Category: Events

Douglas County AFS Announcement

Douglas County AFS asks for your support!

We have great community leaders among our membership, and one is the Douglas County AFS Coordinator, Tina Arredondo, who announced at our Annual Meeting last night that host families are still needed for AFS international exchange students for the 2017-18 school year.

In particular, AFS would like to place one or more of the YES Program students;

YES is a State Dept-sponsored scholarship for students from countries with significant Muslim populations.

We have a YES-program girl from Pakistan to place, as well as YES students from Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Gaza, Bangladesh, Libya, Lebanon, Senegal, and the West Bank. Other AFS students are coming from Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, Norway, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and more.

AFSstudent-from-Israel-Pakistan-Indonesia
Students from Indonesia, two from Pakistan & Israel (left to right)

Please contact Tina Arredondo at DouglasCountyAFS@gmail.com for more information.

The mission of AFS is to work toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership.

Vote!

Did you receive your Special Election Official Ballot in the mail? If not, contact your County Clerk.

You should have received your ballot by now. Be sure to turn it in by postal mail, a drop box or walk it in to the County Clerk’s elections’ office by or on May 16, 2017.

Douglas County Clerkimages-2
Elections Department
1036 SE Douglas Ave., Room CH124
P.O. Box 10
Roseburg, OR 97470
(541) 440-4252

Links:

Thank you for voting!

Electoral College Explained

Newsflash! Candidate wins office without receiving a majority of the votes!

How can this happen in a democracy, where equality, including the concept of “one person, one vote” is fundamental to our creed?

The League of Women Voters of Umpqua Valley will hold an event on …

Tuesday, April 18 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd. in Roseburg.images

The program will feature Umpqua Community College history professor Charles Young speaking about the Electoral College.

  • What is the history of the Electoral College?
  • What are its pros and cons?
  • What is the National Popular Vote Compact?

Come and learn about this important subject. There will be time for questions and answers.

The meeting is free and open to the public. For information call: [541]-[672]-[1914].

Photo Page Update

Shannon4Be sure to check out our Photo Page that has just been updated with photos from the Yoncalla Petticoat Council 1920 event held on Mar. 22.

LWV Umpqua Valley thanks Shannon Applegate, a wonderful friend of the League’s, historian, author, and lecturer, for sharing her knowledge, research and insights about members of her family and others back in the day during 1920. We hope you all got to be there!

Check out our Photos Page.

And check out the News-Review article about the event! Thank you, News-Review!

We Can’t Do Worse Than the Men!

Yoncalla City Council 1920
Yoncalla City Council 1920

“We Can’t Do Worse Than the Men! Yoncalla Women Take Over Municipal Government 1920”

Join the League of an evening of historical entertainment when Shannon Applegate recounts the time when the women of Yoncalla took over the local government because the men were not doing their jobs.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Douglas County Library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg, OR
7PM to 8:30PM

A quote from The Atlantic regarding this long-ago event.

“On November 2, 1920, the citizens of Yoncalla, Oregon, got a big surprise as the ballots were tallied in their local election. All the incumbent men on the city council had been voted out. Yoncalla, a small town of 323 residents about 40 miles south of Eugene, had voted in an entirely female city council.”

This presentation is open and free to the public. All are welcome.

For more information, contact us at [541] [672] [1914].

Download and print or email the flyer to distribute. Thank you!

Joint statement from Oregon on plans to repeal Affordable Care Act

Press release dated 3/8/17:

SALEM – Oregon Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick (D-Portland) and House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland) released the following statement today regarding plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act:

“The plans by Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act are inhumane, unjust and will harm families in Oregon and across the country. Our most vulnerable community members – the sick, elderly, children and low-income families – will be robbed of the life-saving care they need.

Under this plan, average Oregon families will shoulder a much higher burden, or go without coverage. Taxpayers will carry far more of the costs of caring for those who need it. People who need health insurance the most, and finally have it under the ACA, will be put at risk again. This will have devastating impacts throughout Oregon, particularly in rural areas, where there is a higher percentage of Medicaid patients. This will make our state less healthy and less prosperous. Trump’s plan is a losing proposition for Oregon families.”
 

Postsecondary Education Update

postsecondary-study-imageHere are links to documents for next Thursday, Feb. 23’s consensus meeting regarding the state League study entitled “Postsecondary Education Study 2016”.

Read the full study here.

Here’s the Executive Summary.

Here’s the Consensus Questions. Please bring a copy with you to the meeting.

If you would like to attend this meeting, call [541] [672] [1914] for directions.

Postsecondary Education Study Consensus Meeting Thursday, 2/23/17 at 7pm to 8:30pm.

Elections Methods Study Update Consensus Meeting

Hello LWVUV Members,

Are you planning to attend our Election Methods Study Update Consensus Meeting this Thursday, Feb. 9 from 7:00-9:00? If so, please RSVP to Jenny. It will help to know how many are coming.

Please carpool if possible. Ask Jenny for directions when you call.election-methods-study-2016-1

The following references refer to this document: Elections Methods Study 2016 (PDF)

Recommendations in reaching consensus:

  • Read appendixes 4 and 5 first.
  • Look at appendix 2, pages 46-7 on evaluation criteria.
  • Look at the charts on pages 4, 5, and 21 for a quick overview of different electoral systems.
  • Then browse through the text and read whatever captures your interest on the mechanics of specific types of voting for both single winner elections and multiple winner contests. The section on proportional representation is especially recommended as perhaps the most unfamiliar to us.
  • Finally, look at chapter five (pages 42 and 43) for administrative issues around changing the current system.

If you have time to watch these three videos, that may be more helpful than reading some of the more technical passages.

At lwvor.org you’ll find a handy link right in the middle of the page. Click on ELECTION METHODS STUDY UPDATE and you’ll be taken to a page where you can click and view some short videos, and find a wealth of other info as well.

Please bring the Consensus Questions with you. Otherwise, we will have a few copies available at the meeting.