Slant 7-2-2015

• Civic Stadium’s fiery destruction this week is a shocking loss for our community and this disaster is particularly painful since so much money, time, energy and love went into saving the beloved grandstand from the bulldozer. We see on social media that the news of Civic’s destruction went around the world and generated a collective “Oh, no!” from thousands of people who for generations have watched the games, played football or baseball on the field or worked in and around the property. Where do we go from here? Continue reading 

Biz Beat 7-2-2015

The former Musgrove Family Mortuary property on 11th on Olive downtown is looking bleak this week after heavy equipment came in and chewed up all the big trees but one along the alley. The site is being leveled for a new Home2 Suites by Hilton. What will happen to the old cinder block building next door that currently houses a dog grooming and do-it-yourself dog laundry? We asked around and it appears it won’t be sold and demolished anytime soon. So keep those dirty, shaggy doggies coming.  Continue reading 

Activist Alert 7-2-2015

• The Lane County Metropolitan Policy Committee meets from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm Thursday, July 2, at Coburg City Hall Council Chambers. On the agenda is the Metropolitan Cable Television Commission. Contact Paul Thompson at 682-4405. • The VA Roseburg Healthcare System has scheduled a town hall from 4:30 to 6:30 pm Thursday, July 2, at the Elks Lodge, 1701 Centennial Blvd. in Springfield. VA representatives will be available to answer questions and assist vets with current claims or filing new claims for disability compensation.  Continue reading 

Lane County Area Spray Schedule 7-2-15

• ODOT is currently spraying roadsides. Call Tony Kilmer at ODOT District 5 at 744-8080 or call (888) 996-8080 for often inaccurate herbicide application information. Highways recently sprayed include I-5, 36, 105, 126, Beltline and Territorial.  • USDA Forest Service will be spot treating a few patches of false brome near Cape Perpetua and the Cummins Creek Loop Trail with glyphosate. Continue reading 

Waiting to Inhale

A handmade BHO EW cover

Well, Oregon, we’ve come a long way. As of July 1, recreational marijuana use is legal for adults. Prohibition ends at last. Reefer madness, at least for now, has found its antidote, and it turns out it was legal, regulated marijuana all along. We hope that this will be the start of a greener, brighter chapter in pot’s problematic history — an era in which cannabis research proliferates and the number of people in prison for marijuana offenses drops off; when all the benefits of marijuana are explored without fear or resistance. Continue reading 

Lane County Area Spray Schedule 6-25-15

Spray Schedule • ODOT is currently spraying roadsides. Call Tony Kilmer at ODOT District 5 at 744-8080 or call (888) 996-8080 for sometimes inaccurate herbicide application information. Highways recently sprayed include I-5, 126 near Santiam Pass and Territorial near Lorane. Though all of Highway 36 was sprayed in May, not all of this spray was reported on the ODOT information line.  Continue reading 

Slant 6-25-2015

• The death last week of nine people at the hands of a racist in a Charleston, South Carolina, church that was founded by Denmark Vesey, a man killed for planning a slave revolt, is not unthinkable or unspeakable, as an excellent essay in Esquire by journalist Charles P. Pierce points out. Someone did think to sit through an hour of Bible study and then kill a pastor and his parishioners. Someone did think to sell Dylann Roof a gun, someone did think —  and talk and act —  to ensure the Confederate flag flies over South Carolina’s Capitol. Continue reading 

Activist Alert 6-25-2015

• The BLM is considering revisions to the Northwest Forest Plan and according to Oregon Wild, all of the options proposed would reduce logging setbacks on streams and rivers. The next riparian workshop will be from 4 to 7 pm Thursday, June 25, at the BLM office at 3106 Pierce Parkway in Springfield. Another public meeting is planned for June 30 in Springfield. See the BLM schedule at wkly.ws/216. Continue reading 

Slant 6-18-2015

• Fans of Eugene’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption turned out to voice their support at the Eugene City Council meeting June 16 in a repeat performance of an unofficial MUPTE public forum June 8. The council will meet again on the topic July 8. We predict the 10-year tax breaks for developers will be reinstated with some added restrictions, but probably not enough restrictions to deal with our chronic need for affordable housing. We question some underlying assumptions about MUPTE. Continue reading