Opinion: Page 339

It’s Oregon summer

Slant

• It’s Oregon summer. That means juicy blackberries, SLUG queen coronations and outdoor parties. The Eugene Celebration and its hokey but awesome parade have disappeared, the Festival of Eugene lasted only two years before falling apart in a storm of racism allegations, but the Whiteaker Block Party thrives. Can Eugene bring its downtown festival back? Last weekend marked the 10-year success of the Whit Block Party with its free entry, and that might have some lessons for party planners. Come party with the SLUG queens 6 pm, Friday, Aug. Continue reading →

Ban Nuclear Weapons

A Message from the Mayor of Hiroshima

Viewpoint

It is an honor and pleasure to send this message on the occasion of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration in Eugene, Oregon. On Aug. 6, 1945, a single atomic bomb rendered Hiroshima a scorched plain and burned tens of thousands in its flames. By year’s end, 140,000 irreplaceable lives had been taken. Those who managed to survive, their lives grotesquely distorted, were left to suffer serious physical and emotional aftereffects compounded by discrimination and prejudice. Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil and the ultimate inhumanity.  Continue reading →

NOT OVER

Letters

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 →

County Power Grab

Lane County Commission usurps democratic freedoms

Viewpoint

The Lane County Board of Commissioners, at the behest of Dennis Morgan, a local businessman and conservative political activist, is considering a proposal to grant themselves authority to review Lane County citizen initiatives, which have met all legal standards for placement on the ballot. The proposal would allow the board to declare that an initiative does not meet the board standard for “county concern” and, thereby, to bar it from the ballot.  Continue reading →

ALL BLACK LIVES

Letters

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 →

We’re proud to be a part of the political revolution led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley and millions of other Americans

Slant

• We’re proud to be a part of the political revolution led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley and millions of other Americans, many of them young and new to political action. And, as they passionately advise, this November we should do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Hillary Clinton. Clinton should handily win blue Oregon, but what can we do to help her outside our state? And what can we do to elect Democrats in the Senate? We especially feel the urgency when it comes to Supreme Court appointments.   Continue reading →

Meddling with the People’s Rights

Local government and industry want to keep the people at bay

Viewpoint

The Lane County Commission is considering a proposed ordinance that would give five elected officials a stranglehold over the people’s local initiative power. Let’s be clear: The initiative and referendum power belongs to the people free from government interference, as recognized by the Oregon Constitution. The people’s right to circulate petitions is core political speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  The commissioners’ proposed meddling with the people’s initiative rights is patently unconstitutional. Continue reading →