Monthly Archives: February 2009

“Leverage” is coming to the state of Oregon

Leverage has made my Tivo Season Pass list.   Honey didn’t think much of it at first passing it off as simplistic and  formulaic.  And, maybe it is a bit of that, but it is also a lively, entertaining continuing story dramatic/comedy,  filled with unpredictiable twists.  It isn’t near the top of our watch lists, but with Tivo, it doesn’t have to be.  Anyway its going to film in Oregon?  That’s a bit of a stretch given its slant towards exotic locales, but maybe with next years plot line of the gang splitting and perhaps lying low, then rural Oregon may be just the thing.  It will be fun to see.

‘Leverage’ with Timothy Hutton coming to film in Oregon

By DAVID KROUGH, kgw.com Staff

SALEM, Ore. — A TNT crime drama is coming to Oregon.

That’s the word from Governor Ted Kulongoski who announced Thursday the hit television series, “Leverage” is coming to the state and many Oregonians will be hired as cast and crew.

“The decision to locate in Oregon is a clear indication that our incentive programs are working. State support for film and television creates jobs and brings a big return on investment for Oregon taxpayers,” Kulongoski said.
The show starring Timothy Hutton is to start its second season. Creators describe it as “a team of thieves, hackers and grifters who join forces to take revenge against those who use power and wealth to victimize others.”
“We’re delighted to be bringing ‘Leverage’ to Oregon,” Electric Entertainment Founder and ‘Leverage’ Executive Producer, Dean Devlin said.

“From our initial scouting of locations to making the final decision to move the production, we have found the cooperation and assistance from everyone at the Governor’s Office of Film & Television to be extraordinary. The officials from the city of Portland and those at the state level have also been outstanding. We are so impressed by the wide variety of locations available to us,” Devlin said.
Shooting will begin in late spring at locations across the state.

By DAVID KROUGH, kgw.com Staff

Wheres the old Sauvie Island Bridge

Flew over Sauvie Island last week. The old Sauvie Island bridge is apparently completely gone, with no sign that it ever existed.
So, where did it go?

Last year there was a big push to move it to Portland to span I-405.  That dream sagged under the pressure of those who thought the money was better spent elsewhere, or were just not forward thinking individuals.  Now with Sam’s dwindling  power to push through any project that might be objectionable, its easy to understand that this project was not going to happen.

Still, the old bridge went somewhere…………….

Sauvie Island Bridge by Air

Oregon Weather Memories

Here in Oregon, for the most part, we are truly blessed as far as weather goes. Our summers are generally mild and our winters are not too cold. I have seen summers where we did not even get 95° temperatures and winters that never reached 32°.
However, the winter of 1969 was a different story. It all started just afternoon when a warm front moved in over Oregon only to be met by a cold front coming down from Canada, creating a massive snow storm. I was working that day driving lumber carrier and the snow kept piling up deeper and deeper. By quitting time at five o’clock, driving on the highway was next to impossible. The night watchman that was scheduled to come at five called the office and said there was no way he was coming to work. The boss then asked me if I would stay and be the night watchman. I guess he thought I would be the likely one to work as I lived just five blocks from the mill. What could I say? With much sliding and slipping around I managed to make it to all the clock punch stations. At midnight when I was to be relieved no one came, so I was stuck on the job until 8:00 the next morning. I managed to stick it out without falling to sleep.
I was concerned about how things were going at home but I did not need to be. When I did get home I saw that my son Don had taking care of things. We had a flat roof carport then and Don had shoveled the snow off of it during the night. During the middle of the next morning Don and I had to shovel it off again. I am sure if Don had not cleared the roof of snow, I would have found a caved in carport on my arrival home. Sometime during the afternoon, we decided to measure the depth of the snow in the back yard. With the aid of a yard stick, we found that it was 35 inches deep if I remember right; we were off work for ten or twelve days.
On a slightly different note, we also had a lot of floods during the winter. Situated as Junction City is, between the Long Tom river and the Willamette river and the valley being flat, it was a natural place for high water when we got a lot of rain. Being young kids at the time, we thoroughly enjoyed the floods as we were let out of school and had all day to play in the water. We built rafts and floated all around and enjoyed going around town and seeing all the water. These floods stopped when Fern Ridge dam was built on the Long Tom and the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers and their tributaries were dammed.
We have had years when we had lots of rain together with freezing temperatures which resulted in silver thaws. A silver thaw occurs when the ground level is below freezing and then it rains and the rain all turns to ice, making for treachures driving. My folks had a weeping willow tree in their yard which was really pretty with all the ice laden branches. However, that was not a good time for the electric power people as it caused them a lot of extra work repairing downed lines.
All in all, I am very glad to call the Willamette Valley my home.

  By Carl Nielsen
  Written Dec. 2008

Thats my cousin down there.

My cousin Kathy has recently begun a new lifes adventure that started with a move to San Francisco.
Now, in her spare time she has become nominally famous.
This photo provided by John Montgomery shows some 350 people celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009.

Maybe you recognize her.
She is the white blob near the end of the middle jut of the “E” !
kinh holiday arial photo

(AP Photo/John Montgomery)