We've got issues.
[Update: This article has been edited to include information about a petition to Save Kesey Square.] Before the Eugene City Council meeting Jan. 25, the chants and drums of the Save Kesey Square rally could be heard from the nearby Harris Hall, growing louder as more than 100 protesters walked from Kesey Square to the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza while a council work session was in progress. Continue reading
On the corner of Lawrence Street sits a tiny white building that houses feisty nonprofit Beyond Toxics, which has advocated for environmental and social justice reforms in the state of Oregon since 2001 — you might remember it as Oregon Toxics Alliance. On Feb. 5, Beyond Toxics will celebrate its 15th anniversary at Capitello Wine Bar in downtown Eugene, as well as introduce a state ballot petition banning aerial chemical sprays. Continue reading
The American media has been paying a lot of attention to the clown car that makes up the pool of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. And on the Democratic side, the media has finally noticed that Bernie Sanders is making inroads into what many thought was a surefire Hillary Clinton ticket. But lately, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says, there’s been a little more oxygen in the room, and the media and American public have realized that Stein and the Greens have something to say. Continue reading
Nadia Raza’s lawsuit against Lane Community College, filed Jan. 21, alleges that the administration failed to protect the tenured instructor from an aggressive student felon and stalker. Raza’s 19-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene by attorney Jennifer Middleton, is not the first attempt to get the LCC administration to adopt immediate measures to better protect its staff from sexual advances and physical threats from students. Continue reading
On Jan. 20, scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced 2015 as the hottest year on record since record-keeping began in 1880. Continue reading
An eyewitness is contradicting the account put out by the Bundy Bunch that LaVoy Finicum was on his knees with his hands up when shot by law enforcement. McConnell who says he had been personal security for Ammon Bundy says he was following the pickup truck driven by LaVoy Finicum and seeks to put rumors to rest about Finicum's death, saying he was not on his knees and he charged at law enforcement. Finicum had tried to drive away from law enforcement then ran the truck into a snowbank, according to several accounts. Continue reading
The iconic Eugenean Hershel Bloom died Jan. 25 in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He was an accomplished artist and musician and worked 30 years at White Bird Clinic. More about him in EW next week. Meanwhile, here's a rare video from an earlier time. Continue reading
Update: arrests have been confirmed, one, LaVoy Finicum, aka "Tarpman," is deceased, according to media reports. Santilli has been arrested. See full press release below. Continue reading
Kelly Gneiting, one of the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has apparently issues a challenge to Governer Chris Christie (and I'm really hoping that this is as fake as the satirical story about the old birdwatcher pulling a high school wrestling move, but I'm afraid it's not). Continue reading
Above: City Manager Jon Ruiz Checking the public email inboxes of the mayor, city manager and City Council can offer unusual insight. The city emails — open public records — exchanged about Kesey Square/Broadway Plaza and its potential development might confirm the suspicions that many had all along about the process: It's a done deal. Continue reading