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Amy Klarup was Eugene Weekly's special sections editor and education reporter.
Not everyone's happy about the rules set out for the April 30 4J Board Candidate Debate planned by South Eugene neighborhood associations and moderated by EW. Debate organizers say they're simply following debate guidelines as per the League of Women Voters debate format. Continue reading
What’s better than a Republican, a Democrat and a Libertarian running against each other for a spot on the Eugene 4J school board? Watching them debate. On April 30, the South Hills and Southeast Eugene neighborhood associations will host their 4J School Board Candidate Debate between incumbent Jim Torrey, Kevin Cronin and David Nickles for Position 5 on the school board. Eugene Weekly staff writer Rick Levin will moderate. Continue reading
Mo Young’s 5-year-old daughter loves princesses. In fact, she “decided she was a princess,” says Young, a longtime community activist and parent. When Young’s daughter came home from a princess event in tears last year, crying because she “wished she were white,” Young says she felt “heartbroken.” “She’s beautiful, and she has beautiful dark skin,” she says. “She doesn’t see that in Eugene a lot, or in Oregon a lot.” Continue reading
Longnose butterflyfish in a coral reef off the Philippine Islands. Photo Dwayne Meadows, NOAA. Continue reading
The eagles at Skinner Butte are parents to at least one fuzzy gray eagle chick this year! Continue reading
Ninkasi Brewing Company is putting Eugene on the extraterrestrial map. Get ready for the release of Ground Control — an imperial stout made with yeast that has traveled in a rocket ship through outer space. The beer premieres with a hand-drawn, sci-fi label from local artist Neal Williams. “The first time I saw a rocket launch into space — I think there’s something there that changes you,” says Jamie Floyd, brewer and cofounder of Ninkasi. “It’s powerful. I had no idea how awesome it was until I watched it.” Continue reading
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is booming: Winter Green Farm in Noti delivers fresh farm produce to about 500 members each week, up from 35 members when it first started 24 years ago. “Local food is rockin’ it,” says Linda Davies, Winter Green Farm’s office and CSA manager. Add a community supported fishery (CSF) to the mix and the Oregon-grown food scene looks even better. Continue reading
On March 31, the Oregon House of Representatives passed the K-12 budget — $7.255 billion. Many in the local education community say this number is inadequate to cover the cost of full-day kindergarten and continue an upward trajectory of funding — last week, Lane County superintendents wrote a letter to state legislators and asked for increased funding. Continue reading
Jim watson of Friends of civic stadium stands beneath the stadium’s wooden beams. Photo by Trask Bedortha. Continue reading
Smarter Balanced — Oregon’s latest, more rigorous standardized test — is officially here. The Smarter Balanced testing window opened March 10 in Eugene School District 4J, and the testing period extends to early June. To discuss the ins and outs of standardized testing in the U.S., the Community Alliance for Public Education (CAPE) invited Anya Kamenetz, NPR education blogger and author of The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed with Standardized Testing — But You Don’t Have to Be, to speak in Eugene April 1 at Tsunami Books. Continue reading