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• Veterans Day this week went by without the presence of a prominent local Vietnam vet, John “Mac” McFadden, who died Oct. 16 at the age of 66. “Mac McFadden was the veteran of a war no one much talks about anymore,” says local writer Hart Williams. “A war, that, had we remembered its lessons, would have prevented us from invading Iraq and Afghanistan, wars that Mac was against. Continue reading
TAKE DOWN THE SIGNS Continue reading
• Votes are still being tallied as we go to press this week, but we’re encouraged by what we’re seeing. Eugene City Councilor Betty Taylor gets another four years, and it’s clear Juan Carlos Valle would have done much better if he had run in a different ward. Chris Pryor, for example, was unopposed in Ward 8, but he got only 3,600 votes out of 8,200 ballots cast in that ward. That’s a huge undervote in that race, and also in the race for the County Commission seat that now belongs to Pat Farr (16,816 undervotes). Continue reading
YOU ARE NOT ALONE On behalf of the Human Rights Commission and the city of Eugene, we extend our deep sympathy and concern for acts of hate and violence that have occurred in our community. The Human Rights Commission and the city of Eugene stand in solidarity with those who are impacted, and will speak out against acts of hate and violence. We do not condone either the acts themselves or the acceptance that silence implies. Continue reading
• Will your vote bring back the unicorns? Probably not right away. But not voting might bring back the dinosaurs. A few zombies are also on the ballot, hoping voter apathy will allow them to rise and feed. Mmm. Brains. Deadline for voting is 8 pm Tuesday, Nov. 6, and white ballot boxes can be found around town and on campus. Many of the races and issues in this election are too close to call. This is a time when an individual can make a difference. Continue reading
WILL COUNCIL ACT? The Eugene City Council is slowly, painfully, somewhat incoherently inching its way toward considering the proposal by Opportunity Village Eugene (OVE) to set up a self-governed village for homeless people, somewhat modeled after successful villages in other cities. Continue reading
• Find our condensed endorsements ] in this issue, a 350-word version of last week’s 3,500 words of analysis and recommendations. Our short picks are a handy way to compare our endorsements with those of the R-G, which were also compiled this week. We differ from the daily on the regulate pot measure, corporate kicker measure, the Circuit Court write-in, Court of Appeals, Eugene City Council Ward 2 and House District 7. Continue reading
REMEMBERING MISA SMITH 1929 — 2012 There are a few people who quietly influence and bring out the best in this city. These people never seek center stage or public attention; they simply live from day to day doing what they have to do with dignity and strength, contributing immensely to our local culture. Continue reading
• It’s election time again and the state and local Voters’ Pamphlets are a hefty quarter of an inch thick. It’s all fascinating reading (especially between the lines), reflecting the brilliance and dimness of current political thought and our messy experiment with representative government, aka democracy. Every voter should read it, along with absorbing all the propaganda in print and on the web, in the broadcast media, around the kitchen table and at the water cooler. Continue reading
ILLEGAL DISPOSAL “We conclude that the Fourth and 14th Amendments protect homeless persons from government seizure and summary destruction of their unabandoned, but momentarily unattended, personal property.” In early September, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Lavan v. City of Los Angeles that confiscating and destroying the personal property of the homeless constitutes unreasonable seizure. This ruling is legally binding upon the state of Oregon. Continue reading