• The debate goes on over where to locate the new McKenzie-Willamette
Medical Center, despite the dogged commitment by Triad to build way the
hell out at the north end of Delta Highway, isolated from Eugene’s population
on a road known for gridlock. We see that an online petition by North Delta
Neighbors (www.petitiononline.com/NDN2006/petition.html) has generated
more than 600 signers so far. Several local email lists are carrying discus-
sions about the hospital’s flawed plans and optional sites, some new and
some old. New in the discussion is the Connor-Woolley property downtown,
now available through the city. As much as we would love to see something
big and new to replace Broadway blight, that area is really best suited to
mixed commercial and housing use with some small parks to break it up. The
undeveloped area along the tracks east of the new U.S. Courthouse toward
the Riverfront Research Park is being discussed as a variation on the old
EWEB site plans. Might work, but some of the original access problems with
that area remain, particularly for eastbound traffic. Glenwood keeps popping
up, along with PeaceHealth’s clinic site on 13th, but looking at geography,
population and existing hospitals, the real need for a full-service hospital is in
south or west Eugene not far from downtown. The idea of bulldozing Civic
Stadium hasn’t gotten any traction. Land near Chambers and 2nd makes
sense, and we keep coming back to the Lane County Fairgrounds. But would
the county sell and maybe relocate the financially struggling fairgrounds to
Glenwood? Springfielders would love that idea, but Eugeneans would miss
their easy-access fairgrounds.
• Speaking of the Fairgrounds, we wandered down over the weekend to the
Good Earth Home, Garden & Living Show and noticed nearly every park-
ing space was taken, which is a bit ironic, but then most people are not
purists when it comes to sustainable living. Inside, some aisles were so
packed that parents pushing strollers had to stop and grease their babies’
heads to push through. Congrats to Karen Ramus and other organizers, busi-
nesses and community groups who pulled together this high-energy extrava-
ganza. It was great to hear people debating the finer points of water-perme-
able driveways, non-toxic moss treatments, native plants, bee-keeping, natu-
ral soaps, bidet systems and combinations thereof. We predict the success of
this show will rub off on other home shows and even the Lane County Fair
next summer. Green is gold.
• Is there a better use for the roughly $10 million the city was prepared to
spend on a parking garage next to Whole Foods? We asked that question in
Slant last week and heard from Cole Andrew Southworth that a city multiple-
use venue downtown would provide a multitude of benefits. “It could provide
the Farmer’s Market a year-round location where the people of Eugene would
buy local products and support local merchants. We could help Lane’s home-
less by using it as a soup kitchen on particular dates. Eugene could host an
annual middle school science fair there or have summer concerts and plays.
Build it downtown, and we begin to fill the empty void in our city center with
a beautiful community building. I like to envision a smaller, more inclusive
version of Seattle’s Pike Place Market.”
news
briefs
BRIDGING
COMMUNTIES
Should all city planning be left to city
planners? What happens when the scale of
planning is so large that it encompasses
two cities, county and federal land, a state
highway, an interstate freeway, a univer-
sity, a transit system, a utility, a major
river, Native American sites, ripanian habi-
tat, parks, neighborhood groups, bicyclists
and kayakers, dozens of developers and
hundreds of property owners? (Have we
left anyone out?)
A group of local architects, students
and civic activists are hoping to not leave
anybody out as they embark on the
Franklin Corridor Study 2007, a free de-
sign workshop that kicks off at City Club
of Eugene luncheon Friday, Feb. 2 at the
Hilton; continues with an open house and
keynote talks Friday evening at the Atrium
Building at 10th and Olive; leading to a de-
sign workshop from 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday, also at the Atrium. Details can be
found at www.franklincorridor.org
The area of study includes Franklin
Boulevard from downtown Eugene to
downtown
Springfield,
with
the
Willamette River alongside and all the
land in between. “Many studies have been
done regarding different parts of this im-
portant stretch of roadway, open space and
riverfront,” reads a statement on the web-
BY PAUL NEEVEL
JONATHAN RENICH
• What’s it like to be poor in Lane County today? Some of us know it all
too well; some of us have never felt the pain of poverty. We got a note this
week from a woman expressing her frustrations with having a job and still
being down and out. There are “just a few things that suck about being poor,”
she writes. “Shut-off notices, food boxes filled with limp produce and stale
bread. Being the proud owner of a 20 year old piece of shit Mazda with wiper
blades that don’t work, no heat or A/C, that leaks oil, water and brake fluid
and has some weird buzzing sound that goes off nearly constantly.” She also
expresses her distaste for Top Ramen and hot dogs and complains about
“only being able to afford one gallon of gas and hoping it will get you to work
and back. Buying your kids Dollar Store toys, running out of everything
always, and payday. FUCK! That won’t even cover rent. Now I have to decide
what I can not pay now; what about FOOD? FUCK!”
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
8 FEBRUARY 1, 2007
After graduation from Churchill High
School, Jonathan Renich studied chil-
dren’s social services in a modular pro-
gram at the Kona, Hawaii, campus of the
University of the Nations. “We spent
three months in class, then six months
as an intern with a non-profit,” says
Renich, who served one internship with
the French agency Pour un Sourire
d’Enfant in a training program for kids
who worked at the city dump in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia. When he finished his
degree, Renich stayed on as a staff
member and led two groups of students
to the town of Barunburen in Mongolia.
Returning to Oregon in 2005, he
launched Edurelief, a program to help
Mongolian kids who had dropped out of
school. “The government had cut sup-
port for school supplies,” he notes. “All
they needed was $20 per kid for a packet of books.” Renich recruited some UO
students, printed fliers, and raised $10,000 in four months. “We sponsored 525
kids,” he says. “When people found out, it exploded. We got calls from New York,
LA, Europe, and Asia, asking, ‘What can we do?’” Find out what you can do at
edurelief.org