Green India
Changing the face of enviro law
Rahul Choudhary speaks with communities in Himachal Pradesh whose villages are threatened by a hydroelectric project. Photo courtesy Rahul Choudhary Continue reading
Camilla Mortensen
Camilla Mortensen is the longtime local editor of Eugene Weekly, the area’s alternative newspaper. The paper, which has been in print since 1982 (originally as What’s Happening) continues to print more than 27,000 copies a week in addition to its popular email newsletters and website. Camilla has a masters degree in folklore and mythology from UCLA and a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Oregon. She has been a reporter and editor at EW since 2007 and teaches journalism at the UO in the mornings before heading to the Weekly’s office. She also teaches newswriting at Lane Community College and advises The Torch student newspaper.
Author: Camilla Mortensen
Rodeos, Dogs And The Legislature, Oh My!
Though the Oregon Legislature is still tied up in session, Oregon dogs will no longer be tied up on short leashes or for long periods of time, thanks to an anti-dog-tethering bill. That’s just one of several animal-oriented bills that came up this session. Animal advocates are cheering the ones that have passed (and cheering some that died) and expect some more good news for the beasties to come through before the session ends. Continue reading
Forest Scientists Meet With Treesitters the Video
As we wrote about in last week's EW, forest scientist Norm Johnson, upon finding out that the Cascadia Forest Defenders were protesting the White Castle Project, came and talked about the loggin with the tree sitters. Here is CFD's video. Continue reading
OSU Kicks UO’s a$$ on open source
Oregon State University has just announced that it is establishing an open-source policy "requiring faculty members to make their scholarly articles available for free through the digital repository ScholarsArchive@OSU." This will allow the public more access to all the rsearch coming out of OSU, or as the school puts it, “Now a farmer in Oregon can look up a paper written by someone in the College of Agricultural Sciences. And someone starting up a science-focused company can look at work done in the College of Science.” Continue reading
Oregonian lays of 45 journalists, then posts job opening
The Oregonian's new media company Oregon Media Group (OMG, its acronym is OMG) is hiring. The second thing listed after "a sold understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure …" is "mastery of social media and digital interaction." That comes before the ability to work on deadline (which comes in at number four. Continue reading
Oregonian changes and layoffs
The Oregonian has announced it's changing its delivery schedule for its print additions, laying off employees — among the layoffs are environment reporters Scott Learn and Eric Mortenson, (no relation to me,) Willamette Week reports). WW also reports that The O has decided NOT to call its online version TheDigitalO after all. Continue reading
GMO Sugar Beets Destroyed
Somebody (or bodies) destroyed Roundup Ready sugar beets in southern Oregon. No communiqué yet that EW knows of has claimed responsibility. Continue reading
The Big One
Oregon’s heading for a major quake
A failed plan to bring nuclear power to the “earthquake-free” Northwest led instead to the discovery that our region is due for a massive temblor. The Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS, aka “whoops”) nuclear power project, largely failed in the 1980s, but before it crashed, it led to the research uncovering that Oregon and Washington are actually on a seismic hot spot. Continue reading
Forest Scientists Meet With Treesitters
Forest Scientists Meet With Treesitters
The White Castle pilot project is an unusual kind of logging proposal and it’s led to an unusual forest defender vs. forest scientist dynamic. When forestry professor Norm Johnson of OSU, who created the project along with Jerry Franklin of the University of Washington, found out that the Cascadia Forest Defenders (CFD) had taken to the trees last week to stop the proposed logging, he decided he would head out to the site near Roseburg and talk to the protesters. Continue reading
Gold Diggers Hurt Lane County Parks
Gold mining and all its negative environmental effects have made their way to the waterways of Lane County. River guide Frank Armendariz was out walking his dog early in May in an open section of Armitage Park when he says he saw a Jeep parked inside a portion of the park still locked behind gates and a man digging away at the riverbank. Gold mining in southern Oregon has led not just to the degradation of rivers but also to shootings and legal battles, but, until now, it has not been much of an issue on the McKenzie River. Continue reading