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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2012)
NEWS BRIEFS biz beat Opus VII gallery at 22 W. 7th Ave. will be closing April 7 after a year and a half, according to a note to members from Executive Director Kaz Oveiessi and Artistic Director Sally Diet- rich. The gallery’s purpose is “to recognize, reward and showcase mastery in art, architec- ture and design,” and “introduce the community to the creative world and win the hearts and minds of every visitor.” Oveissi says he will be moving his oriental rug store into the gallery space and intends that “we will go onward” with a “different project at a different time.” Just Breathe, a movement and yoga studio at 2868 Willamette in south Eugene, is celebrating its second anniversary Thursday, March 1, and is offering free classes to the community that day. Mandy Baucum is a certified fitness instructor and her friend and business partner Quincy O’Toole is a NIA instructor. Space is also provided for yoga, tai chi, meditation and other practices. Website is justbreatheeverybody.com and phone number is 912-4244. We hear Eugene dentist Josephine Stokes, currently at the dental offices on South Willamette, will be opening her own practice in mid-March. More details later as they become available. Lane County has thousands of small businesses that survive and even thrive, year after year, and form the foundation of our economy. We’ve started collecting information about some of the more creative local small enterprises. Here are a couple for starters: • Nico Mantele of Eugene creates artistic stretch fabric installations for churches, theaters and event stages. He has a crew that manufactures in Eugene and he markets worldwide online at stretchshapes.net Mike Lucid is his web designer. • Rob Cook of Springfield is a longtime activist for the blind and otherwise disabled who founded a company called Navi-Tech LLC, designing and marketing low-cost detectable guidance markers (DGMs) for sidewalks and curbs, along with other products that improve accessibility for low-vision pedestrians. He holds more than 30 patents. He can be reached at robcook@gmail.com or call 741-4367. Send suggestions for Biz Beat items to editor@eugeneweekly.com with “Biz Beat” in the subject line. community and continue to meet the community’s expectation for high live release rates” to the edge. Eugene’s funding cut “meant we needed to find a different way to deliver these services that could be financially sustainable.” Gaffney says, “LCAS and the staff there have done terrific work, and the jurisdictions are committed to doing our best to ensure the same level of service is available moving forward.” She adds, “That is why we are redesigning the service delivery model rather than just eliminating more staff or services.” Bartlett says that LCAS has made tremendous improvements in the past decade as a result of spay/neuter vouchers, increased licensing and using innovative techniques such as having an animal behaviorist work with dogs to resolve behavior issues that lead owners to give them up. LCAS recently fired its behaviorist due to budget cuts. While once criticized for the numbers of animals that were euthanized for space issues, Bartlett says the LCAS has “through intense community oversight become one of Oregon’s most effective animal shelters.” He questions whether using a nonprofit shelter, such as Greenhill Humane Society, will allow the community that same sort of oversight. One subcommittee of the LCAS advisory committee met specifically to give guidance on euthanasia. That committee included vets and seasoned animal volunteers. Bartlett says. City officials discussed the proposal at a Feb. 28 meeting of the LCAS advisory committee. Committee members requested that they be added to the transition team in order to advise, pointing out that county and city staff members lacked expertise on animal service issues. Forty people attended the meeting, with 12 giving public comments on their concerns about the community would do without LCAS, and that there is no detailed plan in place. Animal advocates in the past have spurred change in how Lane County deals with its stray pets and say they will do so again. — Camilla Mortensen LIGHTEN UP Rick Santorum talks like a guy who should be put on the no-fly list for his own good. BY R A FA E L A L DAV E IT’S ABOUT TIME BY DAVID WAGNER T he snowberries of January finally started to turn brown and shrivel in February. Marching towards the equinox, buds are swelling to release the first greens of spring. The valley forest has a magic air in March because snowberry and osoberry fringe the twiggy underbrush with a vibrant hue. The broadleaf tree canopy still has naked branches, making the underbrush foliage all the more lovely on sunny days. It’s hard not to throw off the job to walk outside when a sunny hour suddenly appears. The air is sweet and the birds are singing. The ground layer is likewise greening up as the herbaceous perennials push up their shoots of spring. One of the most prominent in urban open areas is poison hemlock. Its foliage looks luscious, like carrots, but it is deadly. It is good reason to learn from an expert before beginning to forage for wild greens. Stick to safe ones like LICORICE stinging nettle, unmistakable thanks to its stinging hairs. Harvest soon, or they will get tough FERN and stringy. Seriously stringy: the First Peoples in the coastal zone used stinging nettle as their major source of fiber for cordage. Just as the snowberry gets around to dropping seeds from branch tips in the late winter, the winter active spore plants are doing the same. Spore cases of licorice ferns on maple branches are splitting to shed spores. Moss capsules are maturing slowly from shoots of the previous season. Once spores are dispersed, by end of June, mosses go dormant. David Wagner is a botanist who has worked in Eugene for more than 30 years. The 2012 Willamette Valley Nature Calendar is the last one he will make. A few are still available; contact him directly at fernzenmosses@me.com SOM TUM T LUNCH H A I B I DINNER S T C AT E R I N G R O TA K E O U T A new taste of Thai food in town 2560 WILLAMETTE ST 8 MARCH 1, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY 541-246-2363 TUE-SUN 11-9PM WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
