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On this day, June 4, 1990, Janet Adkins, age 54, of Portland, became the first person to use a suicide machine developed by Dr. Kevorkian. This began a national debate over the right to die.

Also on this day, June 4, 1999 a federal judge in Portland ruled that AT&T must open its cable lines to competitors. Also on this day, June 4, 2017, a pro-Trump rally and counter-protest in Portland was marked by multiple arrests and clashes.




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Sisters Rodeo
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 6:03 pm
Sisters Rodeo
June 7th-11th
67637 Highway 20

Sisters, OR



Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest
Friday, June 9, 2023 at 8:30 am
Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest June 9th-11th
Cannon, Beach, OR



Portland Rose Festival
Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Portland Rose Festival Fri, May 26, 2023 – Sun, Jun 11, 2023
Portland, Oregon



Linn County Pioneer Picnic
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 8:00 am
Linn County Pioneer Picnic June 16, 17, and 18
Pioneer Park Brownsville, Oregon



Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 11:00 am
Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival June 16th-18th
Clatsop County Fairgrounds 92937 Walluski Loop Astoria, OR 97103



Rogue Music Fest
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Rogue Music Fest
(JUNE 16-17, 2023)

with Eric Church (Friday) and Carrie Underwood (Saturday)
Jackson County Expo 1 Peninger Rd Central Point, OR 97502



Silverton Hills Strawberry Festival
Sunday, June 18, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Silverton Hills Strawberry Festival Sunday, June 18th, 12 – 5 PM
Collidge‑McClaine City Park Silverton, OR 97381



UTV Takeover
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 2:00 pm
UTV Takeover JUNE 21-25, 2023
Boxcar Hill Campground Coos Bay, Oregon



Lincoln County Fair
Friday, June 30, 2023 at 5:00 pm
June 30-July 2 Lincoln County Fair
Lincoln County Commons 633 NE 3rd St, Newport, OR



St Paul Rodeo
Friday, June 30, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Small town fun, big time rodeo! JUNE 30 - JULY 4, 2023

St Paul Rodeo website
4174 Malo Avenue NE, Saint Paul, OR, United States, Oregon



Waterfront Blues Festival
Saturday, July 1, 2023 at 11:00 am
Waterfront Blues Festival July 1-4
Tom McCall Waterfront Park 1400 SW Naito Pkwy. Portland, OR 97201



Marion County Fair
Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The Marion County Fair
July 6-9
Oregon State Fair and Exposition Center 2330 17th ST NE Salem, OR 97301



Overland Expo Pacific Northwest
Friday, July 7, 2023 at 8:00 am
Overland Expo Pacific Northwest July 7th-9th
DESCHUTES COUNTY EXPO CENTER REDMOND, OR



Oregon Country Fair
Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:00 am
Oregon Country Fair July 7,8,9, 2023 11:00am - 7:00pm
Veneta, Oregon



Jackson County Fair
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at 10:00 am
Jackson County Fair Wed, Jul 12 – Sun, Jul 16
Jackson County Expo 1 Peninger Rd, Central Point, OR



Linn County Fair
Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Linn County Fair

July 13-15
Linn County Fairgrounds 3700 Knox Butte RD

Albany, OR 97322



Miners's Jubilee
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 8:00 am
Miners's Jubilee July 14, 15, & 16; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Geiser Pollman Park 1723 Madison Street Baker City, Oregon



Sherwood Robin Hood Festival
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 10:00 am
Sherwood Robin Hood Festival July 14 and 15
22560 SW Pine Street Sherwood, Oregon 97140



Lane County Fair
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 10:00 am
Lane County Fair JULY 19 - 23, 2023
Lane Events Center 796 W 13th Ave, Eugene, OR



Columbia County Fair
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Columbia County Fair July 19 - 23, 2023
Columbia County Fairgrounds 58892 Saulser Rd, St Helens, OR 97051



Washington County Fair
Friday, July 21, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Washington County Fair

FREE ADMISSION

Washington County Fair
JULY 21 - 30
Westside Commons 801 NE 34th Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97124



Coos County Fair
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The Coos County Fair
July 25-29
Coos County Fairgrounds 770 4th St, Myrtle Point, OR 97458



Chief Joseph Days Rodeo
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo July 25 - 30, 2023
Harley Tucker Memorial Arena 405 W. Wallowa Ave. Joseph, OR



Curry County Fair
Wednesday, July 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Curry County Fair July 26th-29th 2023
Curry County Fairgrounds 29392 Ellensburg Ave, Gold Beach, OR 97444



City of Dallas Krazy Dayz
Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 8:00 am
City of Dallas Krazy Dayz July 27-30th
Downtown Dallas Oregon



Clatsop County Fair
Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The Clatsop County Fair
August 1st-5th
Clatsop County Fair and Expo Center 92937 Walluski Loop, Astoria, OR 97103



Yamhill County Fair & Rodeo
Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 10:00 am
Exhibits, Rides, Rodeo, Nightly Musical Entertainment https://yamhillcountyfairs.com/fair-and-rodeo/general-information-schedule/
Fairgrounds on Lafayette Ave. McMinnville



Benton County Fair
Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Benton County Fair AUGUST 2 - 5, 2023
BENTON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS 110 SW 53rd St. Corvallis, OR



Deschutes County Fair
Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Deschutes County Fair August 2 - 6, 2023
Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center 3800 SW Airport Wy, Redmond, OR 97756



Vanport Jazz Festival
Friday, August 4, 2023 at 10:00 am
Vanport Jazz Festival August 4th-5th
Colwood Golf Center 7313 NE Columbia Blvd Portland, OR



Oregon Jamboree Music Festival
Friday, August 4, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The Oregon Jamboree
August 4th-6th
Located on a large field south of Sweet Home High School. The venue extends across the Weddle Covered Bridge to Sankey Park. Sweet Home, Oregon



Dune Fest
Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Dune Fest August 8-13, 2023
Oregon Dunes Recreation Area Winchester Bay, OR 97467



Douglas County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:00 am
Douglas County Fair AUGUST 9 - 12
Douglas County Fairgrounds Complex 2110 SW Frear Street Roseburg, OR 97471



Grant County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 9:00 am
Grant County Fair August 9 @ 9:00 am - August 12 @ 8:00 pm
Grant County Fairgrounds 411 NW Bridge St. John Day, OR 97845



Tillamook County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 10:00 am
Tillamook County Fair
August 9th-12th
Tillamook County Fairgrounds 4603 3rd St, Tillamook, OR 97141



Josephine County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 10:00 am
Josephine County Fair August 9th-13th
Josephine County Fairgrounds 1451 Fairgrounds Rd Grants Pass, Oregon



Crook County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Crook County Fair
AUGUST 9 - 12
Crook County Fairgrounds Prineville, Oregon



Umatilla County Fair
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Umatilla County Fair August 9-12
Umatilla County Fairgrounds 1705 E. Airport Rd. Hermiston, OR 97838



Elephant Garlic Festival
Friday, August 11, 2023 at 12:00 pm
25th Annual Elephant Garlic Festival August 11th, 12th and 13th
Jessie Mays Community Center 30975 NW Hillcrest St. North Plains, Oregon 97133



Clackamas County Fair
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Clackamas County Fair August 15-19, 2023
Clackamas County Fairgrounds 694 NE 4th Ave, Canby, OR 97013



Aumsville Corn Festival
Friday, August 18, 2023 at 7:00 am
Aumsville Corn Festival Friday, August 18, 2023 - 6:00pm to Saturday, August 19, 2023 - 6:00pm
595 Main Street Aumsville, OR 97325



Woodburn Fiesta Mexicana
Friday, August 18, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Woodburn Fiesta Mexicana August 18th-20th
Legion Park - 1385 Park Ave. Woodburn, OR



Morrow County Fair
Sunday, August 20, 2023 at 7:00 am
Morrow County Fair August 20
Morrow County Fairgrounds 97836 OR-74, Heppner, OR 97836



Farwest
Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Farwest Green Industry Show August 23-25
Oregon Convention Center 777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 97232



Northwest Art and Air Festival
Friday, August 25, 2023 at 8:00 am
Northwest Art and Air Festival Aug 25th-27th
Timber Linn Park- 900 Price Rd SE, Albany, OR 97322



Oregon State Fair
Friday, August 25, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Oregon State Fair
Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center 2330 17th St NE, Salem, OR 97301



Siletz Bay Music Festival
Friday, August 25, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Siletz Bay Music Festival August 25th – September 3rd
Lincoln City, Oregon



Newberg SummerFest
Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Newberg SummerFest
August 26-27
Memorial Park Newberg, OR



Walnut City Music Festival
Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Walnut City Music Festival September 2nd-3rd
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way McMinnville, OR



Harney County Fair & Rodeo
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 10:00 am
99th Harney County Fair and Rodeo September 5th - 9th, 2023
Harney County Fairgrounds 69660 S Egan Rd, Burns, OR 97720



Sublimity Harvest Festival
Friday, September 8, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Sublimity Harvest Festival September 8-10
11880 Sublimity Rd SE Sublimity, OR



Bandon Cranberry Festival
Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 10:00 am
Bandon Cranberry Festival
September 9 & 10
Bandon City Park (main venue) Bandon, Oregon



Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire
Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 11:00 am
Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire
September 9th & 10th
S Kings Valley Hwy & Grant Rd

Monmouth, OR



Pendleton Round-Up
Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The world famous Pendleton Round-Up
Pendleton Round-Up Grounds 1205 SW Court Ave, Pendleton, OR 97801



Bay Area Fun Festival
Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Bay Area Fun Festival September 16 and 17
Coos Bay, Oregon



Rose City Comic Con
Friday, September 22, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Rose City Comic Con SEPT. 22 – 24
OREGON CONVENTION CENTER 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Portland, OR 97232



Sisters Folk Festival
Friday, September 29, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Sisters Folk Festival Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2023
Sisters, OR



Stormy Weather Arts Festival
Friday, November 3, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Stormy Weather Arts Festival November 3-5
Cannon Beach, Oregon



Yachats Celtic Music Festival
Friday, November 10, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Yachats Celtic Music Festival Nov 10, 11, & 12th
Yachats Commons Building 441 Hwy 101 N, Yachats, OR



Veteran's Day Parade
Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 11:00 am
Veteran's Day Parade
Downtown Albany, Oregon



Civil War Oregon State vs. Oregon Football Game
Friday, November 24, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Civil War- Oregon State Beavers vs. Oregon Ducks Football Game
Autzen Stadium 2700 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Eugene, OR 97401



Christmas Storybook Land
Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 10:30 am
Christmas Storybook Land

December 2 – 16
Linn County Fairgrounds Inside the Cascade Livestock Building 3700 Knox Butte Rd Albany, OR 97322


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Analysis: The Appointment of Senator Brock Smith
Shemia Fagan concluded that the candidates would have another qualification criteria

Representative David Brock Smith of Port Orford was appointed to his Oregon State Senate seat in Senate District 1 on Wednesday, January 11th at the Roseburg Courthouse. David Brock Smith’s ascent to the seat started on December 16th when Dallas Heard endorsed Smith as successor to his seat.

Members of the Oregon Republican Party had known that Dallas Heard was not planning on running for another term as Senator since March 9, 2022 when Heard stepped down from his position as ORP chair, but there had been no announcement of his intent to resign from the Senate until December 15th. His resignation became effective on January 1st.

The Senator’s two weeks notice during the holiday season gave the Republican Parties of Coos, Curry and Douglas Counties very little time to recruit, vet and promote candidates needed for a competitive special election. In late December the Special Election was scheduled for January 7th, with only a 13 day notice before the election date. This short notice of the meeting date caused the Douglas County Republican Party concern that a mandatory 14 day notice was not met and could allow the Special Election to be nullified.

Within the special election process, the Precinct Committee-person’s of the Republican Party, instead of the general population of voters, were entitled to vote. Each PCPs’ vote represents about 250 constituents within their precinct.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The Douglas County Republican Party Executive Board managed to activate 5 candidates for the Special Election; Tim Allen, Tom Dole, Doug Mendenhall, Richard Vander Velden, and Todd Vaughn. Curry County had two candidates, David Brock Smith and a Mr. Avery who immediately stepped-down to endorse David Brock Smith. Coos County had no candidates.

The Special Election met in Coquille on January 7th. The meeting opened with an announcement that there was a possible change of the rules to qualify candidates. The Secretary of State, Shemia Fagan, had concluded that because SD1 was redistricted since Senator Heard took office, the candidates would have another qualification criteria added, not only would the candidates have to live within the current SD1 boundaries, by Fagan’s opinion they now needed to live in both the new and old SD1 boundaries. That new restriction would eliminate two of the Douglas County Candidates, Todd Vaughn and Richard Vander Velden.

The voting PCP’s were told that the Legislative Counsel did not agree with the Secretary of State’s interpretation of the Oregon Revised Statutes’ criteria for conducting the election. The PCP’s were instructed at the beginning of the meeting, that even if the two candidates who had been affected by the district boundary change were elected, they might be eliminated when the controversy between the Legislative Counsel and Fagan was settled. Many of the PCP’s present at the election reacted with suspicion that something nefarious was happening behind the scenes.

Before the PCP’s could vote for their choice of nominees, they must vote on how many nominees they will present to the Commissioners of the three counties. According to ORS 171.051(3), the failure of presenting the County Commissioners with the required minimum of three nominees would result in a failure of the Special Election and the choice of the next State Senator would then default to Governor Tina Kotek. With that to consider, many PCP’s changed their intended vote of presenting 3 nominees and instead voted to present 5 nominees. Todd’s and Richard’s precarious position as being subject to a possible elimination by Secretary of State Fagan may have influenced some PCP’s not to vote for them. The candidates then gave their speeches, were asked several written questions solicited from the PCP’s and the ballots were handed out and eventually tallied.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

In order of the highest number of votes, the winning nominees presented to the County Commissioners were: David Brock Smith at 16890.87, Tim Allen at 13385.82, Richard Vander Velden at 9975.45, Todd Vaughn at 8615.39 and Tomas Dole at 8508.38. When the Douglas County vote was separated out from the three counties, Tim Allen was in a decisive lead at 9715.87 over the next contender, David Brock Smith at 8030.29. Since the Douglas County Commissioners wielded 73.58 % of the vote by population, Tim Allen seemed to have the edge.

On January 11th, the County Commissioners met at the Douglas County Courthouse to appoint the nominee of their choice at the Senate District Meeting. The meeting was recorded on video on the Douglas County website.

At the Senate District Meeting the first order of business was to decide the controversy between the Legislative Counsel and Secretary of State, Fagan. Commissioner Tim Freeman and County Clerk Dan Loomis referred to the Oregon Constitution and ORS to support the Secretary of States’ position to eliminated Richard Vander Velden and Todd Vaughn. The Oregon Constitution Article IV 3(2)(c) and Section 6(6)(8)ORS 171.068(2) and ORS 171.060(1) were cited to determine if residency requirements were met.

Freeman also cited an email sent by the Secretary of State two days earlier on January 9 at 4:39 pm. The way Tim Freeman read the email, it relied on ORS 171.106, but that statute is not listed within ORS Chapter 171 on the Oregon Legislature’s website. Commissioner Tim Freeman referred to the conflicting decisions between the Legislative Counsel and Secretary of State Fagan as “what seemed to be contrary, really was not.” The Legislative Counsel had added two caveats that allowed for the qualification of the candidates under certain conditions. Commissioner Chris Boice motioned to “strike the two disqualified candidates from the slate and only hear from the 3 candidates who meet all three qualifications.” The motion passed unanimously.

The three remaining nominees gave five minute speeches and answered questions from the nine Commissioners. The Commissioners then voted unanimously for David Brock Smith.

Near the end of the proceeding, Tim Freeman did apologize for the confusion caused by the Secretary of State Fagan at both the Special Election and the Senate District Meeting. Tim Freeman stated that if they had not had the five nominees, the two nominees who were eliminated would have qualified under one of the caveats provided by the Legislative Counsel.

At the end of this Senate District Meeting, Tim Freeman stated that in the last 8 years, the Douglas County Commissioners have appointed 4 legislative positions, and 1 of each of the following; a clerk, a surveyor, an assessor, a treasurer and a commissioner for a total of nine positions. By the time the Commissioners appoint the vacant House of Representatives seat left by David Brock Smith, it will be 5 legislative seats and a total of 10 elective positions.

Resignation from elected positions can be timed to allow the election of a replacement through the general election, or the timing can result in the need for a special election. If endorsements, special elections and appointments are used as a political strategy to bypass an election by the people, it results in the disenfranchisement of other candidates and the voters.


--Terry Noonkester

Post Date: 2023-01-18 08:51:57Last Update: 2023-01-18 09:43:15



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