Author: Camilla Mortensen

More Details Emerge In Liane Richardson Story

News

The emails read like something from the New York Post or The National Enquirer, not like messages that would be copied to the Eugene City Council, the mayor and the city manager. Former county administrator Liane Richardson’s ex-husband Mark Richardson fired off a volley of angry exchanges with his ex into the public record late in the evening of Oct. 23 and kicked off an investigation by the Eugene Police Department (EPD) and more questions about Liane Richardson’s tenure at Lane County. Continue reading →

Defazio Forest Plan Goes To Video ‘Ad’

News

The battle over Oregon’s federal O&C forestlands isn’t  just taking place in the backrooms and hallways of Washington, D.C., it’s playing out on the internet, in emails and on video. A new video about the O&C lands out of Rep. Peter DeFazio’s office has made it through the House Franking Commission, which has to approve “unsolicited mailings of 500 or more pieces of the same matter” before taxpayer money is used to send it.  Continue reading →

Climate is the Disaster

Dangers range from earthquakes to rising seas in Oregon

News

Nothing says death and destruction like climate change.  Actually, for most of us the effects of climate change seem like something that will happen in the distant future, a tragedy for our grandchildren but not us. If we are going to think about planetary annihilation and devastation, we focus on Sharknado-like scenarios of wild hurricanes and tsunamis. And here in Oregon we tend to not to think about catastrophic natural disasters at all — it seems like earthquakes, tsunamis and deadly floods happen to other people, in other places. Continue reading →

Kitty And Skunk Issues At EWEB

News

The West Eugene Wetlands area is one of the many places around town where the wild abuts the urban, and managing domestic animals overlaps with native species. EWEB’s Roosevelt Operations Center (aka the ROC) was designed amid about 14 acres of restored wetlands, and wild creatures have moved back in, including raptors and skunks. But according to Becky Long, EWEB is not doing a good job with the feral cat population that has also moved into the ROC. Continue reading →

Head East to Go West

Travel

“For their anniversary I got my parents a room for a couple nights at the hotel in Prairie City,” my friend James told me last summer. I thought he was kidding. “Oh, so they are going to stay at the ‘Little Hotel on the Prairie’?” I joked. Continue reading →

Indigenous Week on UO Campus

News

Sometimes the indigenous students on the UO campus can feel a little invisible. Less than one percent of UO students are officially listed as American Indian or Alaska Native, and while the federal government celebrates Columbus Day — a holiday students like Ada Ball of the Native American Student Union (NASU) find offensive — Native Americans and their contributions aren’t widely recognized.  Continue reading →

Questions Over County Report

News

Though the investigation into former county administrator Liane Richardson’s violation of county policy was released weeks ago, and Lane County has signed an agreement with the controversial former employee mutually agreeing not to sue, the county contretemps is far from over. Questions linger over what information was blacked out in the report on Richardson’s pay alterations. Continue reading →