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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2006)
• What’s going on downtown? The Tate is nearly finished, and July 28 saw the first move-in to unit #202, according to Realtor Jeanette Underwood. Nice, upscale con- dos, six stories high at 13th and Olive, and only eight out of the 47 units are still avail- able. Cheapest two-bedroom condo remaining is a mere $423,500. Meanwhile, the old Sears site across from the library is still a hole in the ground, and word is sev- eral developers and architects have asked for more time to come up with pro- posals for the city-owned property. The city has extended the deadline to Sept. 15., and the council will look at the RFPs at its Oct. 11 meeting. Will Conner & Woolley submit plans? The developers aren’t talking, and the rumors say both yes and no. The city is open to just about any development plan, but the RFP clearly favors a substantial mixed-use project with some housing included. Will Oregon Research Institute’s failed plans for the site scare anybody off? Not likely. ORI got themselves into a financing pickle due in large part to their nonprofit status. roadless areas while it reviews governors’ pe- titions to conserve roadless areas in their states, but the agency is breaking that prom- ise by allowing logging operations in the Siskiyou’s Kalmiopsis Roadless Areas to move forward despite Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s pending petition. The Forest Service has announced plans to auction off another roadless area, the Blackberry unit in the North Kalmiopsis, on Aug. 4. More roadless logging and drilling operations are planned for the winter in at least four states. Kulongoski, along with the governors of Washington, California and New Mexico and a half-dozen conservation groups, is suing the Bush administration to restore the 2001 roadless rule. Federal Judge Elizabeth LaPorte heard arguments on Aug. 1, but as we go to press she has not granted the plaintiffs’ requested in- junction to stall the Mike’s Gulch and Blackberry log- ging operations. Meanwhile a new conserva- tion alliance, composed of hunters, anglers and business owners, Robert has joined the fight to protect Oregon’s roadless forests. “Roadless wild- lands provide some of the best places to hunt and fish in the state,” said Oregon Council Trout Unlimited Chair Tom Wolf, part of the new Oregon Wildlands Alliance. “Unspoiled roadless lands need to continue to be pro- tected to provide key habitat for fish and wildlife and ensure these resources are avail- able to future generations.” The Cascadia Wildlands Project and other conservation groups plan to protest the log- ging of Mike’s Gulch at noon Aug. 7 at the Siskiyou-Rogue River National Forest Service office in Medford. For carpool info, contact CWP at 434-1463. The governor will hold an open hearing on Oregon’s roadless forest protections in Medford from 6 - 8 pm on Aug. 16 at Medford City Hall, 411 W 8th St. To learn more about the Oregon Wildlands Alliance, visit www.oregonroad- less.org — Kera Abraham HIROSHIMA REMEMBERED Eugene-area and peace and social justice groups are coming together on the 61st an- niversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to say “never again” to nuclear war. The week-long events begin Friday, Aug. 4 with the Shadow Project and end Aug. 10 with a showing of The Last Atomic Bomb and a public appearance by noted film- maker and former Eugene resi- dent Robert Richter. The purpose of this year’s observations is to “bring the community to- gether and raise public awareness of the unfortu- nately growing threat of nuclear war,” according to a statement from the organ- izers. The Bush administra- tion is currently seeking to end the ban on nuclear testing while Richter other nations are busy develop- ing nuclear technologies. The Shadow Project, recalling the shad- ows left on sidewalks and walls by those who were incinerated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will begin with a gathering from 4:30 to 8 pm Friday, Aug. 4 at the Campbell Senior Center. For information call 684-4548 or 683-1350. Beginning at 7 pm Sunday, Aug. 6 at Alton Baker Park is the “Never Again: Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration” with a community potluck and a talk by Patricia Hall on Asian American history. A 9 pm “Lantern Ceremony-Ritual Candle Float” follows. Richter’s film will be shown at 7 pm Thursday, Aug. 10 at 180 PLC on campus, 14th and Kincaid. The 90-minute documen- tary interweaves the story of a Nagasaki sur- vivor who has spent the last 50 years telling • Speaking of Conner & Woolley, word on the street is that the developers are pondering a major remodel of the street level floor of the old Symantec/Bon building on Broadway. The upper floors and basement space are leased out, but the most visible ground floor remains an eyesore with blacked-out, cracked windows inviting vandalism and loitering. Creating attractive retail and restaurant space would do wonders for West Broadway’s ambiance and would also generate some goodwill for C&W who are known for buying up commercial property downtown and not making improvements. Meanwhile, downtown security guards have managed to discourage loitering along Broadway and the “street people” have moved over to the library, scaring off a few patrons. One cool thing going on downtown at the moment is the Safe & Sound homeless work crew, in partnership with Looking Glass New Roads Program. Homeless youth are being paid minimum wage to pick up trash, paint over graffiti and do other tasks to beautify downtown. • The Oregon Senate District 7 race between incumbent Vicki Walker and Republican challenger Jim Torrey is inten- sifying as we head toward the fall. As one GOP website says, “This is a big, BIG race. We have the chance to put a business- friendly, common-sense oriented, down-to- Earth mainstream Republican in office, in place of one of the most wildly liberal democRats of our Senate.” Rumors are Vicki Walker already flying, including one that “unau- thorized” Torrey for Senate fliers are showing up on doorsteps inside copies of The Register-Guard. A little early morning stuffing going on by our former mayor? No response from the Torrey camp or the R-G as we go to press. • Makes us proud: Last week, the U.S. House approved a bill to add more than 77,000 acres of wilderness to the Mount Hood National Forest. It’s refreshing that there is finally some bipartisan momentum behind wilderness protection — U.S. Reps. Greg Walden and Earl Blumenauer sponsored the bill, and Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith are crafting a Senate version. Liberal Blumenauer has long been a staunch defender of wild places, but hard-right Walden has been an antagonist, regularly putting the interests of his industri- al campaign donors over the natural heritage of present and future Oregonians. Walden’s horrific Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act (FERRA) was heard by the Senate Agricultural Committee on Aug. 2, and if passed, the bill would open up the nation’s national forests to even more log- ging, mining and drilling without public process or environmental analysis. We’re a little stumped — pardon the pun — as to how Walden can in good con- science wax poetic on Oregon’s wildlands while pushing FERRA, but we won’t let that dampen our spirits about the Mount Hood wilderness win. • Some might be wondering what’s up with the Musicians Emergency Medical Fund event at Secret House Sunday afternoon. This all-star blues, jazz, rock concert organized by Lili Hillis, Paul Biondi and others is an attempt to create a fund to cover some of the medical costs of ailing musicians in our communi- ty. These musicians have devoted their lives to their art, enriching our lives at the same time, often without the steady pay and benefits enjoyed by those of us who work 9 to 5. Musicians are the first to volunteer their talents to raise money for local causes and for disaster relief, but rarely for their own health challenges. Direct donations to the fund can be made at any branch of Siuslaw Bank. 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 AUGUST 3, 2006 9
