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DMV to Verify Immigration Documents Starting in 2009

Lawful presence status will be added to customer records.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Oregon DMV is making two changes to the issuance of driver licenses, driving permits and identification cards effective January 1st 2009.

First, DMV will electronically verify information contained on federal immigration documents presented as proof of lawful presence in the United States by applicants for Oregon driver licenses, driving permits and ID cards.

DMV will verify the information by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program operated by the federal Department of Homeland Security. DMV will not issue driving privileges or ID cards to applicants whose immigration documents cannot be verified with the SAVE system.

Benny & Sid`s Your Public Service Announcements #18

(Salem) - With the election rushing in on us, it's interesting to hear the splutterings and mutterings of the men on the street.

Expert Says China Was Taught Lessons in Socialism America Should Have Learned (VIDEO)

Al Hayward is an experienced trade expert who has specialized in trade with China and other, some former, Communist countries.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Al Hayward knows China like few others. He has decades of experience working there and getting to know the culture, and people. He says he has watched the evolution of capitalism here in the United States slowly evolving into socialism, which is all too familiar to him, and he believes the slippery slope is suddenly getting steep.

“I can tell you, I’ve been there, I’ve seen it," Hayward says, "and I can tell you that socialism and communism didn’t work in Russia, it didn’t work in East Germany, it didn’t work in red China and it won’t work here.”

Fatal Plane Crash in Estacada Claims Two

Rescue personnel on the scene had to contend with a serious crash scene and the victims had to be extricated from within the fuselage.

(ESTACADA, Ore.) - Two people died Tuesday when a Cessna 206 airplane crashed at 30751 SE Lawrence Road in Estacada‏ around 7:30 PM. Investigators with the Clackamas Sheriff's Office say their communications center received information from a concerned citizen that a small aircraft had flown over his home with no lights on and moments later he heard a series of crashing sounds believed to have been the plane hitting trees or the ground.

Sheriff's Office Spokesman Det. Jim Strovink says that less than 5-minutes later, an additional emergency call was received by CCOM reporting the pilot of this small plane was experiencing electrical problems and all his equipment on the plane was inoperable.

"It is believed the pilot of this plane in distress had called a friend on the ground from his cell phone to report the problems encountered onboard the aircraft," Strovink said.

Local Groups Lose Over 5,200 Pounds to Help Fight Hunger

The group was inspired to take action when they learned startling statistics; more than 1.6 BILLION adults worldwide are overweight; and 862 million people went underfed in 2007.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Weight Watchers groups from Salem and Keizer have teamed together to join the fight against two global epidemics – hunger and obesity – by participating in the Lose for Good Campaign.

According to Feeding America, 99% of food banks surveyed experienced an increase in the number of low-income American’s turning to soup kitchens and food pantries for assistance this year. Even the nation's most affluent areas have been affected; thirty-nine percent of the adults requesting emergency food assistance in the last year were gainfully employed.

As part of Lose for Good, the Weight Watchers groups coordinated food drives – donating food for each time members lost weight - to support the Marion Polk Food Share. The food share collects, sorts, stores and distributes over 4.8 million pounds of food each year to a network of 73 local service providers who distribute food to hungry people in their neighborhoods.

The McCain Formula

All the world waits on the threshold of a sustainable peace if America will quit throwing its weight around at a time when we need friends, not enemies.

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - Fight, fight, fight! His entire campaign is devoted to fighting, as has been his life.

But why fight when there is no need?

Of course America needs a strong military, not to intimidate others, or to fulfill misguided ambitions, but to preserve the peace. Wars diminish wealth, as if Americans need to be reminded, peace accumulates it. Yet, McCain’s over-riding theme is now and has forever been, to fight and win to prove superiority, even when it is unnecessary.

Op Ed: `Socialism` Shades
U.S. Business From
Capitalist Heat

Bailouts for distorted “Free Market” destroy system.

(EUGENE, Ore.) - Our Founding Fathers set up what was then very definitely “big government” in both concept and coverage intended. They knew only wise governance could accomplish some essential actions, from study of the world’s leading philosophers.

This Presidential election will determine our choice for the coming Century, just as theirs did for their time. We are wise to question how lush bailouts lavished on freebooters simply perpetrate “socialism only for the rich”.

Corporate “campaign contributions” substitute dollar-power for elective authority, conferred by voter choice.

FBI Seeks Help Locating Female Bank Robbery Suspect

The FBI searches for a woman involved in a robbery at the Washington Mutual branch in west Salem.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The FBI is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the woman responsible for the robbery of the Washington Mutual Bank branch located at 480 Glen Creek Road NW in Salem. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Steele says the robbery happened at 11:07 AM Saturday, October 25th.

Hell Freezes Over: White House Drug Czar Backs Decriminalization

John Walters Backs a Mexican Proposal Far More Sweeping Than U.S. Measures He Has Opposed.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Marijuana Policy Project today congratulated White House "drug czar" John Walters for backing a Mexican government proposal that would remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but John Walters is right," said MPP executive director Rob Kampia. "We heartily second his support for eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana users in Mexico, and look forward to working with him to end such penalties in the U.S. as well."

On October 22nd, The New York Times reported Walters' public support for a drug decriminalization proposal by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, quoting Walters as saying, "I don't think that's legalization." Under Calderon's proposal, individuals caught with small quantities of marijuana would receive no jail sentence or fine and would not receive a criminal record so long as they complete either drug education or, if addicted, drug treatment.

`A Few Good Men, Lots of Chemicals`

Camp Lejeune’s "The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten" website adds link for MCAS El Toro Marines veterans. Attempts to learn more about the exposure of El Toro Marines to toxic chemicals continue.

(SOMERDALE, N.J.) - Former MCAS El Toro could be used as a movie script for the “perfect environmental crime.” Dump 8,000 pounds of TCE (trichloroethelyne) and other goodies into the soil and groundwater; watch a mostly TCE plume go through the area of the base wells into Orange county; put the base on the BRAC hit list; lose documentation; put thousands of acres up for sale; and pocket $650 million from the sale to a land developer. In this case, the victims are mostly “invisible Marine veterans,” who have no clue of what hit ‘em.

We’re a long way from understanding the extent of exposure of Marines at El Toro to TCE/PCE (perchloroethelyne)and other contaminants. This would be a “cold case,” if it were not for the efforts of a few El Toro veterans who refuse to accept the government’s “don’t worry; there’s not need for concern.”

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is attempting to locate documentation to determine the risk of exposure to TCE/PCE for El Toro Marines.