The Bilingual Student

Latino families balance identity and opportunity at Springfield schools

Graduate high school. Think about your future career. Get a profession.  That is Leticia Gonzalez’s advice for her daughters. She is sitting with them at the kitchen table in their Springfield home, and they banter with each other about school, work and family. “Sometimes I think they get tired of listening to me say ‘Go to college,’” Gonzalez says, who requested to speak with EW via an interpreter because she feels more comfortable with Spanish. “It’s the reality: work and study.”  Continue reading 

Greenhill, No Kill Lane County Spar Over Records

A representative from a local advocacy group has filed a formal request with the Lane County District Attorney’s Office seeking the release of records from Greenhill Humane Society.  At issue is whether Greenhill — a private nonprofit that runs its own shelter but also receives public funds from the county to administer the First Avenue Shelter — is subject to Oregon’s public records laws regarding the work it does at First Avenue.  Greenhill took over the management of FAS from the county in 2012. Continue reading 

City of Eugene Enlists Agency To Track Down 10-Year-Old Parking Fines

When Lisa Gillis received a collections notice in the mail on Jan. 30 for a parking ticket nearly 10 years old, she says she was surprised. The date of the infraction, she explains, was in 2006, but she did not own the vehicle even then. “I sold that car in 2004,” she says. “I was so irritated.” Since she was not the legal owner, Gillis says she is trying to obtain documentation to prove she does not need to pay the fine of $24.01.  Continue reading 

Locally Made Tomato-Potato Hybrid Hits the Market This Year

Potatoes and tomatoes on the same plant

Photo courtesy Alice Doyle

Potatoes and tomatoes on the same plant? Perhaps Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report said it best by including this wacky concept in his segment: “That’s The Craziest F#?king Thing I’ve Ever Heard.” The plant, named “Ketchup ‘N’ Fries,” can be traced to Log House Plants in Cottage Grove, a wholesale nursery that promotes grafted plants as a natural means to increase productivity and make gardening more accessible to all.  Continue reading 

County Discusses NDAA Ordinance

On Dec. 16 Lane County commissioners discussed whether to question federal law and pass an ordinance that challenges two controversial sections of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  The NDAA, a sweeping defense bill that sets the budget for the military, dates back to the post-9/11 period and is renewed every year by Congress. The controversial sections of the bill include provisions to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism. The current version of the $585 billion NDAA passed the Senate Dec. 12. Continue reading 

GTFF And UO Reach Tentative Agreement

GTFF picket in front of Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Photo: Justin Cox @respecttheboba

As we go to press, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) and the UO have announced a tentative agreement after an overnight mediation session Dec. 10 in which the UO agreed to create a seven-member committee to oversee a Graduate Student Assistance Fund that allows graduate students to take sick or parental leave, according to a statement from the GTFF.  Continue reading