Today’s Newsmakers at Noon bounced from Salem City Hall and Oregon politics to family stories, tattoos and, somehow, Sydney Sweeney.
At 12:30, Salem Mayor Julie Hoy joined us with an update on what’s happening around the city and what she’s focused on for the remainder of her term. A major issue right now is data centers. Salem held the first of three town halls this week to gather public input on water and electricity use, noise, jobs and other impacts. The city’s Data Center Task Force is expected to bring recommendations to the City Council by the end of the year. City of Salem
Oregon’s governor’s race gave us plenty to discuss as well. A new DHM Research poll of 600 likely voters, conducted Sept. 3–9 for the business-backed nonprofit Grow Oregon, initially found Christine Drazan at 43%, Tina Kotek at 41% and Brett Smith at 3%, with 13% undecided. When undecided voters were asked which way they leaned, the totals became Drazan 45%, Kotek 43% and Smith 4%, with 8% remaining undecided. The two-point Drazan-Kotek difference is within the poll’s ±4-point margin of error, so it does not establish a statistically significant lead. The same poll measured Kotek’s job approval at 37% and disapproval at 59%. opb
Then there was Sydney Sweeney. An article about her latest advertising campaign launched us into a conversation about sex appeal, advertising and female athletes, and Denise had a fairly simple distinction: Sydney Sweeney appearing scantily clad in a betting ad doesn’t tell us much about how people view women competing in sports.
We also noted National Guacamole Day, National Play-Doh Day, National Sit With a Stranger Day and National Tattoo Story Day. Neither Denise nor Hunter has any ink, although Denise came surprisingly close to changing that on a trip to Hawaii before cooler heads prevailed.
And National Stepfamily Day turned things a little more personal. Denise talked about growing up in a blended family and the great relationships she has had with her stepfather and step-siblings, a reminder that “step” doesn’t have to mean second-best when it comes to family.
Links from Today’s Show
The Unparalleled Genius of Sydney Sweeney — PJ Media
Oregon Governor Poll — Daily Wire
Facebook Post on the Oregon Governor Poll
Salem Data Center Town Hall — KPTV
