We've got issues.
The City Council deftly headed off a major confrontation with residents of the South Willamette area by voting Oct. 21 to not rezone single-family homes in the area. It was the council’s first opportunity to provide guidance to city planners on the highly controversial South Willamette Special Area Zone. Continue reading
LIBRARY LEVY HAS BIG BENEFITS As director of the Eugene Public Library, and on behalf of the whole team here: Thank you, Eugene voters, for your decision to expand library services. And thank you to all the levy supporters who helped spread the word and get out the vote. The library levy approved on Nov. 3 will increase community members’ access by adding hours, programs, materials, and technology, particularly at our neighborhood Bethel and Sheldon branches. Continue reading
• Eugene voters gave a marginal nod to the five-year library levy on the ballot this week, but the low voter turnout indicates that either this issue is not real high on the public’s priority list, or voters were conflicted and undecided. Normally, library measures in Eugene get a more enthusiastic response, and we remember the community coming together in grand fashion to build our downtown library in 2003, followed by campaigns to fund its ongoing services and branch libraries. Continue reading
Each month when you pay your electricity bill a generous portion of your payment is spent to restore salmon in the Northwest. In fact, when you write that check, you’re contributing to the largest fish and wildlife conservation effort in our nation’s history. Continue reading
We at Occupy Medical see suffering, lots of suffering. We see people, fellow citizens, who have been hungry for so long that they aren’t used to consuming more than a cup full of food at a time. The food that they do get is often from garbage cans. They soften food with milk or water to make it easier to chew as they are losing their teeth from poor nutrition. Continue reading
It’s Oct. 29. Have you voted yet? There’s only one item on the ballot, and it’s really important. Measure 20-235 will restore critical funding to Eugene’s public libraries, and we urge you to vote “yes.” Over 150 years ago, Henri Amiel said, “Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.” Think about it. Public libraries are, and have always been, a stepping-stone to a better life for anyone who walks in their doors. Continue reading
THE BEST SOLUTION I served as a volunteer citizen Eugene Budget Committee member when we made the agonizing decision to reduce library hours. The City Council opted not to continue our longstanding library levy during the recession. We carried the library hours on General Fund dollars and reserves as long as we could. We pared back the cuts from closure of both branch libraries to only reduced hours. No one wanted to cut those library hours, but it was the best of several bad options. Continue reading
• The Eugene Public Library levy on the Nov. 3 ballot is getting a surprising amount of attention on both sides. What’s not to love about libraries? Well, a lot of folks who are grumpy about Eugene city government are thinking a “no” vote will send a message to city officials that reforms are necessary. Maybe so, and we talked about this last week, but we think we can have it both ways by supporting the library and demanding changes in city policies and practices. How do we support the library and other essential services in the General Fund? Continue reading
My family moved from Long Island, New York, to Falls Church, Virginia, in 1956 when I was about 14. I didn’t realize it then, but Virginia had adopted a policy called “massive resistance” in response to the 1954 Supreme Court decision calling for desegregation of all public schools systems in the Southern and border states. Virginia refused to desegregate and schools remained either black or white, with some white schools closing down entirely and their students enrolling in private “segregation academies.” Continue reading
Since accepting some of China's first formal NGOs in 1990, the Pearl River Delta has experienced a burgeoning civil society movement. Rice Harmony is a social enterprise that operates throughout the region using a rice-exclusive organic CSA (community-supported agriculture) model. Customers subscribe on a yearly basis for periodic deliveries of rice sustainably grown in a nearby county. Continue reading