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
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LUNCH
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B I
DINNER
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C AT E R I N G
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TA K E O U T
A new taste of Thai food in town
2560 WILLAMETTE ST
8 MARCH 1, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
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