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Slant 3-7-2013

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• The South Willamette Street Improvement Plan’s six design concepts for the street, which will be repaved in 2014, were presented last week to a big crowd. Willamette between 24th and 32nd avenues has needed an overhaul for a long time — its four-lane configuration and redundant driveways that act like tiny intersections have led to an accident rate almost twice the state average for similar roads. Bikers must choose between sharing the lane with impatient drivers or risk riding on the sidewalk. Continue reading →

Slant 2-21-2013

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 • What about that flat fee measure that is expected to be on Eugene’s May ballot, competing with other money measures? We’re trying to keep an open mind, waiting to hear all the arguments. But as a very practical matter, maybe the city should take another look at the measure considering that the fee is opposed by both Mike Clark, the most conservative member of the City Council, and Betty Taylor, the most liberal member of the council. Continue reading →

Slant 2-14-2013

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•  We’re not convinced that UO campus police should be armed with lethal weapons. Eugene police are nearby and more guns on campus increases the likelihood of accidental shootings and the use of deadly force when it’s not needed. The campus cops are already training to use Glocks purchased for them, so we wonder if the decision to arm them is a done deal, with little public input. Two more informational meetings are scheduled: 4:30 to 6 pm Tuesday, Feb. Continue reading →

Slant 2-7-2013

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• Bonny Bettman McCornack is back in our pages this week reviving her City-Zen Journal column. We’ve missed her strong voice and clear analysis of complex issues. She retired in frustration in 2009 after a memorable eight years on the Eugene City Council and numerous committees and commissions in Lane County. Often she was the only voice in public meetings asking tough questions and calling for accountability and transparency. Continue reading →

Slant 1-31-2013

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• The proposed $10 a month stormwater fee hike has been reduced to $5 after a public outcry against it and doubts that the City Council would approve it. But some interesting ideas have surfaced that might be worth pursuing as the city struggles to raise much-needed revenues. One proposal kicking around unofficial email lists is changing our city stormwater fee to reflect the footprint of living units and other impermeable spaces. Continue reading →

Slant 1-24-2013

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• The city is in a fiscal pickle with major cuts in city services behind us and more to come, but how do we go from sour pickle to sweet pickle? Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz and his staff have come up with a set of fees (in lieu of new taxes) that would cost each household in the city up to $240 a year, with partial waivers for low-income households. The city is currently facing a $6 million budget gap and the proposal would generate about $7.5 million a year, eliminating the gap and restoring some services that have already been cut. Continue reading →

Slant 1-17-2013

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• Martin Luther King Jr. Day is upon us once again and we are reminded of how far we have come as a nation, and, alas, how very far we still have to go. Our nation takes an entire day each year to honor King’s dreams and quote his speeches, but are we really listening to his message? If so, why the growing disparity between rich and poor? Why are unions constantly under attack and shrinking? Why are women, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans still earning less than white men? Continue reading →

Slant 1-10-2013

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• A critically important message to American educators, and all the rest of us, came from Dr. Yong Zhao Jan. 4 at the City Club of Eugene meeting at the Hilton. He’s the UO College of Education associate dean for global and online learning. Zhao said American education is copying Chinese education while the Chinese are moving in the opposite direction, copying America. That means more standardization, more centralization and more testing for American kids, practices in China that have hurt innovation and entrepreneurship. Continue reading →

Slant 1-3-2013

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• Former ACLU field director Claire Syrett took the Eugene Ward 7 city councilor position vacated by Andrea Ortiz, and we were delighted at the choice. We still have high hopes for Syrett as a much-needed addition to the progressive voices on the City Council, but we’re a bit puzzled by a couple of her votes so far. She voted to sell the 1.89 acre Courthouse Garden property, which donates about 6,000 pounds of food each year to feed Lane County’s homeless and hungry, without any public discussion or a plan in place for a new garden site. Continue reading →