Dear Victoria,
Coming from out of state, it makes ZERO sense to me why ODOT would avoid putting salt on the road on a day like today. They’ll close the freeways, schools, and cancel bus routes (screw those people stuck downtown), make you put chains on, and dump sand and gravel on the road until the ice is polished to a mirror-fine finish, but they won’t do what would actually solve the problem! What is the deal?
Thanks!
Nate

Dear Gentle Listener Nate,
Every year an east coaster asks this question of the hour. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can. Welcome to politically-correct hell. It’s allllllll about the watersheds and salmon.This salt could hurt the rivers. Yes, I know every year our sewage overflow causes havoc with the fish…as well as the humans, but, really, the salmon are supreme here. Some people worship God, Portland worships the almighty salmon. I’ve got a call into the city to double check my answer, but I’ll bet you two LA Weightloss bars that I’m right.
Love,
Your Humble Talk Host Victoria
Follow Up: No calls from the city yet.
Dear Victoria,

John
Dear Gentle Listener John,
I sat bolt upright when another school district announced after 8am that they were closing down. After the high schoolers had already arrived?
I’ve done the calculations on this dumb to dollars ratio and believe I’ve come up with the value of these various decisions by school officials: $2,000,000,000.00.
Thank you for writing,
Your Humble Talk Host Victoria