Opinion: Page 377

BINGO!

Viewpoint

We could be electing a feminist president, a champion for women — totally awesome! But we’d better brace ourselves. With Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Democratic candidate, we’re barreling into an 18-month spin cycle of hateful hype.  I’m not talking about our reasonable objections to her stance on climate, fracking, GMOs, Wall Street, foreign policy and real stuff like that. Of course we should be challenging her and pushing her toward greener and more peaceful policies.  Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 4-30-2015

Letters

A BETTER MUPTE The Eugene City Council will soon meet to discuss reviewing and revising the Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE), which enabled the construction of multi-unit housing in the downtown area including the controversial Capstone project, 13th & Olive. I hope the council will either allow MUPTE to sunset or redefine its parameters for mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, commercial developments.  Continue reading →

Slant 4-30-2015

Slant

• Kathmandu has been a sister city to Eugene since 1975 and many Eugeneans, including Councilor Betty Taylor, have visited there. The earthquake death toll in Nepal grows by the hour. The best way to help Kathmandu right now is through financial donations. The website kathmandurelief.org has been recommended by the Eugene/Katmandu Sister City Association, but the organization does not currently have 501(c)(3) status, so donations are not tax deductible. See eugeneweekly.com/blogs for updates. Continue reading →

Seeing Red

Indigenous perspectives on peace and justice

Viewpoint

This year Lane Community College embarked on a Cultural Competency Professional Development initiative designed as educational programs for faculty and staff about the history, culture and current experiences of diverse peoples and communities. In this context, the Lane Peace Center Committee chose to focus our upcoming 8th annual Peace Symposium on indigenous peoples. Our purpose is to look at the history and culture of the United States from an indigenous perspective, to borrow a phrase from one of our keynote speakers, Suzan Harjo, “Seeing Red.” Continue reading →

A Sense of Place

Why we preserve authentic buildings and neighborhoods

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Thurston-Briggs House

April 26 through May 2 is National Preservation Week and most people don’t really know about it. We do appreciate the historic places around us. We can appreciate buildings from an earlier age for their quality of construction and materials, their remarkable and memorable shape and form or for what might have occurred behind their doors. Sometimes those buildings sit in the landscape, isolated and unique. Sometimes they’re found together in neighborhoods, or the several neighborhoods that make up a town. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 4-23-2015

Letters

EWEB LISTENS Being a public utility means listening to your customers. The Eugene Water & Electric Board did that last October when its elected commissioners adopted the first smart meter “opt-in” program in the nation. Customers who want to take advantage of new services (enhanced energy monitoring, new billing options, remote start and stop of service, better outage and leak detection, etc.) can choose to have a new meter installed to enable enhanced services. Continue reading →

Slant 4-23-2015

Slant

• The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is facing a $32 million deficit in the next two-year budget cycle, and cuts are looming. The agency is in a bind due in part to its reliance on revenues from fishing and hunting licenses. It’s a quandary. Fishing license fees have gone up while there are fewer fish to catch, so fewer people go fishing. And hunting is no longer such a big part of Oregon’s culture, at least not in urban areas. Continue reading →

It’s a Date!

Viewpoint

Whatcha doing on Tuesday, April 28? I’ll pause here for however many thumb taps, finger swipes or page flicks it takes to check your calendar. Nothing? No idea what’s happening that date? Any guesses? No, it’s not the launch date for Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda’s new sitcom, which doesn’t premier on Netflix until May 8. Awesome, and worth noting in your date book, but not the correct answer. Continue reading →

Playing Offense at Kesey Square

Adapting a public space for people, not against people

Viewpoint
Overhead view of Kesey Square

What is there about Kesey Square that needs fixing? It depends on whom you ask. Even the little bird sitting on Ken Kesey’s shoulder knows that there has long been a desire by those concerned with the need to improve the pedestrian and shopping experience downtown to fill up the space with a new building. Theirs is a defensive point of view. They see the square’s present clientele as a public nuisance that seriously detracts from their shopping mall ideal. Filling in the square would move that problem to somewhere else. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 4-16-2015

Letters

STOP THE PIPELINE Holy crap, a pipeline in Oregon! At last, a climate hero boldly speaking up to protect Oregonians' air, water, land rights and economy! Thank you, Rep. Peter Buckley from Ashland! Telling the truth and boldly facing reality is so very unpopular in the political world. So far, no other Oregonian elected has joined citizens opposing the fracked gas export projects two Canadian companies are trying to force into Oregon.  Continue reading →