Woodchuck Wisdom

On December 8th, a committee of the Oregon State Legislature will hold a public hearing on a new legislative concept* that would make significant changes in the fees and legal procedures enacted when you receive a traffic citation (or any other type of citation). Legislative Concept 364 (LC 364, PDF here ) has been in the works for over a year in the Joint Interim Committee on State Justice System Revenues . LC 364 would make changes to the fine structures used by courts and police officers, it would eliminate the guilty plea option from traffic citations, it would significantly increase maximum fine amounts, and more. Currently, the fine amount written by police officers on a citation is significantly more than the minimum fine. When people show up to protest a citation, that amount is lowered, but remains higher than the minimum. For example, a Class C violation has a $143 minimum fine, police officers write $190 on your ticket and the actual fine that is imposed (on average) is $179

Alas, after all this time and changes in the travel schedule, I am right back to where I started. The goal of changing employment was to reduce travel and spend more time with the rodents and wife. Not really happen here. Traveling is great for some or the single. But, when you have a family, not so much. However, being able to drive home at midnight due to a tween melt down is nice compared to being clear across the country. I find myself looking for change yet again and wonder will it ever really change? Maybe what I need is an old BMW bike from the '50s and a leather jacket.