We've got issues.
At Churchill High School, potters’ wheels sit unused inside a dark room. At a number of schools in town, stages are dark because reduced funds have shuttered performing arts programs. And at most of Eugene’s elementary schools, students get music instruction for just a quarter of the year. Continue reading
As much as I dislike people who talk about themselves in the third person, I am beginning to seriously distrust the author of this column. Last week I bamboozled you into thinking that damn PERS bill, SB 822, went down the Ways and Means rabbit hole, never to be seen again until the back room budget deal at the end of Hot Air Society session in July. For any of my three loyal readers who actually thought I knew what I was talking about — think again. I was totally wrong. Continue reading
DEALING WITH ADDICTION Kudos to Richard Kidd for writing such a robust overview of opiate addiction [3/28], and the challenges we face in Lane County. Living through the hell of addiction lends further strength to your work. Thank you for your candor and your continued strength. Continue reading
• The city fee debate is taking some fascinating twists with Councilor George Brown changing sides as he delves more into the issues of city finances and budget priorities. Will other key supporters of the ballot measure also jump ship? Local Democrats lined up early in favor of the fee but without exploring the arguments in any depth. This debate is getting awkward as supporters discover the city has enough excess reserves from fiscal year 2013 to cover the anticipated deficit in 2014. Continue reading
I applaud Eugene Weekly for writing about the Israel-Palestine subject [Slant, 4/4]. I believe this subject is the core foreign policy issue that confronts the U.S. today. Therefore, I hope you will continue to publish relevant articles so that the public can stay informed. Continue reading
Community Mediation Services (CMS) of Eugene is pleased to announce the establishment of its new Restorative Peer Court (RPC) program. Peer courts (youth or teen courts) across the country give youth defendants the opportunity to participate in an alternative court system where offenders are allowed to be heard and judged by their peers. Continue reading
The mood in Salem’s Hot Air Society took a turn for the worse this week as Democratic leaders opened up hearings last Tuesday on PERS (Public Employees Retirement System). I was hoping that Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney would form a special joint committee dedicated to PERS alone. Instead, they combined the House and Senate Rules into a joint committee for the purpose of taking testimony on the various PERS measures out there. Continue reading
HELPING RECOVERY As the newest treatment team member at Lane County’s Methadone Treatment Program (LCMTP), I was pleased to see EW’s discussion of our community’s multi-faceted opioid dependency issues discussed in the March 28 article “Gettin’ Clean in Eugene.” The issues discussed in the article are complex, but it is the individuals behind these issues that inspire each of the committed and passionate LCMTP team members to continue working hard to make a positive impact in the lives of each person they serve. Continue reading
• Eugene is moving ahead on renovating City Hall, or at least finding an architect, and we hear from reliable sources that longtime City Hall renovation proponent Otto Poticha and his team of architects were rated near the bottom of the list of seven architecture firms that have applied. Poticha won’t even be interviewed for the job. Continue reading
People have had an intimate relationship with water. Not only is it our bodies’ life source and without it nothing on Earth could grow, but also it has been utilized as a means of transportation all over the world prior to industrialization. Our waterways were once our highways. All across North America varying kinds of canoes were tailored to fit the type of water they would be used on. These canoe-carving skills were acquired through years of trial and error and passed down through family lineage. The canoe was a vessel for transport and an essential part of our everyday lives. Continue reading