Mid-Valley Voice

But there's been lots of talk about relocating it or getting a preserve or something to collect it.

What do you think?

Today, I'm highlighting her videos of local bands that she's been posting to MidValley Voice.

Check out her blog post detailing this year's OSU Battle of the Bands lineup, complete with video from the tryouts.

And take a minute to check out The Entertainer YouTube channel, follow along on Twitter, or get linked up via MySpace or Facebook.

Great job, Nancy!

Don (aka Naturalist97333) discovered a large group of painted lady butterflies while riding home from work this week. He reported on the encounter and snapped photos of them, too.

Any other wildlife starting to shake off the winter and soak up the sunlight? Let's hear about it.

Along with the launch of MidValley Voice came a new policy for commenting on news items published on gazettetimes.com, democratherald.com and lebanon-express.com.

You've probably seen the change (since a lot of you were registered commenters on our simple blogs before the switch). Besides looking and acting differently, the new comment system was a major shift in policy in that we no longer pre-moderate comments.

In non-tech words, that means your comment doesn't sit in a queue waiting for an editor to look it over and decide if it's appropriate. Back when we did that, it took a ton of time, and, according to many of the best-practices emerging from folks who manage online communities, tended to stand in the way of a transparent exchange between readers and the newsroom.

But that doesn't mean that it's a painless process, either.

Last week, I got a call from a reader irate over comments published to a story about the late Fred Decker. How dare we, he said, allow people to post derogatory comments on what was essentially an obituary?

I had to tell him that our new policy was to allow comments until someone drew attention to them and described why they were abusive. He wasn't impressed.

And, frankly, neither was I.

My hope for tying comments to profiles on MidValley Voice was to decrease anonymity and elevate the discussion surrounding community information and events. I still have hope.

Like everyone working on the social Web, we're learning as we go. I can say that we're not likely to go back to the days when every comment was read and vetted before it was published.

But that doesn't mean the discussion is over.

I want to know if the tenor of comments on our Web sites keeps you from posting there.

Do you avoid even reading the comment section because it feels like the Wild West?

Is this a major part of your day and, while you don't agree with everyone (or maybe because of that) your guilty pleasure is shaking your fist at regulars here?

Should we end commenting after a certain period of time, say, a week?

Sound off in the comments and let me know. We're listening.

Join our liveblog of Monday's Corvallis City Club entitled "Pavement or Peonies," an exploration of Economic issues around development and development efforts.,/p>

• When: 11:45 a.m. Monday, April 13
• Where: First Presbyterian Church, 8th and Monroe
• Details: Panelists Patrick D. Emerson, PhD, associate professor, Oregon State University and Robert Dietz, executive director, Center for the Advancement of a Steady State Economy.

From the City Club Web site:

Today’s prevailing view is that steady growth is essential to economic vitality. In a world of increasingly tighter resources, does this imply an inevitable crash? Is there a sustainable alternative that is practical? Do we have to choose between the two?

Come back here Monday and join in the conversation. We'll be taking questions and following along with the discussion.

From the blogs:

Have a twitter account or videos on YouTube you want to share on MidValley Voice? Brittney1984 dug deep into possibilities for customizing profile pages and pulled up a bunch of options to try.

Lainey Dyer, office manager at Henderer Design Build, highlights a "Remodeled Tour of Homes" coming up on May 2, with proceeds to help the Assistance League of Corvallis.

Featured Groups

Join the Entertainer group for updates featuring video and more from editor Nancy Raskauskas.

If you're on twitter, you can follow updates from The Entertainer there, too.

If you've got a home improvement project that you'd like advice on or just want to show off your handiwork, join Home Improvement DIY.

So it's Easter weekend and plenty of people will be thinking about bunnies and chicks. But if you're a fan of keeping poultry all year, cruise over to Backyard Poultry, a new MVV group. Owner k_rivera has posted the start of a list of poultry resources to get started.

Here's a link to more information on paramotors.