Citizen engagement in Gallatin County: a county government in Montana uses communication techniques to democratize the decision-making process without impeding it.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The population of Gallatin County, Montana, has grown about 3 percent annually for a number of years, leading Montana through most of the last decade. Growth brings challenges to local government, but in this case, the accompanying cultural change and conflicting viewpoints pose dilemmas unheard...

Counties get timber payments in bailout.
Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard The federal government on Friday ended two years of grueling fiscal uncertainty for Lane County and other county governments across the rural West, renewing $3.3 billion in timber payments that were wrapped into the historic Wall Street bailout legislation approved by the...

Soldier for Stroger: the candidate of change helped keep Chicago politics dirty.
WHAT is it like to work for the government of Cook County, Ill.? Simple. If you have the right political connections, you get the job. You get the raise. You get the promotion. You don't need to be qualified. You might not even need an interview. The job might...

Roadway wrap-up.
Byline: Andrea Damewood The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - In some ways, the Bob Straub Parkway is a swan song for major new road construction by Lane County government. The final phase of the county-funded $8.5 million arterial in east Springfield opened Thursday, aimed at diverting traffic...

New county counsel brings years of public legal service to position.
Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard The Lane County Board of Commissioners has named senior county litigator Liane Richardson as the new county counsel, replacing longtime counsel Teresa Wilson. Richardson, who graduated from the University of Oregon law school in 1995, joined the county last year...

County timber payments proposal added to $700 billion bailout bill.
Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard If a county timber payments proposal reaches the House floor on Friday, Rep. Peter DeFazio says he'll be voting no - but only because it's attached to a $700 billion bailout bill that he insists remains "fundamentally flawed." The Senate...

County cuts back on flu vaccine clinics.
Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard Residents of Oakridge, Cottage Grove and other outlying communities who want a flu shot will either have to travel to Eugene or find another source for their vaccine. That's because for the first time in decades, Lane County Public Health...

Green, Handy spar over jobs and leadership.
Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green and challenger Rob Handy debated leadership and job growth Tuesday, facing off for the first time in a fall race for the county board that is increasingly confrontational. Handy said the 13-year commissioner hasn't been...

Timber payments dropped.
Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard The last ember of hope for county timber payments this year appears to have been snuffed out. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday removed the payments from a tax package it is reviewing, all but ensuring that aid critical...

Despite obstacles, more Sacramento exurban growth is in pipeline.
Despite high gasoline prices, concern over greenhouse gas emissions, a dismal housing market and a renowned "smart growth" regional planning blueprint, a whole new phase of exurbs is being planned north of Sacramento. From the far-reaches of Yolo, Suiter and Yuba counties to rice-growing Colusa County, landowners,...