Commission Cogen Agrees With Me About The TriMet Line 33

A little while ago I opined about how TriMet's proposal to discontinue the 33-Fremont line is a pretty penny-wise, pound-foolish thing to do (I called it stupid, to be exact), and that corner of Portland, where adequate bus service is pretty much a joke anyway as you get out toward NE 82nd Avenue, is about to become very very underserved.

It would seem that me and County Commissioner Jeff Cogen are on the same page:

We've heard concerns from several of our neighbors about the termination of the #33 bus line and I've sent a letter to Fred Hansen and the TriMet Board of Directors urging them to reexamine the proposed closure of the line. We disagree with the notion that other Northeast Portland TriMet routes adequately serve public needs in these
neighborhoods.

Thousands of riders use the #33 bus line for trips that don’t begin, end or pass through downtown Portland. Many of these trips are on the east-west portion of the route on NE Freemont St. NE Broadway and NE Killingsworth are the next nearest east-west routes, both of which are about a one mile walk from NE Freemont. Of further concern to me are
the hundreds of students attending one of the eight schools on or near the #33 route.

The idea that that route is somehow optional to effective mobility in NE Portland is strange to me. And I don't plan transit. All I did was look at the map.

So, good on Commissioner Cogen. Damn shame I can't vote for you (I'm not in your district) but then they don't plan on ending any routes in SE Portland, we we're the lucky ones I suppose. But the voters made a good choice with you.

Just one thing, Commish: it's Fremont, not Freemont. Just one E.

Ever Wonder Where The Payday Lenders Went?

They're still in that reddest of red states, the state that has the highest consumption of pr0n per capita, Utah.

And they're having an eerily-similar discussion to the one we had before our lege got sane and stepped in:

Representative Laura Black (D) - Sandy, introduced legislation to cap the interest on a payday loan at 100%. That attempt died in committee on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 on a party line vote.

The average payday lender in Utah currently charges more than 500% annually! Who takes out payday loans? Those struggling to make ends meet, that’s who. The rich, or even members of the middle class, don’t take out payday loans. Those living paycheck to paycheck and coming up against a medical or other emergency take out payday loans.

Of course, since Utah is still largely Republican, they're going to have a tougher go.

I wonder if they've thrown out the "freedom of choice in financial services" red herring yet?