Eugene Weekly

Remember all the talk about Oregon leading the nation in fighting global warming? Well, ODOT must have thought people meant leading the nation in increasing global warming. The state transportation agency, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Portland’s supposedly green city government is gung ho for a 12-lane, $4 billion, that’s right $4,000,000,000, I-5 freeway bridge across the Columbia River to facilitate urban sprawl. But, grassroots opposition is building. Here’s a mocking shopping channel video from a Portland bike activist: Continue reading →

After the cancellation of the West Eugene Parkway sparked a two year search for alternatives, the West Eugene Collaborative (WEC) has recommended the eventual conversion of the West 11th commercial strip into a green, multi-modal, mixed-use, dense boulevard. Continue reading →

Cargo bikes are in. Revolution Cycles in Whiteaker has started to sell this stable Madsen from Utah featuring a big, low-slung cargo tub and a 600-lbs. capacity (click images for links): The non-profit Center for Appropriate Transportation (CAT) is offereing classes to build this sturdy hauling trailer: Continue reading →

Let’s see if we got this right. The UO’s new President will make a half million a year. The UO’s new athletic director will make at least another half million. The UO’s new football coach will make $3 million. That adds up to $4 million a year for the three positions. Due to a supposed lack of money, the UO is hitting in-state students with an extra $150 and out of state students with an extra $300 in fees Spring semester. Continue reading →

After the closure of the county’s armory warming shelter, the homeless have few choices but the county jail now. Eugene Acting Police Chief Pete Kerns told the City Club last month that arrest and the jail is where “many” homeless mentally ill people wind up. “It’s a dry warm place where they can get warm meals and some treatment,” he said. Continue reading →

Remember all the hype last fall in The Register-Guard and local TV news that crime downtown was frightening people away from the Eugene public library? Library visits were up 21 percent last year, the largest increase in five years, according to the library’s recent annual report. Continue reading →

Twenty-one Roosevelt Middle School students biked to school today to save the world and perhaps win a prize, according to Freiker. Continue reading →

The big federal stimulus is trickling down to a big local disappointment. “Eugene has a list of over $200 million in ‘ready to go’ projects that fit the stimulus criteria,” Mayor Kitty Piercy said in her state of the city speech in January. “We expect these projects, if funded, could create 4,404 well-paying jobs by the end of next year–with an emphasis on green industry.” Continue reading →

Eugene will get half as much federal stimulus money per citizen as Springfield under an allocation approved unanimously today by the Metropolitan Policy Committee. Eugene will get $3 million for road preservation projects while Springfield will get $1.7 million. The money will create an estimated 30 jobs in Eugene and 17 in Springfield. Continue reading →

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, the state and the Oregon Toxics Alliance have planed a town hall meeting on the planned gypsy moth spraying over a large swath of south Eugene. Here’s the press release: Mayor Piercy Co-Sponsors Town Hall on Gypsy Moth Spraying Panel Members Will Provide Information and Respond to Questions, Comments from the Public Thursday, March 12, 2009 7:00-9:00 p.m. Eugene City Council Chamber, 777 Pearl Street Continue reading →