We've got issues.
Traditional glassblowing is returning to the Whit. The Gudger Hot Shop announced this week the opening of a studio in the Cornerstone Art Studios, 1068 W. 2nd Ave. Andrew Glenn Gudger and his fellow hot glass artists will be on the First Friday ArtWalk and the public will be able to watch them work. Continue reading
At a June 25 board meeting, 4J Superintendent Sheldon Berman asked the school board to release him from his contract a year early, stunning many in the room. According to parent and private math tutor Gina Graham, “The whole room went silent. Everyone just looked at each other.” Continue reading
When the abruptly former UO president Michael Gottfredson first took office in 2012, even the university’s resident muckraking blogger, economics prof Bill Harbaugh of UO Matters, was hard-pressed to dig up dirt on the unassuming administrator. Barely two years later on Aug. 6, Gottfredson announced he was stepping down immediately, and the next day the UO’s new independent governing board voted to give the man, who was giving up the presidency as well as a tenured professorship, a nearly $1 million buyout. Continue reading
National high school graduation rates are on the rise: A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education found that high school graduation rates in 2012 marked an unprecedented high of 80 percent. However, last year in Eugene, roughly only 64 percent of high school students graduated in four years in the 4J School District. Continue reading
Spencer Butte Middle School’s garden program has grown from the seed of an idea to a self-sustaining garden with its own economic income. The garden, managed by students, sells its lettuce and other veggies to the Eugene School District, which then uses them in the cafeteria at the school. “Kids run the entire garden, though we do have a volunteer who helps get the starts going,” says BJ Blake, principal at Spencer Butte. “But the plants are taken care of and harvested by our kids.” Continue reading
Back when George Russell served as superintendent of 4J, he had to deal with racism on a regular basis. During a 4J Board of Education meeting about school closures, he says, a man who he assumes was a student’s dad “came up to the podium and said, ‘That’s what happens when you hire the n-word for affirmative action reasons.’” Continue reading
Oregon DEQ followed up on the pre-enforcement notice it sent to Keven Cruickshank in June for operating a failing septic system since at least February at 82855 N. Butte Road in Creswell (EW 7/10, goo.gl/KbsSuw) with a $9,305 civil penalty on July 31. DEQ also assessed a $4,707 penalty against Albany-based Dave Hunter Company on Aug. 4 for hazardous waste law violations at its industrial machine shop in Albany. Continue reading
A bumblebee handing out shots amid a flood of flashy, radiant costumes on the Saturday Market stage at the downtown Park Blocks marked the beginning of this year’s SLUG (Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod) queen coronation Aug. 8. This observance of unconventional beauty was a heated competition between four colorful candidates that was ultimately won by Bulbous Slimebledore, aka local software developer Daniel Borson. Continue reading
This short blurb quoting Peter Van Buren was sent out today by the Institute for Public Accuracy, http://www.accuracy.org/ Continue reading
The Lane County Commission acted against Eugene’s paid sick leave ordinance before the city had its public hearing on the issue. The three ordinances that the county rushed to vote contain a typo in a reference to Oregon law, and they are similar to model legislation to preempt sick leave put forth at the state level by the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Continue reading