We've got issues.
There’s a rumor circulating in Eugene that suggests the city could be vulnerable to city-services-fee-based litigation like the city of Des Moines, Iowa, which has been fighting lawsuits since 2004. Due to differences in the type of fee, state laws and locally based federal agencies, experts indicate that type of lawsuit wouldn’t be successful in Eugene. Continue reading
Up the bike chart we go! Every year, the League of American Bicyclists releases a ranking of states’ friendliness to biking, and Oregon jumped from number five to number three in 2013. The rankings are released to give kudos for bike-ability strengths and provide suggestions for improvements, such as the need for better infrastructure. Continue reading
There's a rally to support union negotiators at UO today: WHAT: RALLY – Faculty at University of Oregon support their Bargaining Team WHERE: Knight Library (Northwest Entrance) WHEN: Noon, Tuesday, May 7 Continue reading
Now that warm weather is upon us, all the fun bike events are coming out to play. Here are a few of Eugene's events this week (May 7-12): Continue reading
The League of American Bicyclists has released its annual rankings of bike-friendly states, and Oregon is up to number three in 2013 from number five in 2012. Hooray for us! Oregon scores high in the categories of legislation and enforcement, policies and programs, and education and encouragement. Our biggest weakness is in the area of infrastructure and funding. Continue reading
The Eugene City Council voted 7-0 April 24 to draft an ordinance to lift the city’s ban on camping in undeveloped city properties for 120 days. Local homeless people and their advocates say that the experiment could go well if measures such as sanitation and safety are taken into consideration. Continue reading
An April 23 Lane County Board of Commissioners meeting explored but did not go forward with the possibility of recovering lost filing fees from the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), a private company that tracks servicing rights and ownership of mortgage loans for big banks. Multnomah County is suing MERS and 18 co-defendants for $38 million, saying that it wreaked havoc on the public property records system and denied the county of required transaction fees. Continue reading
Talk about starting off strong: When The Bier Stein reopened at 16th and Willamette on Tax Day, it was inevitable that the beloved beer bar would have a good day, but owner Chip Hardy says that the new location has overwhelmingly exceeded expectations. “Our best day ever at the other location we doubled on our opening day, and by Friday it tripled,” he says. “I was completely blown away by so many customers.” Continue reading
Head Brewer Steve van Rossem is still finishing the assembly of the brewing side of Plank Town Brewing Company, but the fledgling first brew, Bart’s Best Bitter or B^3, is already a refined recipe. Van Rossem, who is transitioning to Springfield’s newest brewpub from Block 15 in Corvallis, brewed B^3 test batches up at Block 15, and he says that Plank Town will likely stick with the recipe. “It’s made using British yeast, British malt and British hops,” van Rossem says, “a classic-style British best bitter.” Continue reading
Opponents of the city service fee on Eugene’s May ballot say it is a poor budgetary path for a laundry list of reasons: Its proceeds can fund a wide swath of expenditures or even be held in reserves; it’s unfair to poor people just above the low-income cut-off; it’s unfair to small businesses; it will charge a struggling nonprofit just as much as a Walmart; and EWEB’s board could vote not to collect it, leaving the city in a bind. Five out of eight Eugene city councilors oppose the fee. Continue reading