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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2015)
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Committee considers increasing speed limit SALEM (AP) — Orego- nians could begin flying along certain highways at 75 mph after lawmakers heard testi- mony Friday on a bill upping speed limits from 65 mph on interstate highways. Under the proposal, pas- senger cars would be able to go 10 mph faster than the current limit. It also ups the speed limit on state highways to 65 mph. Certain vehicles, such as trucks and school bus- ses, would have to stick to the 55-mph limit on interstate and state highways. Republican state Rep. Cliff Bentz of Ontario sponsored the bill. Safety improvements to vehicles, such as air bags, GPS systems and seatbelts, mean the current speed limits are no longer as necessary to keep drivers safe, he said. He also noted motorists used to be able to drive along at 75 mph before the speed limits were dropped to help save gas in the early 1970s. “The problem is that at one time we did drive at 75 mph way before the cars were as safe as they are now and the state survived,” Bentz said. He also noted boosting the speed limit could help bring the state closer together by allowing people living in rural areas to travel faster. Troy Costales, an adminis- trator at the state Department of Transportation, cautioned lawmakers at the public hear- ing that increasing the speed limit might lead to more crashes and fatalities. “While we can change the laws of man, we can’t change the laws of nature. When speed goes up for every 10 miles an hour it doubles the energy released when something happens. So a small mistake becomes a big mistake at the higher speeds,” Costales said. The Oregon Speed Zone Review Panel did a review of speed limits on interstate high- ways in 2004, Costales said, after a law allowed the agency to establish speeds up to 70 mph for passenger vehicles and 65 mph for trucks on inter- state highways. They decided the safety of drivers out- weighed any benefit that came with raising the speed limit. This isn’t the first effort to increase speed limits. In 2011, two Republicans tried to amend legislation to raise the speed limit in rural Oregon interstates to 75 mph. For- mer Gov. John Kitzhaber also vetoed a 1999 attempt to raise the speed limit. Of a certain age... By diane Goble Columnist I know I came into this room for a reason. Let’s see. I got an email from my daugh- ter telling me about ... what the heck did she tell me? OK, back to the computer, read the email again. Hmmm .... no, no clue why I felt I had to go into my bedroom to get a ... what? Nope, no idea. Also no idea why I’m standing here with the refrigerator door open staring at cold food. I’m not hungry. It’s not time to fix a meal. Did I suddenly need to check expiration dates? Maybe I should call my daughter. Where’s my phone? After looking everywhere at least three times I have to go over to my neighbor and ask her to call my cell phone. Oh right, there it is, in my bath- robe pocket where I put it last night. Now why was I look- ing for my phone? Who was I going to call? Maybe a warm bath would help. I better check my calendar. Oh no, I’m supposed to be at a meeting right now. Where are my notes? My wallet? My car keys? I always forget at least one thing. I start the car to let it warm up while I run back inside to get... ? What did I come back to get? And where did I see it last? I came across a healthy brain checklist (mccare. com), which starts out ask- ing if I require assistance remembering appointments, family occasions or taking medications. Well, if I didn’t keep a cal- endar I’m sure I would, but even then occasionally I’m so engrossed in writing that I forget to check the clock and suddenly get a call that I forgot to pick up my grand- daughter from the elemen- tary school. I found online- stopwatch.com that I can set (when I remember to do so) to give me a heads-up to get ready to go. Next this brain check- list asks me to check each symptom that is causing me increasing difficulty com- pared to the past. I’m happy to report most of my prob- lems are symptoms of nor- mal aging, not impending dementia. However, if I start to notice I’m forgetting impor- tant details of things I’ve done recently, forgetting to do things I said I’d do, for- getting recent events or con- versations, retelling stories or jokes to the same person, and having trouble complet- ing complex tasks at work or home, such as balancing my checkbook, planning proj- ects, or forgetting a recipe I’ve cooked many times, I might want to mention it to my doctor at my next annual checkup. Depression can sneak up on us, too, as we age. If you can’t stop feeling down or Gordon’s Last Touch Cleaning Specialists For… 541-549-3008 Carpets • Upholstery Windows Accepting VISA & MasterCard! Snow Removal! Member of the vetter vusiness vureau Serving Central Oregon Since 1980 vonded & Insured blue, that all the pleasure and joy has gone from life; feel- ing hopeless about the future, that everything is such an effort; feeling low energy or slowing down a lot compara- tively speaking, tell your doc- tor because it could just be your diet, your medications might need to be adjusted, or your body is just telling you to get out of the house and take a short walk every day — and listen to the birds singing just for you. s s s I wrote this column sev- eral weeks ago — before my friend Kelsey Collins ran out of gas, as she put it. Not that my advice above would have refilled her tank and she never asked for my advice anyway. Her way of covering up her pain was to become the opposite, to transmute that energy into compassion for others, and she became consumed by that passion until there was nothing left to give and it was time to move on. I saw a determination in her the last week of her life but I didn’t understand why. The weekend before, she among four of us met and talked about how we could facilitate family conversa- tions about end-of-life wishes and filling out Advance Healthcare Directives. Kelsey assured us that she had all her paperwork in order and those involved knew her last 11 wishes. All of us in this group have done that as well, and none of us have any fear of or illusions about death and have already formulated our own exit strategies depend- ing on circumstances. “Exit Strategy” is the name of Kelsey’s book about her relationship with an elderly woman she cared for through the end of her life. The Wednesday before, six of us met at our monthly Girls Nite Out dinner at Los Agaves, by far Kelsey’s favorite restaurant. She picked me up because I had had a tooth pulled the day before and was still loopy from painkillers. She came in because she wanted to meet my two new cats, Cheech and Chong, who were finally coming out from under the bed to meet people. We talked about the animals that have gone through our lives. At dinner she was Kelsey- as-usual, loud, vivacious, in- your-face, sometimes annoy- ingly so. She didn’t like the wine. She ordered her favor- ite meal — she ate nothing that had eyelashes! We talked about ... nothing, really. When she dropped me off, we hugged, said I love you and see you soon. There was no indication that she had already made up her mind to carry out her exit strategy— but now I know, she had. Bon voyage, my friend. Get your toes sandal-ready! CALL FOR A GEL PEDICURE. 152 E. 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