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Mahmud Hafiz travelogue writer and a senior journalist from Bangladesh dropped by EW’s offices recently to talk journalism and the Bangla, aka Bengali, language. Hafiz, a contributing editor to the news portal Bangla News 24 came to Eugene for his son’s graduation from the University of Oregon. He will be writing a travelogue about his experiences. Continue reading
According to a Register-Guard headline today, your car and its airbags have a hitherto-unknown superpower. Rapture. A “50 Percent Chance of Dangerous Air Bag Rapture” … Continue reading
• More than 4 million acres of Oregon’s forests have been converted into single-species tree plantations, enviro-justice group Beyond Toxics tells EW. Those plantations are helicopter sprayed with herbicides affecting our drinking water, salmon and health. Climate change means our forests, both public and private plantations, are more at risk for fire and drought. Continue reading
Ever since 1999, when the Rooster Man, aka Gavin Fox, long-time host of KLCC’s Saturday afternoon Blues Power program, was struck down by ALS, Skip Jones has kept the weekly Rooster’s Blues Jam alive. “Rooster hired me to be the house drummer in 1990,” says Jones, a regular at the Monday night jams at Taylor’s Bar. After years of hopscotching from club to club, the jam has enjoyed a stable venue for the past six years, Tuesday nights at Mac’s at the Vet’s Club, 1626 Willamette Street. Admission is free. Continue reading
Wendy Wheeler-Coltrane first had the idea to form a local philanthropy group five years ago. A busy schedule and lack of contacts held her back until last year, when Wheeler-Coltrane and Jean Lee began working to found the Eugene-Springfield chapter of 100+ Women Who Care (100+WWC), a group of women who donate to local charities that provide a service for the community. Continue reading
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say “there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood.” Effects of lead poisoning include developmental delays, memory loss and brain damage. The discovery of lead in drinking water in Portland public schools so soon after the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, ignited alarm in schools across the state of Oregon, including those in Lane County. Continue reading
Crisis workers in Eugene say they are still seeing repeat cases of severely mentally ill people being discharged back to the community by the jail and PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District’s emergency room, despite a 2015 Oregon bill that changed the language describing how people can be committed to a state mental institution. That’s because House Bill 3347 didn’t really usher in any new legislation, according to Andrea Williams, one of two civil commitment investigators for Lane County Behavioral Health Services. Continue reading
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on May 27 sent a warning letter to Jason and Rachel Shannon of Veneta for illegally discharging sewage to the ground at their property on East Bolton Road in Veneta. DEQ’s letter requested that the Shannons take steps to prevent additional illegal discharges, cordon off the affected area “to prevent human and animal contact,” and disinfect the affected area. Continue reading
The Lane County Board of Commissioners’ June 28 discussion of giving themselves the authority to block some local ballot measures has EW floored. Did it get forgotten by four of the five commissioners that Oregon citizens have a right to the initiative process that is protected in the state Constitution? Continue reading
Kim Nelson, Oregon State University, will talk about the ecology of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus)and the effect of forest landscape patterns and predators on their survival. Her presentation, “Marbled Murrelets, Landscapes and Predators” is 7-9 pm Thursday, June 23, in room 184 at the UO School of Law. Continue reading