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方寸之间见民生——体彩公益金“圈”出资溪人的幸福生活_我的网站

一 |     傍晚时分，抚州资溪县城南口袋体育公园渐渐热闹起来。    Mike McCarter knows his American history almost as well as he knows his Bible. His family has lived and worshipped in Oregon for four generations. "The only time I lived out of the state was during the Vietnam War when I was in the military," he said.But his Oregon may not be the Oregon you're thinking of, the one with the misty rugged coastline, pinot noir wineries, and its loyally Blue politics. McCarter lives in the town of La Pine, in the state's rural and more sparsely populated part – the Red side of Oregon.

     "It's almost like the Grand Canyon goes right along the Cascade Range," he told correspondent Lee Cowan. "It is a big divide."What that means politically, he says, is that the Blue part of Western Oregon always outweighs the Eastern part's Red.  "In talking to a legislator over in the Portland area, I said, 'The legislature doesn't listen to our people, our representatives over here.' He said, 'Whoa whoa whoa, stop, Mike. We hear what they're staying. We just out-vote you.'"                 So, McCarter decided to look for greener pastures - or in this case, at least ones a little more red. Last fall, when "Sunday Morning" first met McCarter, he was spearheading a campaign called Move Oregon's Border. The group had been busy introducing ballot measures all across the state asking voters about the idea of pushing the urban, Blue bits of Oregon into a smaller but still populous state, and then taking the rural Red bits and creating what would be part of a more expansive Idaho.

             

Sandie Gilson owns a real estate business in rural John Day, Oregon, which is closer to Boise than it is Portland in virtually every way. She told Cowan, "When you have a government that won't listen to the opposition, or take into account those of us that live out here, then we have no government representation."Cowan asked Gilson, "Are you optimistic that you think you have a chance?""I look at it like the American Revolution was a big hurdle to make, and they did it," she replied.                      It'd been a year since "Sunday Morning" visited, so Cowan went back, to find out how things stood. Back then, nine counties had voted in favor of considering making Eastern Oregon part of Idaho.  Now, that number is up 12, with another set to vote next May.

             

"We're getting into people's heads about this," McCarter said.As for Idaho, well, it's at least open to discussions. This past spring Idaho's state representatives  approved a measure to begin a dialogue with Oregon over whether and how to redraw their common boundary. But so far, McCarter said Oregon is playing hard to get, at least in public. "We've heard from behind the scenes, 'Wait a minute, if we fund a bridge in Eastern Oregon, why would be we do that if it's going to become Idaho?'" he said. But the opposition has swung into gear, too. A Portland non-profit called Western States Center is branding the move a "radical change" that would raise taxes and cut wages. Comparing it to Oregon's past white nationalists hate groups, one ad declares, "Members of Patriot Group, a white nationalist hate group, support a secession. Makes you wonder: Why are violent extremists pushing for secession?"Their message: If rural conservatives don't like Oregon's urban liberal leanings, well, don't move the border, move themselves instead.                      McCarter said, "We're not running away from the problem, we're not going to run away and move to Idaho. We're going to deal with the problem right here and now."There are a lot of details still to be ironed out, and the devil is in every one of them. Not to mention the fact that actually changing the border would require both Oregon and Idaho to agree, and would then need approval by the U.S. Congress.Richard Kreitner, author of the book "Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union," says it's hardly a new idea: "I don't think that we should act like state lines are written in stone. We should look at them and say, 'Does this actually make sense?'

             

"Secession has always been there. Catholics lived in Maryland, debtors lived in Georgia, you know, Puritans lived in New England. They were kind of separate to begin with. And that's why they wanted nothing to do with one another.""So, it's really woven into our DNA?" asked Cowan. "Absolutely. There's nothing sacred about Oregon. There's nothing sacred about Delaware or my native New Jersey, in my opinion. You know, these are just kind of inherited forms."Mike McCarter will be the first to tell you that moving Oregon's border is radical. But, he says, if we've learned anything about our politics in the last several years, it's that "conventional" seems so yesterday.                      "I mean, as fast as things are changing in this country right now, why can't we?" he said. "Why can't people still have the right to vote for who governs them?"
       For more info:

• GreaterIdaho.org
• "Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union" by Richard Kreitner (Little, Brown and Co.), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• richardkreitner.com
• Western States Center

     
Story produced by Michelle Kessel. Editor: Remington Korper.                                  

In:    
• Idaho
    
• Oregon
    

。健身路径上，老人缓缓舒展筋骨；篮球架下，年轻人运球跳跃、挥洒汗水；儿童攀爬架旁，稚嫩的欢笑声此起彼伏……这幅活力四溢的全民健身图景，正是体彩公益金“来之于民、用之于民”最真切的注脚。从城市闲置边角到乡村健身广场，一笔笔公益金化作看得见的设施、摸得着的便利，温暖着赣东小城的每一寸土地。走进这座由体彩公益金支持建设的口袋体育公园，虽占地不大，却精巧实用：健身路径、羽毛球场、儿童攀爬架、休闲长椅错落有致，绿植点缀其间。

二 | 曾经无人问津的边角地，如今成为周边居民争相“打卡”的健身新地标。“以前想活动筋骨得走老远，现在下楼几分钟就到，老人孩子各得其乐，太方便了！”正在锻炼的李阿姨连连称赞。这座小公园的落成，不仅补上了社区公共体育设施的短板，更让“15分钟健身圈”从规划图纸稳稳落进现实生活。体彩公益金的温情触角，同样延伸至乡村深处。在资溪永胜村健身广场，太极推揉器、太空漫步机、上肢牵引器等崭新器材安装到位，村民在家门口就能享受到与城市无异的健身条件。“以前村里没啥锻炼地方，现在器材多了，大家傍晚都爱出来活动，邻里关系也更热络了。”永胜村张大爷朴实的话语，道出许多人的心声。从社区转角到乡间场院，体彩公益金正织就一张覆盖城乡的全民健身“服务网”。每一张小小彩票，都承载着购彩者的爱心期许；每一处健身场地的落地，都是对美好生活的温暖回应。从城南口袋公园的欢声笑语，到永胜村健身点的热闹场景，江西体彩用实践证明：涓滴之金，可成磅礴之力。

三 | 未来，这份温暖将持续奔涌，为健康江西、幸福资溪书写更多精彩篇章。

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