Comments: Where distance is no barrier
Being far removed from the action does not disqualify people from being interested in what goes on, right? Or from letting others know what they think? As the photo shows, I was riding my bike in the...
View ArticleChemical plant planned on Ferry Street
The City of Albany’s planning division is reviewing a site plan for a new chemical manufacturing plant a Corvallis company intends to build at 2435 Ferry St. S.E. Approval of the site plan is up to the...
View ArticleCanal shows effect of reservoir drawdown
Once again this fall, we’re seeing one result of the deep drawdown of Green Peter Reservoir: Very turbid water in the Albany Santiam Canal. I hadn’t paid much attention, but on a bike ride Saturday...
View ArticleBig city fine triggers story on old house
On Nov. 7 the Albany Landmarks Commission heard from an applicant that the city had fined him $301,000 for failing to get building permits for fixing up an old apartment house. The fine has been...
View ArticleNew Albany rule: Don’t harm killer whales
It sounds like a joke but it isn’t: From now on anyone wanting to build anything in the designated 100-year-flood zone in Albany will have to prove that the work won’t harm endangered species including...
View ArticleWaiting for new traffic cameras to go live
New speed and red-light cameras have been installed at Queen Avenue and Geary Street in Albany. I don’t know whether the cameras have gone live yet. And I’m not about to test it by risking a ticket....
View ArticleTaking a little November ride
Bryant Way and Bryant Drive is one of the nicest roads for a bike ride in and near Albany. That’s why I went there for a short jaunt before it started raining Wednesday afternoon. What was the...
View ArticleNo cameras for top crash intersections
Safety has been given as the reason for Albany’s red-light cameras and photo radar campaign. So you might think the cameras would be deployed at the intersections with the most crashes. But that’s not...
View ArticlePuzzled by new platform at Bryant Park
Someone built a sturdy wooden structure in Albany’s Bryant Park, and I wondered about it when I first saw it on a bike ride through the park this week. The raised platform comes with a staircase and...
View ArticleTaking the stairs: A handrail at Monteith
Albany’s newly reconstructed Monteith Riverpark has been outfitted with one additional feature: A handrail in the middle of the somewhat unusual, long series of steps down toward the stage. City...
View ArticleThree city lots: Council wants an appraisal
The Albany City Council has taken the first step before deciding to dispose of three city-owned lots on Jackson Street and Ninth Avenue near the Helping Hands homeless shelter, which already owns most...
View ArticleA day in November: All quiet on the riverfront
The sky above Albany brightened on Monday, and I took advantage of the good weather for an afternoon bike ride down the riverfront to Bowman Park. News was happening elsewhere (see below), but on the...
View ArticleChecking on historic OER depot’s remodel
It was time to revisit the historic Oregon Electric Railway depot, an Albany landmark since 1912 now being remodeled as the new home of the Sybaris bistro and restaurant. You last read about the...
View ArticleSheriff asks to expand permit parking zone
When I rode the bike to the top of the Pacific Boulevard overpass Saturday and looked down on Jackson Street, I saw no sign of trouble with parked cars. But trouble there has been, and the Albany City...
View Article‘Must not block’? Easier said than done
It’s the end of November, so it must be time to get exercised about piles of dead leaves on Albany streets. Not that complaining does any good. So there are piles of leaves all over the place. So what?...
View ArticleNot really news: A widening gap in Clark Path
Riding my bike along the Albany riverfront, I’m on the Dave Clark Path several times a week. And lately I’ve noticed that west of the Wheelhouse Building a new gap in the path has opened up. The gap is...
View ArticleHere’s where the subject of nutria came up
On a random bike ride in the industrial section of central Albany a month ago, I found myself on the 25th Avenue bridge across the Santiam Canal. And because of what I saw there, the subject of nutria...
View ArticleAt Waverly Lake, look for holiday colors soon
The day after Thanksgiving, it was beginning to get dark when I went to see whether Albany’s Waverly Lake fountain was lighted for the holiday season. Not yet, I found out, but soon it may be. This was...
View ArticleAlbany to get new ‘urgent care’ business
Since at least October, the sign at 2910 Santiam Highway S.E. in Albany has promised that a new walk-in medical clinic was “coming soon.” The question is how soon. On Tuesday afternoon, the inside of...
View ArticleSame old story on the Cox Creek Path
This scene looks familiar, doesn’t it? That’s because along Cox Creek in Albany, trees falling down and smashing the chain link fence of Talking Water Gardens is a regular thing. How regular? Well,...
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