Eugene Weekly

• Our Pop Quiz on City Hall this week is an attempt to look more closely at the predicament we have gotten ourselves in regarding the fate of City Hall. Is destruction imminent? We hear the city has not yet acquired a demolition permit. Meanwhile, some new information is being batted around this week about estimates for remodeling that were done a couple of years ago by Turner Construction’s Portland office. Was the Eugene City Council given an accurate analysis of the true costs of renovating City Hall vs. tearing it down and rebuilding? Continue reading →

• We lamented in this column Aug. 14 that Eugene City Hall is about to be destroyed following a split decision by the City Council to abandon the sustainable concept of repairing, rebuilding or repurposing the full city block structure. Rowell Brokaw Architects and city leaders are planning a brief celebration of “Eugene City Hall Past & Future” from 11 am to noon Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the corner of 8th and Pearl. “We will honor the history of the building and look forward to our new City Hall,” reads the announcement. Continue reading →

• If you are worried about public safety in Lane County, consider that this county has received $2,736,425 worth of surplus military equipment from the Department of Defense —  more than any other Oregon county. That’s according to an Aug. 15 Associated Press story in The Oregonian. Equipment includes one wheeled combat vehicle, 91 infrared illuminators, two ordnance disposal robots and 15 rifles. Coming free to cops across America, this surplus stuff was manufactured with our tax dollars. Continue reading →

• We hear rumors that Eugene City Hall could fall to the wrecking ball as early as the first week in September. Gone will be the iconic round council chambers and a city block of massive reinforced concrete understructure — despite earlier decisions by the City Council to repair, rebuild or reuse the $40 million building. The decision-making process is obscure and puzzling, particularly since the evidence is clear that many millions of dollars can be saved by reinforcing and rebuilding on the existing understructure and its valuable underground parking.  Continue reading →

• Does anybody remember Rudy Crew? He was the nationally known education expert hired by Gov. John Kitzhaber to figure out how to finance and fix Oregon’s public education system. He was a bust. It was soon apparent that he wasn’t that interested in Oregon kids and he was off to the next bigger job. The governor then wisely persuaded Nancy Golden, recently retired and much loved superintendent of Springfield schools, to become his education czar. Nobody doubts her competence or her dedication to Oregon kids. So, this is a cautionary tale. Continue reading →

• A majority of five of the Eugene City Council, backed by strong support from Mayor Kitty Piercy, showed that rare quality of leadership this week in passing both the sick leave law and a tighter climate recovery ordinance. Six councilors favored climate action. The Register-Guard, conservative councilors, the idiotic and out-of-touch Lane County Commission and, of course, the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce all asked for either delays or no such action as sick leave for workers in this city. Continue reading →

• Eugene’s proposed ordinance requiring paid sick leave time for employees who work in Eugene inspired a majority of Lane County commissioners to vote to prohibit such an ordinance in the county, but it’s not clear why these reactionary commissioners are so offended by an improvement in working conditions for their constituents (who vote, by the way). It’s a turf battle that may end up in the courts. Continue reading →

• UO professor and research psychologist Jennifer Freyd (a nationally recognized scholar and a source for our series on campus rape) wrote a July 14 opinion piece for Al Jazeera America, “Official campus statistics for sexual violence mislead.” In it, she discusses the urgency for widespread administration of expert-created campus climate surveys (recommended by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault) — the same type of survey the UO rejected due to Freyd’s potential “bias.” The piece notes these surveys are Continue reading →

 Marijuana legalization in Oregon is likely to be on the November ballot (we will know for sure Aug. 2 when election officials verify valid initiatives) and we’re already hearing concerns about kids eating THC-laced cookies and candy, along with being exposed to even more messages that pot is OK. Well, we like to think that legalizing and regulating pot will pump millions into education, including programs that teach kids about the dangers of drug use while their brains are still forming. Continue reading →

• Nothing celebrates freedom on the Fourth of July like a police state crackdown! Eugene’s plans to begin “no refusal” blood test weekends with Independence Day Friday has drawn criticism from across the country. “No refusal” means suspected impaired drivers who refuse breath testing will be blood tested for alcohol. Is it legal? A 2013 Supreme Court decision says it is that as long as the police have a warrant for the blood draw. Warrants can be achieved with a quick phone call to a judge. Continue reading →