News: Page 321

Activist Alert 4-9-2015

Activist Alert

• The proposed Lane County Vehicle Registration Fee, Ballot Measure 20-231, will be the topic at City Club of Eugene at noon Friday, April 10, at the Downtown Athletic Club, 999 Willamette St. Speakers will include County Commissioner Pete Sorensen and Lane County Transportation Planning Program Supervisor Lydia McKinney. Cost is $5 for nonmembers. See cityclubofeugene.org for more information. Continue reading →

Biz Beat 4-9-2015

Biz Beat

Whole Foods is preparing to begin construction in April for its new store downtown that will take up one full block near The Shedd Institute at 8th and Broadway. Two buildings on the site will come down and the new store of about 38,000 square feet is expected to open in March 2016. This project has been relatively uncontroversial. Whole Foods made headlines in 2006 when the company proposed a 50,000-square-foot building in the same area, but required city subsidies of $8 million for a 500-car adjacent parking garage to be shared with the city. Continue reading →

Alex Ruiz

I was more serious than other kids

Happening People
Alex Ruiz

“My dad worked for Rhythm and Blooms,” says Alex Ruiz, who was born in Eugene, two months before his parents moved back to their hometown of Santiago Apóstol in Oaxaca, Mexico. “They wanted me to be a U.S. citizen.” Ruiz returned to Oregon at age 11, lived with his older brother Lorenso and began sixth grade at Cal Young Middle School. “I didn’t know English,” he says. “It was challenging.” He took ELL classes and learned the language, but got into trouble with friends who were experimenting with drugs. Continue reading →

Hi Fidelity

New music and food venue Hi Fi Music Hall to open downtown

News
Mike Hergenreter (above) and Danny Kime

Three years ago, local music business veterans Mike Hergenreter and Danny Kime shared a vision — a music hall with a hi-tech twist. Come early May, that dream will be a reality. The future of live music has come to Eugene.   Hi Fi Music Hall will open as a new 700-person capacity venue with two stages, two bars, a restaurant and a patio at 44 E. 7th Ave., the former space of Dusk night club and Rock ‘n’ Rodeo. Zeppelin tribute act Zepparella will play the inaugural show May 8. Continue reading →

Law Would Clarify Rights In Strip Clubs

News

Several ideas for new laws to regulate strip clubs are making their way to Oregon’s Capitol in Salem for consideration. Several months ago a coalition of dancers, social workers and advocates began meeting to discuss what regulations they should push for. They ended up with proposals for two bills that would affect establishments providing “live entertainment” all across Oregon. Most of the impetus for the proposed legislation is out of Portland, a city that has had a debatable reputation for having the most strippers per capita in the U.S.  Continue reading →