Bush is coming to town — and the town is on fire

President Bush is making a trip to Oregon and is also making an Air Force 1 pit stop in Redmond. He planned on making a stop in the Camp Sherman area (just outside of Sisters) to discuss environmental and forestation issues, but a fire up in that area which may move Bush somewhere else. The Santiam Pass is closed because of the fire, and probably won’t reopen for a few days.

The area is certainly getting ready for his arrival. Protests are being planned (though some folks are already protesting). Many of the Oregon Bloggers in the Portland area (like Emma, Jack, Rick, and Rob), will undoubtedly be blogging something about the mess that’s likely to come about in the next couple days. We’ll just have to wait and see.

On a side (but related) note, my mom got a call from the Secret Service the other day. My mom is the trauma coordinator at St. Charles Medical Center (SCMC). SCMC is the largest hospital in Eastern Oregon, and the main trauma center for this half of the state. Basically, my mom’s there to make sure that things are done right when big accidents or disasters come. She writes the hospital’s disaster plans, runs drills, etc… .

So she gets this call from these folks. My mom had only planned on working a couple days this week as she worked on a PILE of stuff last week so she could take it easy. Then the white house staff wanted to meet with her, and then the secret service asked her to make sure she was working on Thursday while Bush was here, just in case something were to happen. I do understand the government’s concern. It scared the heck out of mom to pick up the phone and hear the secret service on the other end. Granted, my mom never makes threats on the President’s life, nor does she counterfeit money (the secret service’s jurisdiction), but I would imagine talking to them would still be intimidating. I remember one time coming home to a message from the Justice Department. It was for a job reference for an old friend of mine, but it still scared the hell out of me.

Update on 8/21: Because of the fires, Bush will be speaking around 3:45ish at the county fairgrounds. I’ve heard rumors where he might be staying in Central Oregon tonight (actually, I’m 90% sure), but since I don’t want to piss off the secret service, you ain’t getting that information out of me.