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Amy Klarup was Eugene Weekly's special sections editor and education reporter.
Although last year the city of Eugene banned neonicotinoids, a category of pesticide harmful to bees, Eugene is far from pesticide free. Local beekeeper Jen Hornaday says she’d like to see a change in city policy after the city of Eugene sprayed an herbicide on May 28 in the park adjacent to nine of her honeybee hives without alerting her first. Continue reading
Eugene is in the middle of an epic culinary competition. On June 16, Iron Chef Eugene enters its second heat, with Tiffany Norton and Mark Kosmicki of Party Downtown facing off against Ryk Francisco and Duncan Bennington of WildCraft Ciderworks. The event helps raise funds for Lane Community College’s culinary and hospitality management program. Continue reading
Black students made up only 2.4 percent of the student body population at South Eugene High School at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. Five young African-American women will graduate from South on June 5, and EW caught up with three of them to discuss their plans for the future, their quests for diversity and their advice for young women of color growing up in Eugene. Continue reading
For 25 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of astronomic wonders — nebulae, galaxies, star clusters — that exist millions of light years away from Earth. These pictures are spectacular, but for members of the Eugene Astronomical Society, there’s nothing quite like looking at the night sky with their own eyes. Continue reading
Only a few months ago, Kore Kombucha owner Curtis Shimmen planned to open a kombucha taphouse in the Whiteaker neighborhood, serving a variety of fermented drinks and foods, including kefir and kimchi. Now, everything has changed. “I put my blood, sweat and tears into that place, and all my money,” Shimmen says. “I’m looking for another spot, but it’s going to be difficult.” Continue reading
Just off River Road, a 10-acre Eugene park boasting ponderosa pines, camas lilies and other native species is also full of another native plant — poison oak. Longtime park volunteer Becky Riley is leading the charge to remove poison oak from Rasor Park to prevent the city from needing to use herbicides to eradicate the plant. Continue reading
In ancient times, a traditional Roman town often had two major streets: the cardo and the decumanus. Where those two streets intersected, Romans built a forum or public space that marked the intersection as significant. In Eugene, says UO professor of architecture James Tice, Willamette Street is the cardo, and Broadway is the decumanus. “Whether people know it or not, the placement of Kesey Square is highly appropriate, and it’s an echo of that impulse to mark those two important streets,” Tice says. Continue reading
A logo with two salmon on your wine bottle doesn’t mean the wine pairs well with salmon — it means the wine came from a vineyard certified salmon-safe. Vineyards in the Willamette Valley can have an impact on the water quality of nearby streams, but salmon-safe vineyards go through an extensive certification process that ensures winemakers preserve riparian areas, protect water quality and prevent erosion. Continue reading
In Eugene, we have debates about debates. Eugene School District 4J school board candidate Colin Farnsworth says the April 30 4J School Board Candidate Debate, organized by south Eugene neighborhood associations and moderated by EW, is censoring his voice in the school board election. Event organizers say they’re simply following the debate guidelines of the League of Women Voters. Continue reading
We're in the midst of a giant opt-out movement across Eugene School District 4J's four high schools. Continue reading