News Briefs

Oregon’s state forests are the focal points of protests and lawsuits this summer. The culminating action of the Earth First! Cascadia Bioregional Rendezvous on June 25 was a lockdown at the state Capitol protesting the increased logging and clearcuts on Oregon’s state lands.

Top City Frozen Yogurt Café is finally opening for business at 5 pm Friday, June 22, after numerous delays. The shop, which originally planned to open in March, is located at 1665 W. 18th Ave., sharing a parking lot with Albertsons. The building was previously Bene Pizza and before that a branch of Oregon Community Credit Union. Top City is owned by Joel and Tina Rimmer of Eugene and Tina will be managing the café. The Rimmer family business is Oldfield’s Appliance and Home Theater.

The 38th annual Black Sheep Gathering is happening June 22-24 at the Lane Events Center, a “sheep to shawl” event that has grown to be recognized as one of the best of its kind in America. The BSG will have animal, wool, mohair and fiber arts competitions as well as a trade show and classes taught by renowned instructors. All events, except the classes being taught at O’Hara grade school, are free to the public.

• ODOT is spraying highways in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information call 1-888-996-8080.

• Seneca Jones Timber Company, 689-1011, plans to ground spray approximately 3 miles of roads near Fish Creek with Milestone VM, Glyphosate and Triclopyr with additives Methylated Seed Oil and Syl-Tac. See ODF notice 2012-781-00386. 

Lane County has been criticized for its lack of transparency, and a June meeting of the county’s Policies and Procedures Committee included a discussion of making it even more costly for the public and media to gain access to public records.

• Sunday, June 17, marks Occupy Eugene’s 50th interfaith meditation/prayer circle and the group is hoping to have 50 people show up at 1 pm for communion ceremony, followed by Sufi dancing, qi gong, meditation/prayer and a Native pipe ceremony. The event will happen at the old Federal Building at 7th and Pearl.

A free dental clinic for extractions only is coming up Saturday, June 23, for people who are uninsured, low income, have a tooth that needs to be removed, and have not had recent dental care. Patients need to have a phone number where they can be reached to confirm appointments.

The event is being organized by the Occupy Eugene Medical Clinic in cooperation with St. Vincent de Paul. Dentists can work on only one quadrant at a time so only one upper or lower jaw, left or right side, can be treated at this clinic. A limit of 20 people can be treated.

Noted scientist, public speaker and professor Dr. Richard Jackson will be visiting cities throughout Oregon this summer to address the relationship between human health and the environmental conditions we’ve created in our cities and suburbs. Jackson’s first stop in the 2012 Healthy Communities Speaker Series is Eugene’s downtown Public Library Tuesday, June 19. A reception with the speaker begins at 5 pm, followed by a lecture and discussion from 5:45 to 7 pm.

The Winnemem Wintu tribe of Northern California has tried for years to perform their traditional coming of age ceremony in peace on the McCloud River, but they are often met with drunken boaters who shout and disregard the location’s sanctity. This year Eugene’s Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) is trying to help.

You may find yourself riding down the streets of Eugene for a cause this weekend. And you may be completely in the nude. Eugene’s annual World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR), a mass protest of cyclists against oil dependency, initiated in 2006, is upon us again. 

The International Day of Solidarity with Eco-Prisoners is June 11, and in Eugene the event will be marked with a circus of sorts at the Wayne Morse U.S. Courthouse. Last year the day was celebrated in 30 cities around the world, according to Eugene’s Civil Liberties Defense Center. Organizers say there will be jugglers, fire-breathers, stilts, music, clowns and other performers.

• ODOT has sprayed the following highways in the Eugene-Springfield area in the last two weeks: Belt Line, 99, I-5, 126, I-105. Other highways may be sprayed. For more information call (888) 996-8080.

• Rosboro LLC, (541) 746-8411, plans to spray Garlon 4 and glyphosate on 500 acres of roadsides near the McKenzie River and the following tributaries: Doris Creek, Ennis Creek, Quartz Creek and Sugar Creek. See ODF notice 2012-771-00433.