Author: Camilla Mortensen

Urban Renewal and High-Speed Fiber

Downtown project may draw new businesses

NewsTechnology

Long associated with attempts to alleviate urban blight, urban renewal in Eugene has turned its sights upon technology, and the city is implementing a high-speed fiber network downtown. Urban renewal has been seen as a tool for good and as a tool for destruction. Here in Eugene urban renewal money helped construct the Lane Community College (LCC) Downtown Campus that has been seen as a lynchpin in downtown revitalization. Continue reading →

Reporter fired after Register-Guard lawsuit

News

Although a written decision in the civil suit filed by former Register-Guard entertainment writer and reporter Serena Markstrom Nugent has yet to be filed almost three weeks after the case was dismissed, issues from the case continue to arise.  In the wake of the trial, Markstrom Nugent’s fellow arts and features writer and the paper’s Eugene Newspaper Guild union co-president Randi Bjornstad has also been fired.  Continue reading →

Outdoor School Looks for Lottery Funds

News

While Measure 97, the tax on big corporations to help bolster Oregon’s struggling schools, seniors and health care has gotten the most press, Paige Richardson of the Outdoor School for All campaign wants to draw people’s attention to another education bill on the November ballot: Measure 99, which would create a separate fund, financed through Oregon Lottery Economic Development Fund and administered by Oregon State University (OSU), to provide Outdoor School programs statewide.   Continue reading →

LCC employees ponder strike, stage rally Tuesday Sept. 20

News

Lane Community College Employees Federation (LCCEF, the classified staff union) is having a rally 5:15 pm, Tuesday, Sept. 20 outside the second floor of of Building 3 on the LCC main campus.  The LCCEF represents essentially all non-managerial and non-faculty staff at the college: Custodians, administrative support staff, public safety officers, IT staff and more. According to the LCCEF, "The Board of Education will be inside Building 3, in Executive Session, preceding their September Board Meeting, which starts at 6:30." Continue reading →

Soy yo: It’s me

News

Apparently Bomba Estéro's "Soy You" was a hit in 2015, but some of us didn't notice it until Torben Kjelstrup's music video hit computer screens last week. The catchy electro-cumbia song is a ode to empowerment, an idea that shines through to non-Spanish speakers in the video. Continue reading →

Racists and Eugene Police on Twitter

News

Back in July, local white supremacist Jimmy Marr Tweeted a photo of himself playing the bagpies in the back of a truck he adorns with anti-Semitic, racist and pro-Trump slogans. He also tweeted a photo of himself shaking the hand of a Eugene Police Department officer. Marr's Twitter handle is @GenocideJimmy. Continue reading →

Effigy of Hillary Clinton Near Roseburg

News

Drivers on I-5 near Sutherlin have been confronted with the disturbing sight of an effigy of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dangling from a noose on a crane, surrounded by signs bearing statements like "Vote Trump." Photo courtesy Scott Beckstead KVAL news talked to the man from Sutherlin, who mounted the political display: Continue reading →

The Unhoused and the Right to Rest

News

Standing still. Using the bathroom. Sleeping. These are things we all do and, in fact, all things we do to survive. But laws in some cities, including Eugene, penalize people for trying to meet their basic needs.  Local advocates for the unhoused are teaming up with representatives from the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) to pass a Homeless Bill of Rights in three states, including Oregon. Paul Boden of WRAP will take part in a Sept. 22 forum discussing the Oregon Homeless Bill of Rights and Right to Rest legislation. Continue reading →