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How can Eugene retain the talented young professionals graduating from the University of Oregon instead of losing them to Seattle or San Francisco? That’s the question of the night at an upcoming TAD Talk in August, where speakers have five minutes to sell their idea. Continue reading
This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the fight to protect Warner Creek from a salvage-logging project that the Forest Service sought to institute after an arsonist lit up 9,000 acres in the Willamette National Forest. The forest was torched in 1991, and the arson was followed by several years of activism to keep the spotted owl habitat from being logged. Continue reading
The private Italian spying firm Hacking Team was itself recently hacked and some of its internal documents, invoices, emails and customer lists were made public — the information can be found on WikiLeaks. According to Wired not only has the FBI used Hacking Team’s wares, “many of the other governments who bought the same software are repressive regimes, such as Sudan and Bahrain.” Continue reading
Hedin Brugh, one of three protesters charged with trespassing during a Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to Sleep (SLEEPS) protest at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in 2013, had his charge dismissed by the city of Eugene on July 24. Continue reading
According to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group, there are about 15,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) military veterans living in Oregon — roughly the population of Coos Bay. With that in mind, the state Legislature on June 6 passed a bill creating a dedicated LGBT coordinator in the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA). The bill puts the state in alignment with national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) directives that have, in the past two years, sought to be inclusive and supportive of LGBT identities. Continue reading
As a child, Gustavo Balderas attended school in the tiny rural town of Nyssa in Eastern Oregon. Balderas’ parents did not speak English, but his kindergarten teacher reached out to them, he says, in an act of kindness that he has always remembered. “She connected to my mom and dad and made them feel welcome,” he says. “She really stands out to me as impacting my decision to go into education.” Continue reading
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm on Friday, Aug. 7 on an application from Cory Hatfield for Clean Water Act permitting of discharges of construction-related stormwater pollution from Hatfield Estates, located at Van Duyn and Coburg Bottom Loop in Coburg. Visit goo.gl/Yp4iAK for info on commenting. Continue reading
• ODOT is currently spraying roadsides. Call Tony Kilmer at ODOT District 5 at 744-8080 or call (888) 996-8080 for often inaccurate herbicide application information. I-5 was recently sprayed. Continue reading
Washington-based Haggen bought 146 Albertons and Vons locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon earlier this year — you might have noticed your local Albertsons has changed its name and color scheme. More recently, social media posts and newspaper stories have blasted the company for laying off hundreds of workers, in particular the developmentally disabled. Continue reading
The Oregon Center for Public Policy has a new analysis of poverty levels in Oregon broken down by race. Click on the graph for a link to the story. Continue reading