Opinion – Page 371 – Eugene Weekly

Opinion: Page 371

Slant 9-4-2014

• Our Pop Quiz on City Hall this week is an attempt to look more closely at the predicament we have gotten ourselves in regarding the fate of City Hall. Is destruction imminent? We hear the city has not yet acquired a demolition permit. Meanwhile, some new information is being batted around this week about estimates for remodeling that were done a couple of years ago by Turner Construction’s Portland office. Was the Eugene City Council given an accurate analysis of the true costs of renovating City Hall vs. tearing it down and rebuilding? Continue reading →

Just Like Old Times

Razing the old City Hall and raising the new

Viewpoint 11 years ago

It’s slowly dawning on people who have been busy at other things that our old block-sized City Hall is about to be torn down and replaced by a quarter-block sized structure with a three-quarter block surface parking lot. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 8-28-2014

Letters 11 years ago

NO PLACE FOR INDUSTRY I often disagree with Bob Emmons’ editorial opinions; however, his Viewpoint in the Aug. 21 issue concerning Seavey Loop is right on the money. Based on my years as business development officer for Business Oregon as well as over a decade working on a variety of natural resource and land use issues, I believe Seavey Loop is no place to put industry. The Seavey Loop area is just fine the way it is and it should be left alone. Continue reading →

Slant 8-28-2014

Slant 11 years ago

• We lamented in this column Aug. 14 that Eugene City Hall is about to be destroyed following a split decision by the City Council to abandon the sustainable concept of repairing, rebuilding or repurposing the full city block structure. Rowell Brokaw Architects and city leaders are planning a brief celebration of “Eugene City Hall Past & Future” from 11 am to noon Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the corner of 8th and Pearl. “We will honor the history of the building and look forward to our new City Hall,” reads the announcement. Continue reading →

State Law vs. Natural Law

Springfield’s Seavey Loop plans draw ire

Viewpoint 11 years ago

Along Seavey Loop Road winding all the way to Hwy. 58, “Stop Seavey Loop Industrial Zone” signs have cropped up over the past few weeks on almost every property. The two-lane blacktop runs through floodplain rich in farmland and natural areas nurtured by the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and Oxley Slough and overseen by Mount Pisgah rising gently in the east. Continue reading →

Dispatches

Let the people lead the way

Viewpoint 11 years ago

My nerve held until I landed in San Antonio. But with my family a single two-hour flight away after 10 months deployed and two weeks of traveling, I panicked. Racing to an airport gift shop, I searched madly for something to win over my daughter when I arrived home. Though unsure at seeing me, pure joy greeted the stuffed brown horsie. Definitely the best $8.99 I ever spent. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 8-21-2014

Letters 11 years ago

COUNTING Kevin Sullivan made a stab at class analysis in “And Inequality For All,” (Aug. 7), saying “It is near impossible, however, to draw a bead on the wealthiest Eugeneans.” That’s not the “end of story,” however. Colorful income maps for all of Oregon show wealth distribution patterns by sections of neighborhood, city and county. Pie charts break it down for cities. Continue reading →

Slant 8-21-2014

Slant 11 years ago

• If you are worried about public safety in Lane County, consider that this county has received $2,736,425 worth of surplus military equipment from the Department of Defense — more than any other Oregon county. That’s according to an Aug. 15 Associated Press story in The Oregonian. Equipment includes one wheeled combat vehicle, 91 infrared illuminators, two ordnance disposal robots and 15 rifles. Coming free to cops across America, this surplus stuff was manufactured with our tax dollars. Continue reading →

UO Ahead of the Curve

Viewpoint 11 years ago

My “sex education” classes always failed me. “Your privates are gonna get bigger and you’re gonna start smelling bad,” one of the teachers said during my fifth-grade sex-ed class. At the end, the teachers provided us with a stick of deodorant — thanks, Mr. Johnson. In middle school, health classes were more of a “you-need-to-exercise-or-you-will-get-fat-you-pathetic-pear-shape” than about sex at all. Continue reading →

Slant 8-14-2014

Slant 11 years ago

• We hear rumors that Eugene City Hall could fall to the wrecking ball as early as the first week in September. Gone will be the iconic round council chambers and a city block of massive reinforced concrete understructure — despite earlier decisions by the City Council to repair, rebuild or reuse the $40 million building. The decision-making process is obscure and puzzling, particularly since the evidence is clear that many millions of dollars can be saved by reinforcing and rebuilding on the existing understructure and its valuable underground parking. Continue reading →