For The Art of Stewardship
As the host of KLCC’s arts review program, Viz City, I spend a great deal of time thinking about how to translate the visual experience into words. I want to offer a professional “bravo” to Ellie Johnson for her recent feature, “The Art of Stewardship” (Feb. 26).
Covering a retrospective as massive as James Lavadour’s Land of Origin is a daunting task for any journalist. While I recently explored this same exhibition through the lens of radio, I found Johnson’s written profile of the relationship between Lavadour and curator Danielle Knapp to be an essential companion piece.
This kind of thoughtful, behind-the-scenes reporting is vital to our community. It reveals that art isn’t just something that hangs on a wall; rather, it illuminates the entire ecosystem of artists and curators working to shape that art into a living stewardship of our Northwest history.
Thank you, Eugene Weekly, for committing the space to this kind of high-caliber arts journalism.
Sandy Brown Jensen
Eugene
Thoughts On Amazon Facility
A primary Amazon project is same-day delivery. This will step up the pressure that Amazon delivery has been putting on FedEx, UPS and the United States Postal Service. The new facility being built near the airport is clearly part of that plan. The goal is to build warehouses near enough to every reasonable sized city to make such efficient delivery easy and to do so as cheaply as possible.
Amazon will probably pay no taxes to Oregon. It will create nothing and collect no money here; it is likely to have negotiated a 10-year property tax abatement, shovel ready preparation of the land, connecting roads, sewer, water, electricity, etc. and will pay half what residential customers do for electricity.
In other words, we taxpayers will fund much of their building costs and will be helping to put the post office out of business. The jobs involved will be mostly entry-level, will probably involve unhealthy night-shift work, and the company is anti-union. Amazon has no real interest in Eugene, and will probably encourage its managers, as most larger corporations do, to live elsewhere so that they feel no need to contribute. The new warehouse is more likely to be a drag on than a boost to the economy.
Alan Cohen
Eugene
Vote YES!
I am writing in support of Measure 20-373, Protect Lane County Watersheds. This measure will be on our ballots on May 19. I’m well aware that corporate America, especially the timber industry, is going to spend big bucks on billboards and mailings to try and convince people to vote against the measure. If we manage to pass it, then it will almost certainly be challenged in court.
The fact that in our country, corporate rights have more weight than people’s rights really bothers me. Corporations have the right to make money and we are not allowed to infringe on that.
This measure to Protect Lane County Watersheds could wind its way all the way to the Supreme Court and then be cast aside because “We the People” don’t have the right to keep toxins out of our water or out of our environment — that’s the bottom line and that’s wrong!
One of the major scare tactics will be to try and convince you that passage of this Rights of Nature amendment will cost millions of dollars and that people will be taken to court just for fertilizing their lawn or washing their car. How ridiculous! Don’t believe the lies.
This measure isn’t going after individuals. It’s going after those who are making billions at the expense of healthy ecosystems.
Making taxpayers foot the bill for cleaning up corporate messes — that’s what’s going to cost us, our children and our grandchildren big bucks.
Bernadette Bourassa
Eugene
Most of Eugene Council Gets It Right
The Eugene City Council has taken a stand in favor of human decency by rejecting the proposal to limit transfers from vehicles to pedestrians. They deserve thanks for doing the right thing.
However, two councilors, Matt Keating (Ward 2) and Randy Groves (Ward 8) voted to make our homeless suffer more than they already do. It is incomprehensible that Keating would say, “penalizing the most vulnerable among us is not acceptable,” and then vote to do exactly that.
As citizens, we should support our elected officials when they represent the “better angels of nature.” And we should remember when they do not.
“Faith and fear cannot share the same space.” — Letitia James
Li Tubman
Eugene
Hospital Ship
Wow: Trump wants to send a hospital ship to Greenland. What a generous guy. Greenland has a total population of 56,000 and only six hospitals to service all those people. Good thing those Greenlanders are a healthy people.
Now here in the Eugene-Springfield environs, we have somewhere around 250,000 population, two hospitals and one emergency room whose personnel are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore. Do we have any MAGA couriers we could dispatch to our president and hint to him that we could use one of those hospital ships? We could build a nice statue of him up on Skinner Butte wearing a white coat with a lovely gold filigree stethoscope hanging around his perfect turkey waddle neck.
Rene Tihista
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Wyden and Democrats
Senate Democrats, on Monday, Feb. 23, unveiled legislation that would require the Trump administration to refund up to $175 billion in tariff revenue collected before the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the duties exceeded presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The measure, led by Wyden and co-sponsored by Ed Markey, Jeanne Shaheen and other Senate Democrats, would direct Customs and Border Protection to issue full refunds, with interest, within 180 days, prioritizing small businesses.
“Trump’s illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs,” Wyden said. He added, “A crucial first step is helping people who need it most, by putting money back in the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.” Markey stated, “Trump’s illegal tariff taxes cost small businesses, consumers and families up to $175 billion. That money must be repaid immediately.”
Joe O. Ping
Eugene
Blame Yourself
A reminder, “the government is of the people, by the people for the people.” Lincoln, has this been forgotten?
Did not the majority vote for Trump? Doesn’t the majority rule?
So, protesting, if you are one of the majority, is protesting against what you voted for, is it not?
Oh, you did not vote for ICE, the immigration crackdown, but you did. It is the fact that you, as a voter, did not bother to educate yourself on who’s running, or, as Will Rogers said, “American voters have a short memory.”
The voter today is uneducated; they allow others to tell them how to vote. They feel the news is fake, but yet they don’t keep up on the news.
We have a mail-in postage-paid ballot and people don’t even bother to mail it in, but then again, if they don’t bother to be informed, best they not mail in the ballot.
MAGA to me is a cult, blindly following, reminds me that the Republican Party’s nickname is ‘born in the wool,’ which means vote the party line.
When I talk about the American voter, I also mean the Democrats, all parties; they do not bother to be informed.
The midterms are coming; why not, for once, become informed and think for yourself? You don’t need to vote party line; pick the person who you feel will be best for this country.
Ignorance is bliss and look what is happening to the country.
Don’t blame anyone but yourself for what is happening.
Steven E. Hunnicutt
Eugene
Consequences?
I hope that all these “blue states” bucking the CDC vaccine recommendations are prepared to deal with all the possible consequences that they may engender! Just because you are bucking the system, it would be smart to pay strong attention to the ramifications of what you are doing. Does Oregon have huge reserves to take care of thousands of people possibly damaged by continuing to use vaccines with proven (at this point) records of health problems? How about lawsuits against the state for urging vaccines?
The truths have been coming out from multiple sources for the past two plus years, documenting the hundreds of thousands of Americans damaged and killed by these so-called vaccines — all of them! Young people are inoculated with at least 72 different vaccines right off the bat. No wonder so many have learning/mental and other serious health issues! If you don’t believe me, try paying attention to the many medical experts bringing the information forward. It is all out there, you just need to look for it! There are dozens of new books coming out regularly. Sometimes we all need to take some responsibility for our own health and lives and not wait to be spoon-fed by “the experts.” If not, you and the state of Oregon may pay the ultimate price in the future. Please, everyone, pay attention.
Robin Bloomgarden
Eugene
Editor’s note: According to the World Health Organization, “Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives. During the same period, vaccination has contributed to 40% of the drop in infant deaths.”