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The air was calm, the birdsong brisk, as sunlight slanted through the canopy, spotlighting the Wiley Griffon Historical Monument in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery. It may have been a trick of the light, but Wiley’s bronze eye sparkled. The Preacher and I stood looking out into the forest, overlooking the gravesite on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Medgar Evers, June 12. Continue reading
Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” is often misquoted by opponents of immigration reform because a portion of the poem reads “Good fences make good neighbors.” As Frost tells it: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder Continue reading
Tim Giraudier/Headwaters Photographic. Lupine on green island. Continue reading
Since I was going to drive all the way to Tucson from Eugene for a weekend retreat, I decided that afterward, on Monday, I’d continue a couple of hours down U.S.-19 to the Mexican border town of Nogales, and stay until Saturday. A mini-immersion experience in life at the border. Continue reading
The politics of gun control today clearly indicate that at the federal or state level in Oregon, legislation to either enact new limitations or expand current regulations regarding firearm ownership is highly unlikely. Accepting this, rather than continue this particular debate, may I offer a proposal which could enhance gun safety while presenting absolutely no threat, real or perceived, to anyone’s Second Amendment rights? Continue reading
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a reprint of a column we ran June 30, 2005, and we think it’s as relevant today as it was eight years ago. Dear Diary: People have been asking me of late if it isn’t time we thought again about building the Emerald Canal. I usually respond with a “Don’t hold your breath unless you can hold it for years or some such,” but they are persisting. Continue reading
Homo headlines are popping. On the global scene, marriage equality now reigns in 14 countries. This spring New Zealand amended its Marriage Act, Brazil gave the green light to same-sex marriage, and France passed marriage equality, including equal adoption rights. The first to marry under France’s new law, Vincent and Bruno, exchanged vows and rings last week. Let’s hear it for liberté, égalité, fraternité! (Et sororité, for un peu more égalité.) Continue reading
As a high school freshman Katelyn VanBerkel would carefully pick her way through the broken glass and muddied potholes of the trailer park in Glenwood, warily skirting a drunk prostitute, avoiding the local junkies until she could make it onto the warm and dry bus that would take her to the one place she felt safe, school. Against all the statistical odds, Katelyn has worked through poverty, abandonment and homelessness to graduate with a 3.4 GPA. She will attend the UO on full scholarship. Continue reading
When they eventually forced us onto this reservation, our forefathers made the provision in the treaty that we will forever be able to utilize this land we once roamed. — Russell Jim, Yakama Nation Continue reading
David Matthew Minor died five years ago this month in a bicycle-car collision at the corner of 13th and Willamette. His “ghost bike” memorial still stands in front of FedEx/Kinkos: the white bike that his mother Susan keeps surrounded by flowers, and the sign peeking out of the petunias “Start Seeing Everyone” reminding drivers to be aware of pedestrians and cyclists. Continue reading