We've got issues.
National President – Bernie Sanders U.S. Senator – Ron Wyden U.S. Representative District 4 – Peter DeFazio State Governor – Kate Brown Secretary of State – Val Hoyle State Representative House District 14 – Julie Fahey or James Manning Lane County District Attorney – Patty Perlow North Eugene Commissioner – Tony McCown Continue reading
While Bernie Sanders may have a thing or two to say about the income inequality and power grabs of 17th-century Denmark, he very much enjoyed his Hamlet-themed introduction at Springfield’s Island Park. “To Bern or not to Bern,” local Democrat Matt Keating poeticized to the crowd of 8,000. “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the huff and bluster of the far right wing. Or to take on the status quo and organize against it.” Keating’s soliloquy went on for several more stanzas before a smiling Sanders took the stage. Continue reading
As a persona, Bernie Sanders is a stock character drawn directly from the agitprop literature of the ’40s and ’50s: He’s that frumpy, tweedy Marxist firebrand who leans on the podium with a finger perpetually raised, haranguing us about the evils of monopoly capitalism and political cronyism. As a standard-issue New Deal democrat in an Orwellian age, Sanders’ royal “We (the People)” is, ironically enough, a distinctly working-class entity, which is the only reason his message seems revolutionary right here, right now. Continue reading
For anyone following the Bernie Sanders campaign, the contents of Bernie’s speech in Springfield should ring familiar. Yes, there was much animated hand-waving and phrases uttered in his characteristic Brooklyn accent, but the words were also 100-percent Bernie. Here are five highlights that struck us as the most undeniably “Bernie-esque.” “It’s hard to imagine anyone voting for the Republican agenda.” Continue reading
To generate an aura of cosmic destiny or maybe invite messianic comparison, Bernie Sanders’ team capped off the candidate’s surprise rally on the green grass of Springfield’s Island Park last week by blasting David Bowie’s dire sci-fi rock hymn “Starman.” And out of the sea of wide-grinning Berners stretched thousands of small hands, whose tide swayed always in Sanders’ direction. “He’d like to come and meet us,” Bowie wailed, “but he thinks he’d blow our minds.” Continue reading
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a “pre-enforcement notice” to Vernon Egge of Coburg Road Quarry, LLC on April 1 concerning illegal discharges of wastes to the McKenzie River where it flows under I-5 (near Armitage Park). DEQ received a complaint of “discolored and turbid water runoff” entering the river at this location on March 14 and verified the discharges via a site visit the same day. DEQ “strongly suggests” that Coburg Road Quarry submit a permit application for future discharges by May 13. Continue reading
• The city of Eugene was one of 10 recipients nationwide announced by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, in partnership with the Center for Court Innovation, as a 2016 Community Court Grant Program winner. Continue reading
Susan Primak retired from the University of Oregon in 2013 and was also a master gardener in Eugene. She and her husband Paul decided to move to Bend in 2014. “We always set our sights on Bend, but we were waiting for that magic moment,” she says. Primak was ready to spend her free time outdoors and says the high desert climate has allowed her to bird watch, hike, kayak, fish and, most recently, she joined the Deschutes Land Trust — where she trained to complete bird surveys. Continue reading
• A benefit concert with Rob Tobias, followed by a discussion about community radio in the Eugene/Springfield community will take place at Reality Kitchen, 645 River Road (next to Countryside Pizza). Sponsored by Eugene Peaceworks and Reality Kitchen, the concert is a fundraiser for KEPW-FM. The event opens its doors at 6:30 pm Friday, April 29. KEPW says “KEPW 97.3 will be Eugene’s first grassroots, community-powered radio station, providing programming that is local to the core.” Continue reading
As the U.S. nears the end of the 2016 primary election season, it is more important than ever to understand the role of superdelegates in choosing presidential candidates. Most Democratic delegates are pledged to a particular candidate based on the outcomes of their state’s primary election or caucuses, but superdelegates are free to support any candidate for the presidential nomination at the party’s national convention. Continue reading