As the May 19 election nears, you probably have at least some familiarity with the four front-runners for the Republican nomination for Oregon governor – Christine Drazan, Chris Dudley, Ed Diehl and Danielle Bethel – but the Republican primary ballot will include the name of 10 additional candidates. Those names include Daniel Medina, a Portland man who faced criminal charges for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. (Medina was pardoned by President Donald Trump.) Medina is currently polling at more than 6% – much better than Bethel. The Oregon Capital Chronicle has details of the lesser-known Republicans in the race and also lists the challengers to Gov. Tina Kotek, the presumptive Democratic nominee. 

On average, Oregon’s four-year public universities and colleges are among the most expensive in the West – and a new batch of tuition increases approved for next school year likely will keep them near the top. The Capital Chronicle has the story. 

At a recent meeting of the Corvallis School Board, trustees reflected on the effort to recall every one of them – a move which justifiably never got off the ground, for reasons I’ll get into later. At the meeting, trustees also spoke about receiving threats in the wake of their decision to close two schools as the district faces declining enrollment, uncertain state funding and the loss of federal COVID-19 money. 

I’ve said this before, but let me say it again. These school board members are volunteers. They run for these thankless positions because they want to serve the community. They should not fear for their lives and safety (and the lives and safety of their loved ones) because of difficult decisions they had to make in the course of their duty. If people disagree with those decisions, there is a proper place to express that disagreement: Run for the school board yourself in the next election. Or, at the very least, rouse yourself enough so that you actually vote in the next school board election – it is shameful that not even a third of registered voters bother to return ballots in these off-year elections. (Turnout in last May’s Benton County election was 30.3%) 

And one last time (maybe) on the general topic of recall elections: In Oregon, as Weekend Reader readers will recall, a public official can be subject to recall for essentially any reason, as long as it’s somewhat accurate. So if you disagree with a decision that public officials have made as part of their official duties, you can try to have them recalled. We all know there is a better place where voters can hold their public officials accountable – and that’s at the next election. Oregon needs to set the bar higher for recall elections.

Speaking of schools, a new study details how many hours Oregon students are scheduled to stay in school each year – and finds substantial disparities from district to district. In Corvallis, the study found, the elementary school year lasts 1,078 hours and the high school year lasts 1,139 hours. In Philomath, the elementary year lasts 1,036 hours and the high school year runs for 1,148. A national expert told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the national average is 1,200 hours or so.  

And speaking of the May 19 election: I suspect that most Weekend Reader readers are registered to vote, but remember that Tuesday is the deadline to register for the election or to change your party affiliation. I remain a proud nonafflilated voter, so my primary ballot is typically pretty slender. But I see that there’s an interesting three-way judicial race on the ballot that I need to read up on. (Here’s a link to the state voters’ pamphlet for information on the three candidates running in Benton County’s 21st Judicial District.) The winner in that race will replace Joan Demarest, who’s not seeking reelection. Contested judicial races in Oregon are rare – but a source told me recently he expects that to change now that the job pays more: Oregon judges, once among the lowest-paid in the nation, got a substantial salary boost from the 2025 Legislature. Circuit judges were being paid $147,136; now they make $204,060. And, truthfully, that salary sounds fair, considering the workload – but I’m betting that number might make you more interested in the candidates. Ballots are in the mail beginning Wednesday. 

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that some 47,000 Oregon residents are no longer eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, thanks to new requirements outlined in the administration’s massive tax-and-spending bill.

In the latest religious-cultural battle that I apparently have been able to ignore until now, some conservative influencers have managed to turn the phrase “Christ is king” into a coded message of hate. I’m not a scholar of religion by any means, but I think it’s a safe bet that this was not what Pope Pius XI had in mind when he popularized the phrase in 1925.

The Reader’s religion desk calls another story to your attention this weekend: It’s a fascinating dispatch from The Atlantic about the continuing conversations between Silicon Valley and the Catholic Church. (The story includes this random bit of trivia: AI is apparently less popular now than U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)

It’s not all bad news. Some of it is horrible, such as this Associated Press dispatch about how this year’s tick season appears to be off to a fast start. 

And there actually is some good news: Despite what you’ve read on the internet, the Earth will not lose all its gravity for seven seconds on Aug. 12. 

Don’t forget that Thursday is Poem in Your Pocket Day, the last day of National Poetry Month. You know the drill: Choose a poem, print it out, put it in your pocket and read it aloud, whenever you have an opportunity where doing so won’t get you arrested. If this seems like an invitation to get into trouble, well, that’s part of the point. (If you’d rather, though, it is perfectly acceptable to just go into your backyard, and shout the poem there. The neighbors won’t mind. Too much.)

If you’re still feeling weird about this, here’s an alternative: On April 30, I will replace my normal voicemail greeting with a poem I’ve selected. Call me at 541-905-4282, listen to the poem I’ve chosen, wait for the beep – and read your poem into my voicemail. 

If Thursday is April 30, then Friday is the first day of May. I’ll wrap up this edition of the Weekend Reader by calling your attention to this appropriate James Taylor song, “First of May,” and we’ll gather again next weekend on the second of May. Sadly, I know of no songs that commemorate that particular date.