One on One ~ Paul Blackburn
Winter 2007
by Bruce Bolme
Gorge Newspapers, LLC, is Paul Blackburn. Paul, as Gorge Newspapers, distributes the New York Times to the Columbia Gorge community.
Subscribers receive home delivery and others in the community purchase their copy of the Times from local stores such as Dog River, Thriftway and Rosauers.
Gorge Newspapers is how Paul earns some of his RiverHOURS – accepting some of the payment for the Times with our local currency. Paul spends his RiverHOURS at Mothers Market Place, Dog River Coffee Company, Acre Organic Coffeehouse, and on hot summer days he'll go to the Apple Valley Country Store for milk shakes and pies.
Paul has observed that the people living in the Columbia Gorge like to support locally-owned businesses as a way of supporting our community. He would like to see even more support from people in our community through increased acceptance and use of RiverHOURS.
Paul supports our local currency for what it does for the community. He says that RiverHOURS, as a local currency, provides a self-enforcing and gentle reminder to buy local. Paul intends to broaden his experiences using RiverHOURS by finding new ways to use them in the coming year.
When questioned about what he’s doing with his life that’s the most important to him, Paul replied without hesitation, “raising my kids.” He went on to say that he is fortunate to have some discretionary time in his life and chooses to use some of it for volunteer work in the community.
Blackburn is active with the newly consolidated United Way of the Columbia Gorge, the Hood River Education Foundation and is a member of the Hood River City Council. Paul also offers a great gift to the community by opening his house to live music concerts. When asked if there is anything he doesn’t like to do, he said he doesn’t handle routine and repetitious jobs very well.
Asked to talk about the biggest challenge our community faces, Paul said, “I am distressed with the development taking place in the Gorge because it is all designed for cars.” He went on to explain that, “The Gorge is a very special place with a uniqueness that has nothing to do with cars, and the car-oriented developments just make the Gorge more like every place else.”
A pressing concern Blackburn has is that as a culture we are totally dependent on fossil fuel and our cars. With declining supplies and increasing cost of fossil fuel-based products, we need to be planning for a future with less gasoline. He thinks keeping the price of gasoline at no less than $3 per gallon will help us be aware and make more conscious choices how we spend our money and use our cars.
Paul also shared a concern he has about people who support local currencies as a tool to oppose the Federal Reserve System. He noted that there is a spectrum of reasons for supporting local currencies, and that he much prefers the positive reasons for supporting local currencies related to community prosperity and civility.
When I asked what value the New York Times provides to the community, Paul said, “Reading is an important activity for people and the Times provides its readers in the Gorge with high quality writing.” He added that all of us have some leisure or discretionary time in our lives and encourages others to be mindful how they spend that precious time.
Winter 2007
by Bruce Bolme
Gorge Newspapers, LLC, is Paul Blackburn. Paul, as Gorge Newspapers, distributes the New York Times to the Columbia Gorge community.
Subscribers receive home delivery and others in the community purchase their copy of the Times from local stores such as Dog River, Thriftway and Rosauers.
Gorge Newspapers is how Paul earns some of his RiverHOURS – accepting some of the payment for the Times with our local currency. Paul spends his RiverHOURS at Mothers Market Place, Dog River Coffee Company, Acre Organic Coffeehouse, and on hot summer days he'll go to the Apple Valley Country Store for milk shakes and pies.
Paul has observed that the people living in the Columbia Gorge like to support locally-owned businesses as a way of supporting our community. He would like to see even more support from people in our community through increased acceptance and use of RiverHOURS.
Paul supports our local currency for what it does for the community. He says that RiverHOURS, as a local currency, provides a self-enforcing and gentle reminder to buy local. Paul intends to broaden his experiences using RiverHOURS by finding new ways to use them in the coming year.
When questioned about what he’s doing with his life that’s the most important to him, Paul replied without hesitation, “raising my kids.” He went on to say that he is fortunate to have some discretionary time in his life and chooses to use some of it for volunteer work in the community.
Blackburn is active with the newly consolidated United Way of the Columbia Gorge, the Hood River Education Foundation and is a member of the Hood River City Council. Paul also offers a great gift to the community by opening his house to live music concerts. When asked if there is anything he doesn’t like to do, he said he doesn’t handle routine and repetitious jobs very well.
Asked to talk about the biggest challenge our community faces, Paul said, “I am distressed with the development taking place in the Gorge because it is all designed for cars.” He went on to explain that, “The Gorge is a very special place with a uniqueness that has nothing to do with cars, and the car-oriented developments just make the Gorge more like every place else.”
A pressing concern Blackburn has is that as a culture we are totally dependent on fossil fuel and our cars. With declining supplies and increasing cost of fossil fuel-based products, we need to be planning for a future with less gasoline. He thinks keeping the price of gasoline at no less than $3 per gallon will help us be aware and make more conscious choices how we spend our money and use our cars.
Paul also shared a concern he has about people who support local currencies as a tool to oppose the Federal Reserve System. He noted that there is a spectrum of reasons for supporting local currencies, and that he much prefers the positive reasons for supporting local currencies related to community prosperity and civility.
When I asked what value the New York Times provides to the community, Paul said, “Reading is an important activity for people and the Times provides its readers in the Gorge with high quality writing.” He added that all of us have some leisure or discretionary time in our lives and encourages others to be mindful how they spend that precious time.