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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2011)
slant CAFÉ • A key Lane County budget hearing is under way as we go to press this week and decisions are coming that will affect the quality of life in our county for years to come. The county is facing a $3.8 million shortfall and the money has to come from somewhere. Judging by the make-up of the more conservative commission this year, we expect social services will get shorted, but jail beds and all but one or two of the highly paid sheriff’s deputies will be saved. Tea Party folks were rumored to be organizing to rally at the hearing for public safety funding. Our skewed priorities, of course, result in the need for even more cops and jail beds in the future. Sponsors, the highly effective nonprofit that provides transition services for offenders released from prison, relies on both state and county funding, which is scary. Sponsors helps ex-convicts become productive, taxpaying members of society. Why would any sane person cut funding for Sponsors? These are not sane times. We hear Commissioner Jay Bozievich was talking about slicing $200,000 from Lane County Animal Services to fund public safety, which would basically neuter LCAS, but he heard so much barking from animal lovers that he’s backed off. Meanwhile, unions representing county workers are in a bind: If they don’t agree to cuts in benefits, particularly health insurance, they face more unpaid furlough days ahead. • On a related note, the War Against the Poor continues as state lawmakers cut funds for LTD bus passes for school kids and push for doubling the fees for medical marijuana patients to $200 a year. We know kids whose families cannot afford bus passes, and we know medical pot patients who are living out their final days in poverty. The disadvantaged among us are not acceptable resources to be tapped. • While Oregon’s education system sinks from huge budget gashes, the captains of the vessel are focused not on bailing or fixing the ship but on who gets to steer. The governor has a bill to grab the wheel. The State Higher Education Board has another bill to wrest control. The UO president has a competing bill. Meanwhile, Republicans are obsessed with looting the ship with a bill to allow private companies to siphon off more money for “virtual” schools that virtually aren’t schools at all. The governor appears willing to help the looters if they help him seize the wheel. Ari Rang 485 E. Broadway, Eugene • 541-302-4542 Sunday - Friday 11am-9:30pm Homemade Homemad de • L Large a r ge Sel Selection of Vegetarian Options Signature Dishes: Kimchi Meet the Pork • Bi Bim Bob 2011 Green Neighbors “Not Just” Bike Tours NLCCS is hosting our 4th annual tours of neighborhood sustainability eff orts by bike or by foot. For more contact Doug at deeblack@gmail.com Please join us by bike, foot or pooled transport to visit neighborhood examples of gardening, permaculture, green energy, rainwater collection, beekeeping, chicken keeping and more June 25th June 26th July 24th July 30th July 31st 11 am 11 am 2 pm 10 am 10 am Aug. 6th 11 am Aug. 7th 1 pm • It’s understandable that Richard Lariviere wanted to do something about state funding when he came to the UO presidency two years ago. Only 9 percent of the UO budget comes from the state and that number is still sinking. But the political advice he received about how this state operates was not the best. Seeking special treatment from the Legislature for the UO, based on this university’s superior skill in raising private dollars, was sure to raise the hackles of the other institutions and their governing board. Not surprising that the board rapped his knuckles for playing outside the lines. Maybe it was worth it to raise the issue and call for creative thinking. We’ll see. River Road River Road Fairmont Southeast Neighbors Crest Drive at Rosetta Park at Rosetta Park at 2018 Orchard St. at Edgewood Pool at Ridgeline Montessori School, (3411 Willamette St.) Friendly Area Neighbors WEST at Common Ground Garden (21st and Van Buren) Friendly Area Neighbors EAST at Amazon community Garden (27th and High) more “Not Just” Bike Tours in August & September For more 2011 tour info please visit the Neighborhood Leaders Council Committee on Sustainability at www.EugeneSustainability.org • Eugene celebrated World Naked Bike Ride Day June 11 (see our “Less Gas, More Ass” story and photo last week) with about 60 people participating, but Portland last Saturday night way outdid us in the goose-bump category with some 13,000 mostly nude cyclists riding a 4-mile course that held up late evening car traffic for the better part of an hour. We were there and watched in awe, but didn’t bring a camera with a flash to document the flesh. We saw the usual “One Less Car” message in body paint, but also “One Less Bra.” Pants off to The Oregonian editors who chose to publish photos of naked man butts on their blog (http://wkly.ws/12n). Can’t imagine our stodgy local daily doing that. There is a point to the nudity beyond in-your-face fun and freedom: Car drivers cruise the streets surrounded by more than 3,000 pounds of steel, plastic, glass and rubber. Bicyclists are so vulnerable in traffic they might as well be naked. Portland’s Pedalpalooza and Naked Bike Ride were delayed a week so as to not conflict with the June 11 Rose Festival Parade and weekend, and happily the move combined bike culture with Portland Pride’s annual festival with its activist theme of “Make It Happen.” Big Eugene contingents traveled north for both celebrations, and we hope these mass gatherings inspire bigger events at home. 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 LANE COUNTY SPRAY SCHEDULE • Western Lane County: Roseburg Resources Company plans to spray along roadsides in 10 townships. including land in western Lane County. with Glyphosate, Imazapyr, Triclopyr Amine and Ester and surfactants. See notice 2011-781-00465. Little Lake Logging, Jeffery Newman, will ground spray near Triangle Lake. See notices 2011-781-00468 and 2011-781-00469. LIGHTEN UP BY R A FA E L A L DAV E • ODOT will be spraying noxious weeds, grasses and brush on shoulders, around structures, curves and intersections on Highway 36 beginning June 26 • If you have suffered any ill effects from ODOT spraying, please let Forestland Dwellers know. We are encouraging ODOT to mow or manually manage vegetation in lieu of spraying. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.forestlanddwellers.org I saw an ad in the paper by a local funeral home that read, “Immediate Burial $557.” I know business is slow — but shouldn’t they have to wait until we’re dead? WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY JUNE 23, 2011 11
