• Going caroling Christmas Eve downtown? Take a change of underwear and a
toothbrush in case you get jailed for gathering without a permit under the new
city ordinance that takes effect Dec. 24. A lot of folks are planning to gather at
Cozmic Pizza at 4:30 pm Christmas Eve to go caroling in protest. If anyone wants
non-traditional protest carols, check out tweaked lyrics from The Vernal
Education Project (www.vernalproject.org/other/rewrittencarols2002.pdf). To the
tune of “Let It Snow,” sing “The Bill of Rights is dying/ And our freedoms, all
goodbye-ing/ But so citizens won’t react/ We’ll bomb Iraq, bomb Iraq, bomb Iraq.”
• Coming up in late January is a big event with long-term implications for
Eugene. The city is planning a public design charrette, an “exploration of ideas
for a civic center encompassing a new City Hall, police services building and
other local government facilities.” Dates are Friday afternoon and evening, Jan.
23 at the Public Library and all day Saturday, Jan. 24 at the Atrium Building.
Architects, planning commissioners, Downtown Neighbors and others will be
expounding lofty ideas. We’re likely to see some inspired and visionary thinking
at the charrette, but we also need to watch out for hidden agendas. Voters sent a
strong message to the city in recent years by trouncing ballot measures to build
an excessive and elaborate police headquarters. Will the new police digs be
inspired by the new Ducks locker rooms at Autzen? We should also question
whether we really need a new City Hall and police station. Would downtown revi-
talization be better served by spending half those urban renewal millions on
something people would flock to and actually use, such as a big indoor communi-
ty swimming pool?
HOLIDAY MARKET
REPORTS GOOD SALES
that’s welcoming.”
Little says the Fairgrounds location near
downtown has served the Holiday Market
well over the years, and she appreciates Lane
County commissioners who have rejected the
idea of selling the Fairgrounds for a hospital
site and relocating to the outskirts. “Goshen
Holiday Market would not be quite the same
thing,” she says with a laugh. — Ted Taylor
• Congratulations to two local writers, Alison Cadbury and Mary O’Brien, for win-
ning awards for literary non-fiction in the 2003 Oregon Literary Fellowships to
Writers and to Publishers (www.literary-arts.org). Mountains and Rivers Press of
Eugene was also a winner. Competition was stiff for the fellowships. Eighteen
writers and five publishers were winners out of 258 applications. In her entry,
O’Brien submitted columns she wrote for EW along with a Hells Canyon book
project proposal. She recently had a column on risk assessment published world-
wide by Rachel’s Environment & Health News (www.rachels.org). O’Brien is cur-
rently working on alternatives for three Utah national forest plans.
• Former County Commission candidate Bill Fleenor of western Lane County has
put together a web page that documents the voting record of Commissioner
Anna Morrison. Check out www.williamfleenor.com/ANNAWATCH.htm and find
out what Anna’s been up to in recent years.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff.
Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
A S H L A N D ' S I N N & S PA
AT
L ITHIA S PRINGS
TED TAYLOR
Saturday Market’s Annual Holiday
Market is cooking along in its final days and
will be open from 10 am to 4 pm Christmas
Eve for last-minute shopping, food and live
music. The free event is held at the Lane
County Fairgrounds on 13th Avenue.
“Things are going great,” says Holiday
Market Manager Beth Little. “We did get off
CITY PONDERS STREET
to a slow start, which is not unusual for us
DIRECTIONS, GARAGE
since we operate on more of a public market-
place model, but then it really has been mov-
A new Central Area Transportation Study
ing pretty well.”
(CATS) for downtown Eugene
Little says the mar-
proposes making Willamette and
ket is not able to track
five other street segments two-way
dollar sales or atten-
and building a parking garage
dance accurately from
costing up to $16 million.
year to year, but she
Eugene made many of its streets
figures vendors are
one way a half century ago in an ef-
doing better than 2001
fort to make traffic flow more effi-
and 2002, but perhaps
ciently. But now city planners have
not as good as 2000.
found that one-way streets may
Hundreds of ven-
force people to drive farther, in-
dors are represented at
crease congestion in some areas
the Holiday Market
and make it hard to gain access to
and the Farmers
downtown businesses. To address
Market next door at
the problem, the city has proposed
the
Fairgrounds.
re-opening six street segments
Booths include every- Tamara Scott of Mood Lighting downtown to two-way traffic.
Candles booth #200.
thing from original art
The
proposal
includes
to clothing, toys and games, herbs and mas-
Willamette Street from 13th to 20th avenues.
sage.
Making the street two-way would also make it
“We have a community that really appre-
easier on fire trucks deployed at the new fire
ciates both spending their money locally and
station at Willamette and 13th. The street
supporting local, one-of-a-kind crafted
could be reconfigured next year at a cost of
items,” she says. “We thank our core support-
about $169,000 in changing stripes, lights and
ers — the folks who come every week, the
signs. The plan also proposes to add a bike
folks who enjoy having a meal in the food
lane on Willamette from 11th to 19th avenues.
court, who enjoy the free music and a place
Other sections to be converted to two-way
• Ralph Nader’s exploration of a presidential run 2004 is generating a lot of chat-
ter, particularly on-line. One of the new websites that Dan Carol (Kumbaya
Dammit) recommends is www.repentantnadervoter.com and it includes an open
letter to Nader. Here’s an excerpt: “(Bush’s) presidency has been so destructive
that the premise of your campaign — that the two parties are controlled by the
same special interests and are therefore identical — has been proven wrong. If Al
Gore were our president, we can be sure that significant disasters would have
been avoided, including the tax cuts for the rich, the near destruction of the U.N.,
the Iraq War, and more. And even worse are the initiatives that the Bush adminis-
tration will likely roll out in the future.”
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LAST CHANCE FOR SLOGANS
EW’s contest to name a slogan for the city of Eugene is drawing to an end (see News
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