News: Page 386

Equine Herpes Virus in Lane County Stable

News

Lane County horse owners have been worrying ever since the news began to filter out on social media over the weekend that a horse in Pleasant Hill had died of equine herpes virus. The state veterinarian has issued a press release saying there is no indication the virus has spread beyond the stable where the EHV-1 cases were first confirmed. EHV-1 does not yet have a fully effective vaccine and can be fatal to horses; it is not transmissable to humans. Continue reading →

Activist Alert 3-6-2014

Activist Alert

• The Eugene Budget Committee is meeting three times in March at Harris Hall in the Lane County Service Building. The second meeting will be at 5:30 pm Thursday, March 6, and the third will be at 6 pm Tuesday, March 11. The meetings follow the city manager’s recommendations for balancing the FY 2015 General Fund that were presented to the Budget Committee Feb. 26. Additional meetings will be planned for April. See eugene-or.gov/budget. Continue reading →

Biz Beat 3-6-2014

Biz Beat

We heard a late-night flight coming into Eugene Sunday, Feb. 23, was unable to land and was diverted to Portland. Grumpy Eugene passengers had to rent cars and make the early morning drive home. The pilot told passengers that he was unable to get ground wind speed information from the Eugene tower and so he could not land. What happened? We checked with Eugene Airport officials and learned that all pilots have discretion when it comes to safety and it appears some malfunction occured with the FAA equipment, which was quickly repaired.  Continue reading →

City Manager Proposes Cuts To Human Services, Human Rights

News

Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz has recommended cutting $250,000 from Human Services discretionary funding as part of balancing the city budget for fiscal year 2015, which begins July 1. These cuts would manifest as “reductions in support to local nonprofit agencies such as Looking Glass, St. Vincent de Paul, Womenspace, Lane ShelterCare and a myriad of others,” according to Human Services Commission (HSC) Chair Pat Farr. Continue reading →

Latino Group Examines Public Safety Issues

News

Grupo Latino de Acción Directa (GLAD)’s Feb. 28 forum at St. Alice’s church in Springfield focused on public safety. More than 140 members of the Latino community attended, including Timothy Doney, the new Springfield police chief and Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner, according to one of GLAD’s founders, Phil Carrasco. GLAD is hosting evening and luncheon forums as well as “Café con” (Coffee with) events that politically engage a broad spectrum of the Latino community, Carrasco says. These forums let people show up and speak their piece, without others speaking for them, he says.  Continue reading →

Gay Discrimination Efforts In Oregon

News

Just as LGBTQ activists are celebrating Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s decision to not defend Oregon’s gay marriage ban and celebrating Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto of that state’s anti-gay discrimination bill, along comes the reminder that the Oregon Family Council wants to throw a little cold water on the gey celebration. More precisely, OFC is the primary sponsor of an initiative that wants to dampen any future gay weddings in Oregon by allowing businesses to refuse “supporting same-sex ceremonies in violation of deeply held religious beliefs.”  Continue reading →

‘Wolfshop’ At PIELC Looks At Oregon Wolves

News
photo by ODFW

Oregon wolves are on the move. Just last week, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) confirmed that wolf tracks were found on Mount Hood last December. Oregon has enough suitable habitat for 1,450 wolves. So why did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) remove federal protections for gray wolves in 2011 in the eastern third of the state when there are currently only 64 wild wolves in Oregon? Wolf reintroduction advocates discussed this quandary and more at “Wolfshop,” part of the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference on Feb. 28.  Continue reading →