We've got issues.
VOTE SEMPLE For the past several years, as a member of the Eugene Human Rights Commission, as a volunteer at Occupy Medical and as a community activist, I have worked to protect the rights of people who are homeless. I have also often heard about the work of another advocate for those who are homeless, Emily Semple. I am pleased to endorse her for Eugene City Council, Ward 1. Continue reading
PARKS AND WRECK Thanks for your article on parks, but there is much more to this story. The history of Scobert Park in the heart of the Whiteaker illustrates a severe disconnect at the city. Scobert Park is tainted by bad juju, and is a perfect case study of mismanagement and long-term malfeasance by the city of Eugene. Continue reading
ACCESSIBLE DANCE Rachael Carnes’ article “Stop Motion” in the Sept. 8 “Spin” issue really nails the two key problems faced by emerging dancers — the lack of both financial and logistical resources. Continue reading
PLEASE IGNORE MY PRIVATE $2 BILLION FOUNDATION On Aug. 21 The New York Times reported the Clinton Foundation has raised about $2 billion since 1997. Apparently “truth” bends in the direction of money, a shiny pot of gold that just happens to have the Clinton Foundation address at rainbow’s end. Most Americans are not convinced this “amazing coincidence” isn’t a conflict of interest. Continue reading
INSPIRING STORY What a great article on a great man, someone I’ve never met but long admired [“Citizen Terry,” 8/25]. Someday when I am done working I will show up on his doorstep offering to help. Truly inspiring. Made my day, and these can be disheartening days. Thanks, Rick Levin! Amy Isler Gibson, Eugene NOT SO THRIFTY Continue reading
DIG THAT HOLE John Zerzan is pointing out that voting for Clinton is a vote for “no change.” Yup, we’ve got a world of problems that won’t be addressed. “When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.” Trump will bring change, no doubt, like setting off dynamite in that hole you dug while fixing your leach field. Gregg Ferry, Corvallis WILEY GRIFFON Continue reading
INITIATIVE ATTACK Our right to decide which initiatives we can vote on is under attack by four out of five Lane County commissioners. Pete Sorenson, the only attorney on the commission, understands that the county cannot legally weigh in on initiatives until after the new laws are passed. That this is a constitutionally protected provision of the initiative process is the argument Sorenson made to his fellow commissioners. Continue reading
THE PEOPLE CAN’T BE STOPPED If the Lane County Board of Commissioners votes in late September to give themselves the power to yank duly approved initiatives from the vote of the people because they decide the initiatives are not “of county concern,” there is at least one bright spot: the subsequent people’s initiative to reverse that unconstitutional ordinance will most assuredly be “of county concern.” To Commissioners Bozievich, Stewart, Farr and Leiken: The initiative process belongs to the people! Continue reading
NOT OVER Issues from differences between the 99 percent and the one percent could be reduced within a generation by limiting inheritance to the total amounts of wealth of a particular U.S. economic class, perhaps the middle-middle economic class, and granting inheritable amounts to be used for the most essential needs of the 99 percent. An alternative could be taxing it all to bring it down to some level. Impossible? What if Bill Moyers was in the running? It’s not over. Helen Woodford, Eugene Continue reading
ALL BLACK LIVES I read with great interest the recent cover story [“Black Lives Matter,” 7/14], particularly the article by Camilla Mortensen in which she described an unspoken but implied fourth word: “Black lives matter, too.” That is certainly the way I have always heard the slogan. Continue reading