We've got issues.
VAL’S VALUES I am proudly casting my vote for Val Hoyle, a pragmatic progressive running for Oregon secretary of state. Under Val’s leadership as Oregon’s house majority leader, we got expanded sick leave coverage, we closed a giant loophole that used to allow people to purchase guns without having a background check and we passed a clean fuels bill. She led all this while successfully representing a rural, blue-collar district. Continue reading
• The primary election is Tuesday, May 17, if you haven’t handed in your ballot yet, do it now! Vote! Don’t feel you know the candidates? Take a minute to glance at your Voters Pamphlet and EW’s endorsements and coverage. In our local primary election just one vote really can make the difference between who gets elected mayor, put on the City Council or is the next president. The Democratic Party of Lane County will be holding an official election night watch party at the Wild Duck Cafe starting at 7:30 pm with many candidates attending. Continue reading
The big surprise revealed about the new Eugene City Hall at the Wednesday, April 27, City Council work session was not that the cost had climbed from the original $15 million to $25 million. The surprise was that the council voted not to pause and become more knowledgeable and accountable for the situation. Councilor George Brown’s motion to hold “at least one more session” on the project’s budget, costs and financing went wanting when it failed to pass, garnering just three votes. Continue reading
JOIN THE REVOLUTION Today I went to my first political rally. “A Future to Believe In,” the signs read. The hour and a half in line followed by the event had me believing those words, because I got to hear Bernie Sanders and his New York accent preaching his gospel from less than 100 feet away. Continue reading
As we go to press, rumors are becoming more concrete that short-fingered vulgarian and presidential hopeful Donald Trump will make an appearance in Eugene the evening of Friday, May 6. A nonviolent counter-protest is in the works with more than 300 people signed on. Search “Drumpf in Eugene” on Facebook to find the event. Continue reading
Old Hazeldell Quarry, an investment of Ed King (King Estate Winery), has applied to Lane County to change the zoning of a place in Oakridge known as “TV Butte.” The area, which is outside Oakridge’s urban growth boundary, is currently zoned F1 and F2 forestlands. If the zone change is granted, the property would be open to quarry mining. TV Butte is the center of an irreplaceable and endangered piece of local pioneer and Indigenous history. Continue reading
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN In the last year, the world has lost two powerful women in the struggle to end not just aerial spraying but the use of pesticides on all land. A year ago, Audrey Moore left us after making her mark with the first pesticide ban ordinance to get on the ballot in Oregon! And last week we lost Jan Wroncy, who so graciously took me under her wing after my first aerial spray exposure. She and others taught me the history of aerial spraying in Oregon, and it’s not a pretty one. There have been too many casualties on the way. Continue reading
Thumbs up for the civil political discourse in our community, compared to much of the country these days. Continue reading
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork. — Edward Abbey I confess I may have too much time on my hands as a geezer/retiree. These days, instead of plowing through unemployment cases as I did in my last 12 years with the state appeals board, I’ve gone back to enjoying some of my favorite desert rat ecologists. Continue reading
VOTE ON CITY HALL We now have a proposed new city hall planned for the next 100 years. It looks like a breadbox surrounded by windows — and is earthquake proof. The estimated price is about $25 million. We need to think “outside the box.” We need an advisory vote on the November ballot to authorize spending $10 million to purchase the current EWEB building. This vote would indirectly approve the selling of the EWEB building by the commissioners for $10 million. Continue reading