News & Notes

I've gotten into the habit of following a number of different blogs. One of them is for the Oregon Ducks through OregonLive.com, another through "Pyschology Today", several through ESPN.com, plus "US News & World Report". Blogging seems to be a journalist's dream, especially if one has a lot of readers, which many do. It would not have been possible with print journalism.
Because many blog posts consist of news, notes and links, I've decided to follow suit today. Here are some interesting stories I've either found or had forwarded to me:

• Gangs in Indian country are gaining national notice, at least enough for the New York Times to run a story here. Nice to know we're not alone.
• Yay for the Shinnecocks back east, who are just about gain their own federal recognition. I found this particularly interesting because while we've publicly supported the Chinook's recognition, word is the bill that would recognize them is dying, and their biggest ally Brian Baird (D-WA) is retiring. Recognition for some but not others.
• Oregon Business Report addresses the decline of casino revenues in our state.
• Jan Michael Looking Wolf stopped by my office today to show me his new video, posted on YouTube. The main young man in the video, Ken Lewis, is one of Looking Wolf's guitarists and also the son of Tribal member Ann Lewis. There are also several other Grand Ronde Tribal members in the video, filmed in downtown Salem. The other guitarist looked vaguely familiar to me at first, and when I saw Jan's CD cover I realized he was, in further proof that the world is a small one, a classmate of mine from North Salem High 1993, Pat McDermott.