We've got issues.
Attention, dinosaur fans: Paleontologist Jack Horner says it might be possible to make a living dinosaur, and he’s coming to Eugene April 6 to explain how it’s done as part of a University of Oregon seminar series on “de-extinction.” Continue reading
“Millions of unwanted animals are euthanized every year in this country” as the result of pet overpopulation, says Misha English, a board member for Stop Pet Overpopulation Today (SPOT). Since 1997, SPOT has provided spay and neuter financial assistance for low and no income Lane County residents. On April 9, Amazon Park Animal Clinic will present SPOT’s Roaring ’20s Casino Night and Silent Auction at The Shedd. Continue reading
• ODOT will soon be spraying roadsides. Call Jim Gamble at ODOT District 5 at 744-8080 or call (888) 996-8080 for herbicide application information. Hwy. 101 north of Dunes City and Florence was recently sprayed. • Rosboro LLC, 736-2100, plans to spray their roadsides in Lane County with triclopyr, aminopyralid, glyphosate, metsulfuron methyl, Dyne-Amic, Induce, Syl-Tac and/or R-11, See ODF notification 2016-781-03793, call Dan Menk at 935-2283 with questions. Continue reading
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assessed a civil penalty of $6,400 against BJB Milling & Lumber, LLC on March 22 for BJB’s failure to follow through on a commitment to construct a bioswale to address elevated levels of total suspended solids (TSS) in stormwater discharged from its Eugene facility. BJB identified an alternative means of addressing TSS levels toward the end of last year. BJB’s Eugene facility is located at 101 Iowa Street, and BJB is owned by Jolly Investments, LLC (which is operated by Springfield accountant James Youel). Continue reading
The growing cost of building a new City Hall is no surprise; we reported on the seismic and cost changes back in January and the lack of offices for city councilors in February, but the issue goes back even further. When the city manager and his hired architects argued in 2014 that we could tear down the old City Hall and build a high-tech, energy efficient new City Hall for $12.5 million (plus demolition and design costs), we were skeptical. The cost per square foot did not pencil out for such high-quality construction. Continue reading
Xcape Dance Company presents The Freak Show! with a red carpet and pre-show at 7:30 pm and show at 8:30 pm Friday, April 1, at the Hi Fi Music Hall, featuring “Non Stop hip hop, street jazz, tap, music, side shows, tricks, treats, circus acts and show stoppers,” says the group’s artistic director Vanessa Fuller. Tickets xcapedance.com; $10-$13. Continue reading
Ah, Paradise: What an orchard of happiness. Endless green, endless time and endless innocence, unsullied by death and the knowledge of it. What’s not to like? But God, in his infinite wisdom, looked upon Eden’s immaculate expanse and thought unto himself: Needs something. Needs a beholder to appreciate my handiwork and artistry, my Godness. Needs people. And so there were people, and everything went to hell. Continue reading
It’s mid-October and I’m on The Nature Conservancy’s 9,000-acre Staten Island, part of the 46,000 acre Cosumnes River Preserve, in California’s Sacramento River Delta. Owned by the Conservancy, the island is all farmland, farmed for the benefit of migrating birds. I’m looking over fields of harvested wheat, corn and potatoes as hundreds of 5-foot-tall greater sandhill cranes jump and dance in the fields. As I watch, hundreds more arrive with their haunting, gurgling call. Continue reading
Wolf update: Gov. Kate Brown signed HB 4040 into law on March 15. Opponents of the original de-listing (and this bill) believed the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) previously broke the law when it removed state endangered species protections from gray wolves; so they sued. They contend de-listing was premature and not supported by independent scientific review: bad science, bad bill. That case against de-listing is currently before the Oregon Court of Appeals (COA). Continue reading
I’m not one to usually complain. I typically see both sides of the equation. But this nonsense of raising the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour! How come I didn’t get a vote on this? Continue reading