so they feel less embarrassed and can be more supportive of their students. The Brilliant Bus has been used to train up entire neighborhoods, as well, on things such as online banking, job searches and resume writing.

Nearing 80, Pyfrom shows no signs of slowing down or trimming her aspirations. She has become a symbol of human empowerment.

"I don't think about what I'm not able to do or not going to be able to do," Pyfrom told CNN. "I plan for the things that I think I'm going to do, need to do and want to do. And I think most of them are going to happen. We've got to keep rolling. We're going to keep taking the service to the neighborhoods, and we are going to keep making a difference."

Clean Water Systems will stage a home-brewed beer contest to show the palate-satisfying benefits of highly purified sewer water.

Clean Water Services (CWS), Washington County's wastewater and stormwater utility, wants to stage a competition this summer for brew-masters using water coming directly from its water treatment plant pipes.

Coors touts Rocky Mountain spring water as the source for its beer, but brew-masters in the CWS competition will work with water some say has questionable purity. However, CWS spokesman Mark Jockers says, the water undergoes extensive high-purification treatment and "is the cleanest water on the planet." 

A cold beer on a sunny summer day is reason enough to set up a brewing kettle, but Jockers says the friendly competition is intended to demonstrate there is life for sewer water after treatment. If people will drink it, then they will be comfortable with many other uses, which in turn can conserve precious water resources. 

Clean Water Services is not your typical wastewater utility. It is sponsoring a program called Tree for All with the goal of planting 1 million native trees and shrubs in a single planting season. A CWS insider said the program may miss its goal and wind up planting closer to 2 million trees and shrubs. This is not the kind of "failure" most people identify with government.

NOTE: A version of this blog, written by CFM Senior Partner Dave Fiskum, first ran in this space two years ago. As legislators return to the Capitol early next month for the 2015 session, it is appropriate to run it again.

If state government is going to operate more effectively and efficiently, then there are three questions policymakers should ask as they review individual pieces of legislation.

1.  Is there an appropriate role for government to play?

This is a question seldom asked, at least on the record. Many policymakers simply assume that, if there is a problem, then there should be a state response to it.  The evidence is found in the 3,500 to 5,000 bills introduced every legislative session.

If the question was asked routinely, the answer would not automatically be "yes" or "no," but would depend on the specific situation. Often, the simple act of asking the question and considering the answer would be a step in the direction of aligning state government programs to available resources.

Policymakers should reserve the right to say there is no appropriate role for state government in, for example, a battle between two business groups.

A "yes" answer, by contrast, could apply to a question about organizing health care for indigent Oregonians or offer financial and/or parenting support for single parents and their children.

According to Pew, Oregon's state tax regime volatility rating is 6.4 percent, compared to an all-state average of 5 percent. The most volatile state tax regimes are ones heavily dependent on severance or extraction taxes. Alaska has the most volatile state tax system at 34 percent.

Oregon depends heavily on personal and corporate income tax revenues, which rise and fall in concert with broader economic trends. When times are good, Oregon's income tax system generates a growing pot of money.

If times are too good, Oregon's personal income tax kicker is triggered, requiring a chunk of incremental revenue to go back to taxpayers.

There will be similarities in regulating where marijuana can be sold, requiring accurate labels and preventing sales to minors.

But marijuana poses other challenges that have been highlighted by people knee-deep in developing original regulation in Colorado and elsewhere. For example, the amount of alcohol and its effect on individual adults can be roughly calculated arithmetically. That may be less true of the potency of different types of marijuana.

Marijuana edibles represent a significant challenge. Candy is sold with small amounts of liquor, but they convey far less of a potential jolt than a marijuana cookie, which is designed to transport the buzz offered by marijuana.

Another unique challenge is how to integrate the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana with recreational marijuana .

Rachel O'Bryan, cofounder of Smart Colorado, a nonprofit formed to weigh in on marijuana regulation, wrote in an op-ed in The Sunday Oregonian that someone who represents public health concerns, especially for youth, must be at the table writing rules for Oregon.]]>http://conklingfiskum.squarespace.com/state-lobbying-blog/rss-comments-entry-35123148.xmlBallot MeasuresBruce StarrCFM State AffairsChuck RileyCylvia HayesDennis RichardsonEducationElectionsGMO labelingGovernorJohn KitzhaberLegalized marijuanaOregon General Electiontop-two primaryCFM teamThu, 06 Nov 2014 19:42:00 +0000http://conklingfiskum.squarespace.com/state-lobbying-blog/2014/11/6/kitzhaber-wins-re-election-but-by-narrow-margin.html594123:6889786:35097156Democrats retained and even strengthened their grip on control of the state house and legislature as Oregonians said yes to legal weed and no to labeling of genetically modified foods and the much touted top-two primary. The story wasn't so good for Democrats nationally as they saw their majority in the U.S. Senate evaporate, giving Republicans control of both houses of Congress.

The story of the night was the relatively narrow victory by Governor John Kitzhaber, who claimed an unprecedented fourth term without a majority. On a series of critical news reports about First Lady Cylvia Hayes, including charges she may have leveraged her influence with the governor for personal gain, Kitzhaber's double-digit lead in the polls shrunk to a 5 percentage point victory.

The tighter-than-expected race appears to be more a reflection on Kitzhaber than his GOP opponent Dennis Richardson and raises questions about how the governor will fare going forward, especially if the Hayes scandals continue to dog his administration.

"Portlandia" has added anecdotes to flesh out Portland's quirky reputation, but what may not be so quirky is the city's attraction of young, college-educated adults.

In an article in The Washington Post, local economist Joe Cortright says data disputes the "Portlandia"-perpetuated view that young adults come to Portland to retire. Cortright says the unemployment rate for 25-to-34-year-olds with college degrees in Portland is 4.8 percent, which he claims is lower than comparable rates in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta or New York.

That Portland is a young person's mecca is borne out by statistics showing the city added 34,545 young college graduates since 2000, which as a percentage of growth outstrips New York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

It appears to be true, Cortright says, that young people move to Portland without a job. That's because, he explains, they are coming here to create a future life in a place with the attributes they like — a compact downtown, cultural amenities, public transit options, proximity to nature and good food.

The money supporting legalizing marijuana through Oregon’s Measure 91 is messy. You need a timeline and map to follow all the moving money. However, with strict campaign reporting laws enforced by the Secretary of State, it’s easier to track this kind of green than the illegal kind.

There are three Political Actions Committees (PACs) in support of Measure 91 – Yes on 91, New Approach Oregon and Drug Policy Action of Oregon. A large portion of the money raised has been transferred from one of the other PACs, in a shuffle that resembles a street hustler moving a pea around under shells.

Drug Policy Action of Oregon PAC is the simplest to track, which isn’t saying much. The PAC  is on record donating $240,000 –—$90,000 to Yes on 91 PAC and $150,000 to the New Approach Oregon PAC.

But Drug Policy Action actually has contributed an estimated $1.4 million, using variations on the name including Drug Policy Alliance and Drug Policy Action Fund for Oregon.

Called “campaign capsules” by The Oregonian in 1946, ballot slogans were 12 words that candidates could have printed on official ballots, right next to the their name.

Campaign slogans ranged from pithy to pitiful. Some simply wanted you to know they were “Not a lawyer.” Others broke out the Thesaurus to let you know alliteratively they were for “Proper places for people, not pachyderm palaces.”

Quoting past presidents and political leaders was as popular then as now, though I haven’t heard anyone quote FDR lately. But maybe that’s because Eleanor Roosevelt asked them to stop. 

Willamette Week delivered a pre-election wallop to Governor John Kitzhaber's re-election campaign this week with an investigative report suggesting First Lady Cylvia Hayes may have benefitted financially from her special relationship with the governor. 

Rep. Dennis Richardson, Kitzhaber's underdog Republican challenger, seized on the story and said via a statement, "The latest scandal shows once again that the State of Oregon is being run more like a mafia than a public entity. The governor and first lady are not above the law."

Kitzhaber denies any wrongdoing by himself and Hayes. He said Hayes' contracts were reviewed carefully for any conflict of interest. "We were very proactive," Kitzhaber told The Associated Press. "Very rigorous and very transparent." AP reported Hayes declared three conflicts of interest in August 2013. Kitzhaber said Hayes has no current contracts that touch on state government.

The conflict of interest charge against Kitzhaber and Hayes comes amid a continuing controversy involving GOP Senate challenger Monica Wehby, whom Buzzfeed has accused of plagiarizing health care policy talking points from Karl Rove and her Republican primary challenger, Rep. Jason Conger.