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Biden administration moves to protect Alaska wilderness; opening statements and first witness in NY trial; SCOTUS hears Starbucks case, with implications for unions on the line; rural North Carolina town gets pathway to home ownership.

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The Supreme Court weighs cities ability to manage a growing homelessness crisis, anti-Israeli protests spread to college campuses nationwide, and more states consider legislation to ban firearms at voting sites and ballot drop boxes.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Giving Thanks – or Not – for Governor’s New Budget

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008   

Salem, OR – When Governor Ted Kulongoski's new budget is released on Monday for mid-2009 to mid-2011, it is expected to include cuts of up to 10 percent in state services and departments.

Oregon's charitable organizations point out that with unemployment at a record high in the state, such major cutbacks are hardly in the "Thanksgiving spirit" of coming together to share the harvest in tough times. They're seeing more volunteers and new donors, but also far more need, statewide. They warn their efforts won't be enough to keep families on the financial brink from spiraling into poverty.

Patti Whitney-Wise, executive director of the Oregon Hunger Task Force, says this is no time for state government to be stingy.

"What we're seeing right now is people really trying to step up where they can. What we need to have happen, is for the legislature and the governor to join us in that effort."

Whitney-Wise says a 10 percent cut across the board would impact the poor disproportionately, at a time when there are solid economic reasons to keep state-run aid in place, and even increase it.

"If you invest in programs for people at the low end, that money goes right back into the local community. It's not saved in a savings account; it's not spent on some trip out of state. It goes right back into the economy and it's one of the best ways to turn an economy around."

Oregon's general fund budget is forecast to grow over the next two years, but not nearly as much as had been expected. Kulongoski has already ordered five percent cuts for the remainder of the current state budget, through the first half of 2009.



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