A Day at the Park

A couple weeks ago my business partner Erin and I went to Oaks Park to practice shooting in overcast days - something we're pretty used to in Portland.  I suggested we go to the bizarre old amusement park on the bank of the Willamette River before the swarms of children arrived and when the rides were still.  Here are some of the peculiar photographs I made:

ACLU Lobby Day

A good friend from high school - and one of the ACLU of Oregon Board Members, Stasia Brownell invited me last year to volunteer on the Outreach Committee and since, I have had the pleasure of being involved in some really interesting events.

Last Thursday a group of volunteers arrived in Salem for Lobby Day and spoke with Representatives and Senators about legislation that the ACLU believes cripples the Oregon Constitution and erodes citizen's basic civil rights.

Representative Mary Nolan speaks to the volunteers about how the legislative process works.  A large ACLU proponent, she has voted with the ACLU 100% of the time on propositions they oppose or support. 

Dave Barrows, a long-time lobbyist has spent many years in the Oregon State Capitol.  He relayed the "Do's and Don'ts" of lobbying to the group of Lobby Day Volunteers.

ACLU of Oregon lobbyist, Andrea Meyer, talks about the legislative issues that are being discussed with Oregon legislators - including HJR 25: an amendment to Oregon's search and seizure provision of the constitution which would allow police to set up road blocks and stop anyone to look for evidence of intoxication.  The ACLU argues that the existing provision requires an "individualized" suspicion that a person has broken a law, and that the proposed amendment allows police to stop and search innocent citizens without any suspicion - which is contrary to the original principle. 

Volunteers attend a floor session in the Gallery of the House of Representatives.