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Back when George Russell served as superintendent of 4J, he had to deal with racism on a regular basis. During a 4J Board of Education meeting about school closures, he says, a man who he assumes was a student’s dad “came up to the podium and said, ‘That’s what happens when you hire the n-word for affirmative action reasons.’” Continue reading
The Nightingale Health Sanctuary Steering Committee has found a 1.1-acre lot on which they will start the Nightingale Health Sanctuary, a self-governing community of homeless people intended to promote health and recovery. Steering committee member Mary Broadhurst asked that the location not be disclosed because the group is still doing neighborhood outreach. Continue reading
Fiscal year 2014 went out with a bang in Eugene July 1 and took park bathrooms, irrigation, trash service and jobs with it. Restrooms at three parks — Hendricks, Sheldon and Sladden — will close and neighborhood parks will see less watering and garbage pick-up, as $300,000 in reductions to park maintenance set in. Eugene’s City Council approved the cuts June 9 as part of a balancing act to fill a $1.9 million deficit in the city’s general fund. Continue reading
Some Oregon Country Fair mischief is part of innocent tradition, some practices are heavily frowned upon and others warrant police intervention. Unwelcomed activity at the Fair is deterred conventionally, with law enforcement, and creatively, with a volunteer security team numbering in the hundreds. Sneaking in, drug use and dealing, inappropriate behavior and theft are among the troublemaking OCF must curb every year. Continue reading
Eugene’s City Council will meet in September to talk about local food security — reliable access to healthy and nutritious food. “It’s kind of a multi-level problem,” says Deb Johnson-Shelton, Lane County Food Policy Council president. “The more quality food you make accessible at more affordable prices, the healthier the nutritional environment is for everyone.” Food insecurity is strongly correlated with household income, she says. Continue reading
All workers in the city of Eugene might be eligible for paid sick leave in 2015 if the City Council moves forward with a proposed ordinance. Seventy-eight percent of low-wage workers and 51 percent of private-sector workers in Eugene don’t receive paid sick time, according to a study the Institute for Women’s Policy Research did for Everybody Benefits Eugene, a coalition of local organizations and businesses that support a paid sick leave ordinance. Continue reading
Skateboarders should be allowed to ride in streets and bike lanes like bicyclists, according to Lee Shoemaker, Eugene’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. He has not gone to the Eugene City Council with the proposal because he has heard mixed opinions about it, he says. Eugene city law currently allows skateboarders to ride in the streets only while crossing them. Downtown, skateboarding on sidewalks is also illegal. Continue reading
Jerry Henderson and his wife, Junaida, rent out the first floor of their taupe cedar-sided south hills home to people passing through town. For $60 per night, travelers stay in a private “suite” with a bedroom, bathroom and family room and access to decks that skirt along ferns and wrap around the trunks of 100-foot-tall fir trees. They have rented their extra space to 190 people since May 2010. Jerry Henderson says they have reported all of their Airbnb earnings, which total at least $11,000, to the IRS. Continue reading
Eugeneans looking for help with odd jobs or more can now turn to residents of Opportunity Village Eugene (OVE), a self-governing community of about 30 people trying to transition from homelessness to stability. Two weeks ago, “villager” Al Hutt launched a website searchable by task being sought or villager’s skill or need. “Sometimes when people come in here they have immediate needs like a toothache or maybe they need shoes. And they can’t get going until it’s met,” Hutt says. Continue reading
Eugene City Councilor Greg Evans has introduced a downtown smoking ban for the City Council’s discussion. He says the ban is aimed at making downtown more desirable for business and recreation. “In downtown areas across the country you have cadres of folks who congregate not necessarily because they’re there to do the right thing, but because they’re there to hang out and do things that are illegal,” Evans says. A ban on smoking downtown would decrease aggressive behavior and illegal activities such as drug use and dealing, Evans says. Continue reading