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Below is a statement from Eugene Water& Electric Board General Manager Roger Gray today: The University of Oregon Foundation announced on Tuesday, May 19, that it was ending negotiations with Eugene Water & Electric Board for purchase of EWEB’s vacant riverfront property. Continue reading
• Wolf Night: A benefit for Cascadia Wildlands’ work to restore wolves in the Cascades, will begin at 9 pm Friday, May 15, at Luckey’s Club, 933 Olive St. Suggested donation of $5 to $500. Continue reading
We’re hearing some grumbles about the Glenwood Refinement Project and some residents and businesses that might be affected or even displaced. One drawing of the new Franklin Boulevard Project through Glenwood shows four roundabouts within 1 mile, requiring widening in several places that would take out entire buildings and business frontage. The new Planned Parenthood building could lose part of its setback from the street. Continue reading
“I learned to read at age 4,” says Isabelle Rogers, who entered first grade at Oak Hill School a year later. She skipped kindergarten and eighth grade on her way to high school graduation from Oak Hill this year at age 16. Rogers started writing stories when she was 7. She won a Glitterary Award from the Young Writer’s Association the next year for her story “If It Rained Down Soda.” “I liked to write,” she says. “My parents encouraged me. I still bounce ideas off my parents.” Continue reading
In 1998, Brenda Tracy reported to the police that she was sexually assaulted — gang-raped — by four men, two of them Oregon State football players. More than 16 years after the ordeal, Tracy is speaking out and working to change Oregon laws dealing with campus sexual assault. The University of Oregon Intercollegiate Athletics Committee is sponsoring a talk by Tracy on Thursday, May 14. Continue reading
Who came up with the vehicle registration fee (VRF) measure on the May 19 ballot and why were other, more palatable options not suggested? Judging by letters to the editor in EW and The Register-Guard, these questions remain unanswered in the minds of many voters as the Tuesday voting deadline approaches. “The proposal was not generated or authored by any one person,” says Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky. “In fact, it was a citizen panel that recommended the fee to the board.” Continue reading
The April 25 earthquake that struck near Kathmandu, Nepal, followed by a second earthquake near Mount Everest on May 12, brought the tiny South Asian country to the forefront of the national conscience and brought out Eugene’s generous donors. Continue reading
In the wake of police shootings across the country, several bills regarding police body cameras were proposed in this year’s Oregon legislative session. Only one major bill is left, focusing on the issue of the body cams and public records. Rep. Lew Frederick (D-Portland) started with a bill mandating that every law enforcement agency in the state equip its officers with body cameras. It quickly became clear that would be financially impossible for many counties and rural areas in Oregon. Continue reading
Just off River Road, a 10-acre Eugene park boasting ponderosa pines, camas lilies and other native species is also full of another native plant — poison oak. Longtime park volunteer Becky Riley is leading the charge to remove poison oak from Rasor Park to prevent the city from needing to use herbicides to eradicate the plant. Continue reading
During the last six regular sessions of the Oregon Legislature, I have had the honor and privilege of serving with Marla Rae and Jon Chandler — two of the most profanely funny bipartisan lobbyists in the business — as a judge in the Golden Gobbler Awards honoring the worst bills introduced each session. This party has been around forever, hosted by Pamela Jones, Mark Nelson and his lobby firm, Public Affairs Counsel, at their beautiful home on the Willamette. Mark invites legislators, staff and lobbyists, and the price of admission is a sense of humor and a bill that should not be. Continue reading