http://couv.com Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. Fri, 07 Nov 2014 16:49:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. http://couv.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://couv.com/category/issues-viewpoint http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/freedom-foundation-talks-charter http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/freedom-foundation-talks-charter#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:42:56 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=32047 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/freedom-foundation-talks-charter/feed 14 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/3-lanes http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/3-lanes#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:57:06 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=32030 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/3-lanes/feed 15 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/c-tran-trimet-contract http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/c-tran-trimet-contract#comments Mon, 14 Oct 2013 23:45:01 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=30015 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/c-tran-trimet-contract/feed 0 http://couv.com/community/new-pilgrims-among-us http://couv.com/community/new-pilgrims-among-us#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 02:50:55 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=24258 http://couv.com/community/new-pilgrims-among-us/feed 0 AM 1010,audio,Berlin wall,david madore,Mikhail Gorbachev,President Ronald Reagan,Russian Community,Russian Radio 7,Russian Speaking,Slavic Community,Socialism,Soviet Union Vitaliy Stepanyuk explains why Slavic families do not take our freedom in America for granted and until recently, have been reluctant to voice any dissent with authorities. Vitaliy Stepanyuk explains why Slavic families do not take our freedom in America for granted and until recently, have been reluctant to voice any dissent with authorities. Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no 45:33 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/photos-from-bridging-the-gaps http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/photos-from-bridging-the-gaps#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:41:52 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1280 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/photos-from-bridging-the-gaps/feed 0 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-david-madore http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-david-madore#comments Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:00:20 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1264 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-david-madore/feed 0 bridging the gaps,columbia river crossing light rail project,CRC,david madore,third bridge,video Listen to an audio podcast of this presentation here: - "Bridging the Gaps" organizer David Madore presents during the event on June 4 in Vancouver. Here is an overview of his remarks: - 00:00  Madore shows the animated video of "Sky High, Listen to an audio podcast of this presentation here: "Bridging the Gaps" organizer David Madore presents during the event on June 4 in Vancouver. Here is an overview of his remarks: 00:00  Madore shows the animated video of "Sky High," which depicts the cost comparison of Hoover Dam bypass, the Glenn Jackson bridge, a proposed 192nd Avenue bridge, and the Columbia River Crossing Light Rail (CRC) project*. 01:49  Madore shows another animated video - a rendering of a 192nd Avenue bridge. He shows why the bridge is very buildable and how well the plan minimizes the environmental impact. 03:57  Madore states that the idea behind proposing "East County Crossing," or the 192nd Avenue bridge, is to fuel economic growth. He says the Bridging the Gaps effort is not opposed to growth, progress or a bridge. He says the 192nd Avenue bridge won't take years and years of study nor cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. 04:25  Madore states that private industry can build bridges much more effectively than a government bureaucracy. He says private industry should be invited to submit a proposal and be rewarded for the best design. 04:57  Madore says he is a proponent of the 192nd Avenue bridge and a fourth west side bridge. He says the high cost of rebuilding one bridge with light rail will take away the options of a third, fourth and fifth bridge. 05:25  He says the solution is for citizens to get engaged, adding that citizens are the customers and need to participate and be part of the solution. The decision cannot be left to those who are simply selling services. 06:00  Madore shows an aerial photo of I-205 and explains that when Glenn Jackson created it, he set aside land for expansion which is now being taken up by light rail. He points out that I-84 is a one-lane feeder into I-205. It could be a two-lane feeder but it doesn't make sense if it's only going to be crammed into three lanes. 07:40 Madore asks the question, "Is light rail the solution to congestion or is it really doing the exact opposite? Is it actually boxing us in and consuming the space for extra lanes?" 08:08 Madore says he does not know of plans to increase the capacity of the 205 on the south side of the Columbia River. He says the capacity still exists on the north side and he hopes it won't be consumed with light rail. 08:36  Madore shows another aerial photo of I-84. He points out that I-84 is as expanded as it can be. He says the adjacent land for expansion has been consumed by light rail. Madore points out that if it can be done at all, expansion will be costly. He states that projects become more expensive when "you eat what was already set aside." He returns to the foresight of Glenn Jackson and says it was misappropriated for light rail. 09:52  Madore suggests that while sitting in I-205 or I-84 traffic, citizens ask the question, "Has light rail consumed that space or has it solved the problem?" * The well-documented cost to taxpayers, if the CRC stays on budget, is $10 billion. This was established by the Cortright Report (PDF) which used data from an independent review panel hired by the governors of Washington and Oregon. (View the panel’s final report.) See our continuing coverage of the Columbia River Crossing Light Rail project. Do you have information to share on the CRC? To respond anonymously call 260-816-1426. To allow your comments to be used on COUV.COM call 260-816-1429. Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no 10:14 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-questions http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-questions#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:19:46 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1250 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/btg-questions/feed 0 bridging the gaps,cascade policy institute,columbia river crossing light rail project,CRC,ed orcutt,john charles,paul guppy,video,wa state representative,washington policy center Listen to an audio podcast of this Q&A here: Attendees of the "Bridging the Gaps" event asked experts and officials questions based on their presentations. - Timeline: - Paul Guppy, Washington Policy Center Listen to an audio podcast of this Q&A here: Attendees of the "Bridging the Gaps" event asked experts and officials questions based on their presentations. Timeline: Paul Guppy, Washington Policy Center 1:38 “If you're an elected official and you don't see a downside to supporting a light rail project or the spending that goes with it, you're going to support it. If you see that there's a movement against it and it will lead to trouble in your next re-election then you'll tend to be against it. I think it’s how the public incentives are aligned when it comes to working on this project.” John Charles, Cascade Policy Institute 4:15 “If you can’t kill this program, (Oregon spent $2 million on the campaign Drive Less/Save More) how are you as legislators ever going to kill anything, or how are you even going to act like legislators and take control of the bureaucracy? It’s sad. And I don’t think the Oregon legislature is unique in this regard.” Ed Orcutt, Washington state representative 5:10 “Based on what I’ve heard today from Ms. Couch, this week I’m going to be calling the state auditor and perhaps even the state attorney general, to look into what’s going on with the CRC. I want to make sure that they are being audited on a regular basis.” 6:26 “The city of Hoakium, population 8,700, came to the legislature and they were saying that they needed a third bridge, 8,700 people needed a third bridge. I look at Cowlitz County and the Cowlitz River. In about 15 miles - if you travel up I-5 about 15 miles worth - you’ll find that there are five different crossings across the Cowlitz River for a county with the population of 100,000. Here we sit in Clark County with a population of over 400,000, a million and a half or so across the river, we’re looking at a metropolitan area of roughly two million people, and somehow people think this can be done with two bridges. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.” 7:14 “In a discussion with Don Wagner of the DOT a few years ago, I don’t think he realized, but he is the one who actually inadvertently convinced me that a third bridge was necessary. And he did so by talking about how so much traffic comes into the I-5 corridor at State Route 500, Fourth Plain, Mill Plain, and State Route 14. And he stated that the reason why we needed two of the lanes on the bridge was for that traffic to dump off at Jantzen Beach. So my question to him is, well, why don’t we just build a third bridge and not bring that traffic into the corridor in the first place? And that pretty much set it in stone as to what my position was. I think the 192nd Avenue is definitely a reasonable approach.” 9:10 They (Oregon) just expanded Delta Park from two lanes to three, and it seems to me if they had any intention whatsoever of expanding that to four, they would have already done it when they were expanding it to three. So it tells me that is a long, long, long way into the future and is highly unlikely to happen and would be extremely expensive for them to do. You also have choke points at Lombard with additional traffic coming in. You have choke points at the Rose Quarter. We’ve heard today about choke points at Highway 26, which is one of the reasons why you need to bypass and get people across the river before they ever get to the I-5 crossing. So, there’s a lot of evidence that clearly shows something different has to be done then what really in effect is a boondoggle. I can’t really call it anything else.” 10:10 “Light rail is – it just takes up space. We saw that today. It takes up space. It doesn’t provide lanes. And what I thought was really interesting, is we saw in that section of 205, we saw the backup of vehicles. It was a constant stream of vehicles and there wasn’t a light rail train anywhere on those tracks. And that just tells me that is wasted space that is not being used adequately. And more lane miles is what is going to solve a lot of our congestion problems.” 10:41 “Tolls? Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no 28:13 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/paulguppy-bridgingthegaps http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/paulguppy-bridgingthegaps#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:33:50 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1191 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/paulguppy-bridgingthegaps/feed 1 Boondoggle,bridging the gaps,columbia river crossing light rail project,CRC,Light Rail Tolling Project,paul guppy,video,washington policy center Listen to an audio podcast of this presentation here: - Paul Guppy, vice president for research at Washington Policy Center, spoke at the "Bridging the Gaps" event in Vancouver on June 4.  An overview of his remarks follows his bio. - Listen to an audio podcast of this presentation here: Paul Guppy, vice president for research at Washington Policy Center, spoke at the "Bridging the Gaps" event in Vancouver on June 4.  An overview of his remarks follows his bio. According t... Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no 12:55 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/citizen-report-bridging-gaps http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/citizen-report-bridging-gaps#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:20:06 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1140 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/citizen-report-bridging-gaps/feed 1 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/bridging-the-gaps-video-coming-soon http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/bridging-the-gaps-video-coming-soon#comments Sun, 05 Jun 2011 01:58:17 +0000 COUV.COM staff http://couv.com/?p=1137 http://couv.com/issues-viewpoint/bridging-the-gaps-video-coming-soon/feed 2 Boondoggle,columbia river,columbia river crossing light rail project,CRC,gus torres,Light Rail Tolling Project,video Listen to an audio podcast of this video here: - The "Bridging the Gaps" event is over, but check back later this week for a video of the full event. - For now, enjoy this teaser video. - CREDITS Animated by Gus Torres Listen to an audio podcast of this video here: The "Bridging the Gaps" event is over, but check back later this week for a video of the full event. For now, enjoy this teaser video. CREDITS Animated by Gus Torres ______________________________________________________________________________________ See our continuing coverage of the Columbia River Crossing Light Rail project. Do you have information to share on the CRC? To respond anonymously call 260-816-1426. To allow your comments to be used on COUV.COM call 260-816-1429. Audio and video stories from Southwest Washington. no 1:24