The deadline to file for the May Primary Elections was Tuesday, and there will be contested County Commission races in both Union and Baker Counties. In Union County, four people have filed to run for two commission seats. On the Republican side, former County Commissioner John Lamoreau will face Bill Rosholt and Gary Tate who are running for the seat currently held by Nellie Hibbert. Those three will square off in the May Primary to see who will take on Democrat Chris Taylor who is also running for the seat along with Independent Jim Mollerstrom who won’t file until after the May Primary race. The other Commission seat, which is currently held by Steve McClure, will also be contested. McClure will run against Democratic challenger Michael O’Connor. Both names will go straight to the General Election in the fall unless a write in candidate receives more votes. In Baker County, two incumbants will face challenges. Commission Chair Fred Warner, Jr., a Democrat, will face Republican Dick Fleming while Republican Carl Stiff is being challenged by Democrat Roger Kinney. The Primary Election is scheduled for May 18th.

Former Baker County Commission Chair Brian Cole, who was indicted last month on four counts of third degree sexual abuse of a seventeen-year-old girl and two counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor, will stay out of jail- at least for now. Prosecutors asked Circuit Court Judge Garry Reynolds to set conditions that Cole would have to abide by in order to avoid jail while he’s awaiting trial. All six of the counts are misdemeaners. Those conditions including having Cole fingerprinted, that he not have any type of contact with the girl involved in the case or her family, that he avoids their home and places of business, and that he avoid alcohol and places that alcohol are sold. The judge refused to set as a condition that Cole stay away from minors and places where minors might be present according to last nights Baker City Herald. So far a date has not been set for trial.

Oregon schools have a high dropout rate- and that’s costing the state a great deal of money- about $400 million per year according to a study released yesterday by the Cascade Policy Institute. Analyst Christina Martin says the study looked at not only the cost of the failed education, but the rest of the drop out’s life as well. She says the state suffers because those students take more from the state than they put in: ***/Drop outs/Christina Martin/…We earn less money in tax revenue because kids who drop out of high school are less likely to get a job, they are less likely to be in the workforce at all, they have longer spells of unemployment on average…/*** Drop outs are also twice as likely to be sentenced to prison and they’re more likely to be on medicaid. Martin says there is a solution, though. The study shows that charter schools are increasing graduation rates and forcing public high schools to improve to stay up with what charter schools offer.

U.S. Senator from Oregon Jeff Merkley introduced a bill yesterday that would create jobs and lower energy bills for families and small businesses in rural communities by promoting energy saving home renovations. The Rural Energy Savings Program would assist rural electric coops in offering ‘on bill’ financing for energy projects. Those loans would be repaid through the savings they would see on their monthly energy bills. Oregon has eighteen electric coops that would qualify for the program. Senator Merkley says it’s not enough to get people back to work- that costs need to be lowered as well. The bill has picked up cosponsors from both sides of the eisle. The program would be administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill is being supported by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. A similar bill has also been introduced in the U.S. House.

The Obama administration yesterday raised concerns about the Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs act of 2009, a bill introduced by Senator Ron Wyden to increase logging levels on forests East of the Cascades. During a meeting on the bill yesterday in Washington D.C., Obama officials said they had six areas of concern within the bill, including doubling the amount of logging in Eastern Oregon, establishing a science review process for forest projects, exempting some projects from the appeals process and setting precident for writing forest bills outside of a national framework. The Hell's Canyon Preservation Council and the Oregon Sierra Club are both opposed to the bill. There's no word yet on what the next step for the bill will be.