We've got issues.
Nightingale Health Sanctuary (NHS), a city-sanctioned rest stop, needs help from its supporters. As many of you know, the Eugene Mission generously gave NHS a … Continue reading
Why do so many homeless people have dogs? This question comes up a lot in our town, where many people hang around downtown with their animals. The first answer is a simple one: Homeless people have animals for all the same reasons housed people have them. It’s a great feeling to be loved and accepted without judgment, to have a warm companion to hug when you are feeling sad, and a friend who is always ready to walk with you—no matter how far you have to go. Continue reading
The Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) met Feb. 17 and dutifully accepted public testimony addressing the main agenda item quietly described in an internal memo and low-profiled to the public: “Management has negotiated contracts with two providers of essential Advanced Metering Infrastructure services, hardware and software (Harris and Sensus). Management seeks approval of these two contracts to allow for the AMI project to proceed into the initial implementation phase during 2015.” Continue reading
As members of the Occupy Eugene Library Committee, we want to correct some of the disinformation that has been circulating regarding the arrest of one of our members who challenged the city’s sidewalk privatization initiative. Continue reading
The city of Eugene has been encouraging local businesses recently to participate in a “sidewalk commerce” permit program, which consists of the city “renting” the public sidewalks in front of a business to the business itself as a “vending location.” This permit is different from the “outdoor cafe” permit program, which is what allows businesses to have cafe tables outside their establishments. The sidewalk commerce permit gives the business control of the adjacent sidewalk, so that they can theoretically conduct commerce on the sidewalk. Continue reading
Recently both EW and the R-G have been covering the problems facing downtown Eugene. Here are some changes I would make to improve the situation, focusing on inclusivity, safety and getting the most bang for the city’s buck. First, I would replace the Downtown Guides with a pedestrian team of CAHOOTS-style crisis-intervention workers. I would expect this change to have a quick effect, and it wouldn’t cost the city a penny more. Continue reading
The recent celebration of Occupy Wall Street’s (OWS) second anniversary triggered a series of blogs with pronouncements that ranged from “Occupy is dead,” to critiques of its organizational (non)structure, to suggestions how we should act in order to succeed (by those who claim we have failed). The question is, of course, how do we define success and what is Occupy’s aim? Ultimately, Occupy can succeed only if people provide support by donating time, money, materials, ideas and good will. Continue reading
The Occupy Wall Street meme went viral in September 2011. People all over America assembled to oppose the astonishing Wall Street bailouts, which continued after emergency assistance to Main Street dried up. Street drama was electrifying. Looking back, history will show that Occupy was the beginning of a paradigm — shifting people’s reaction to the third structural crisis of American capitalism (after the depressions of 1893 and the 1930s). Both of these previous crises resulted in fundamental rewrites of the operating code of the American political operating system. Continue reading
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