We've got issues.
The tents are back. Set up by SLEEPS (Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to Sleep), the tents are reminders of two basic biological needs: the need for shelter and for sleep. These needs go with being human, and they are denied to the unhoused in our city. Continue reading
The best way to win any debate is to define the debate topic and establish the rules to be followed. The firearms industry and its lobbyist organization, the NRA, are working 24/7 to do just that. Continue reading
The Oregon State Aviation Board will be holding a public hearing regarding Waldo Lake on Thursday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8 pm. This hearing will be held in the Ken Long Conference Room at the Willamalane Center in Springfield. Continue reading
As the fight over genetically modified canola and other GM crops escalates in the Willamette Valley, a group of farmers and neighbors in Benton County have spent the past year talking about how to stop GMOs. They’ve asked the question that people across the country ask when faced with corporate threats — such as GMOs, fracking or water privatization — how do we say no? Traditional environmental activism would have them writing letters to elected officials, submitting public comments on proposed GMO plans and testifying at hearings. Continue reading
Eugene public schools have been hit hard by budget cuts. Since the 2008 financial crisis, 4J has made more than $32 million in budget cuts and spent nearly $37 million in reserves. It’s difficult to conceptualize what such continuous loss in school budgets means. To supplement the anecdotal evidence, EW is publishing this column to draw attention to the cuts, compare current conditions to that of past school years, and highlight programs that attempt to fill some gaps. Continue reading
I keep hearing the question, “Why are farmers so worried about canola?” For the last seven months I’ve studied the topic, spoken with diverse farmers, read books on seed-saving and vegetable development, and researched canola. Here’s what I’ve learned and what you should know before the Oregon Department of Agriculture holds its hearing in Salem on Jan. 23: Continue reading
The doorbell rang. I was grating an organic beet for our dinner salad, which we’d have as soon as Wifey got home from yoga. Ding-dong. A quick rinse swirled magenta beet juice down the sink. Dish towel in hand, I raced to the door. Sometimes the neighborhood tamale maker has her bilingual kid ask if I want to buy any, which I never do because we’re corn and gluten free. “Hello?” I called into the dark. A UPS truck drove away. Continue reading
The U.S. military has a well-kept and shameful secret. It is called military sexual trauma, and it is of epic proportions, with over 3,000 reported rapes or sexual assaults occurring each year. Because of under-reporting, it is estimated that the actual number of incidents is closer to 19,000 per year or an average of 52 per day. Continue reading
It seemed to happen overnight. A new uprising for Indigenous rights and environmental justice has begun. Most of us heard about it through social media first. Flash mob Round Dance videos uploaded to YouTube of First Nations in Canada reclaiming public spaces to send their message of un-honored treaties have now reached all four corners of the globe. Solidarity rallies all over the U.S. have been held and have spread to as far as Egypt, New Zealand, Palestine, England and Norway. Continue reading
H. Rapp Brown once quipped that “violence is as American as apple pie.” It seems we’ve spent the last fifty years proving he was right. With each massacre of innocents we rekindle our resolve to do something, to change something to, somehow, prevent the next tragedy. Everyone of us has an idea, a plan, a cure; yet, it seems nothing changes. Some suggest we should disarm everyone; we should somehow remove those 300 million firearms from our midst. Continue reading