slant
NEWS BRIEFS
• Will Lane County’s “butterfly” parking lot downtown
across from the county courthouse become a site for an
expanded year-round Farmers Market? UO landscape
architecture professor Ron Lovinger and his students
offered compelling proposals this week to the County
Commission, and we hope all sides are amenable to some
creative arrangement. Deed restrictions from city founder
Eugene Skinner and his wife, Mary, make it near impossible
to sell the property, and the county uses the half-block for
court parking. Perhaps a long-term lease to Farmers Market
and the city allocating some land for parking? Or retaining
some court parking on the property? Meanwhile, Eugene
voters approved an urban renewal expansion in 2010 that
earmarked $500,000 for Farmers Market expansion
downtown. Whatever happened to that $500,000?
• Rep. Peter DeFazio isn’t the only Oregon congressman
willing to stand up and give big bankers and Wall Street a
hard time. Sen. Jeff Merkley recently got props from Matt
Taibbi of Rolling Stone for not brownnosing J.P. Morgan
Chase CEO Jamie Dimon during his testimony before the
Senate Banking Committee. Taibbi writes that rather than
show how Chase used “the crutch of government support to
gamble recklessly in search of huge profits, with the public
on the hook for any potential downside,” the committee
members “mostly cowered and cringed and sat mute with
thumbs in their mouths, while Dimon evaded, patted himself
on the back, and blew the whole derivative losses episode
off as an irrelevant accident caused by moron subordinates.”
Taibbi says, “If not for Oregon’s Jeff Merkley, who was
the only senator who understood the importance of taking
the right tone with Dimon, the hearing would have been a
total fiasco.” Oregon could use more politicians like this on
the state and local level, too.
• Opening day of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for
Track & Field is Friday, June 22, drawing thousands of
athletes and track fans from all over the world. We’re happy
to see that local folks who don’t have tickets for the eight
days of competition can get a free taste of what the Trials
are all about at the TrackTown 12 Festival that opens at 11
am Friday, June 22, with competition beginning at 1 pm.
Festival-goers will not be in the stands but can watch
Friday’s track events live on jumbo screens, and a drawing
will be held at 12:30 pm for eight pairs of free tickets. We
hear the TrackTown 12 Festival will be a crowded event, so
arrive early (about 11 am) and expect to go through the
security check. It appears frisking has become an Olympic
event.
FORECLOSURE
SUPPORT
• They don’t Tase dogs do they? Let’s hope not because
it looks like under the reorganization of Lane County Animal
Services the cop overseers will be overseeing the
animals. Animal advocates have been asking for an
oversight committee for the newly rearranged animal
services — Greenhill will be managing the actual shelter. The
advocates want to make sure that dogs and kitties don’t get
offed because they’re a little old or sick. According to a
recent email from the city of Eugene “The city’s animal
services will have the oversight of the existing Police
Commission, which acts in an advisory capacity for the
Eugene Police Department. The Police Commission can
offer a forum for the public to give input on city of Eugene’s
animal services program which includes shelter and
adoption services, licensing, animal code enforcement and
field services, and spay and neuter services.”
So wait, the cop commission is going to be overseeing
spay and neuter and euthanasia? This seems a little
strange. Eugene and Lane County need to put an animal
oversight committee into place with experienced animal
advocates and veterinarians.
Every little bit counts. At least, that’s the way the folks
at Project REconomy see it when it comes to foreclosure.
The Oregon-based organization is holding a rally from 4 to
7 pm Sunday, June 24, at Reality Kitchen, 245 Van Buren,
to “celebrate, affirm and tell the stories of victories”
against the foreclosure machine, says Communications
Director Michelle Glass.
The gathering will cover topics such as rights, illegal
foreclosures, protections, solutions and effects on the
community. Glass says that recognizing victories brings up
an important question: “What does victory look like?” For
some, it’s speaking out about what’s happened; for others,
it’s a successful court case.
Not just homeowners suffer because of foreclosure, but
one in 73 Oregon homeowners received a notice in 2011.
Glass says that it affects everyone from neighbors to
renters (rental prices go up when banks hold onto “shadow
inventories”). She also says it’s particularly hard on kids.
More than 8 million kids have been affected nationally by
the foreclosure crisis, according to the Brookings Institute
and First Focus.
“We got a phone call in our office recently from a
single mom of three,” Glass says. “She was being evicted
because the rental property was being foreclosed on, and
she was the last one to know.”
— Shannon Finnell
• Bye-bye Binky. We heard from cartoonist Matt
Groening this past week that his comic strip “Life in Hell” is
ending after 32 years. “The time has come to let Binky and
Sheba and Bongo and Akbar and Jeff take some time off,”
he tells us. “I hope to use my newfound freedom to stare off
into space and maybe come up with another project or two.
Thank you for giving me space in Eugene Weekly.” His gay
characters Akbar and Jeff gave us a look at love and sex
that was both disturbing and hilarious. We published his
angst-ridden, satirical cartoons every week for at least 15
years, but have cut back recently, running them as space is
available. Groening, of course, has deep Oregon roots and is
the creator of the phenomenal The Simpsons and Futurama.
Not surprisingly, his career started at an alternative
newspaper, the Los Angeles Reader, where he was a
typesetter, editor and music critic.
LIGHTEN UP
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
If Abbott and Costello were alive today,
they would want to live in Oakridge.
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AUDITIONS
Lord Leebrick Theatre
will host open auditions for roles in its 2012/2013 Season
Auditions are by appointment on Saturday, June 30
blues tour
theater tour
JUNE 27, 2012
JUNE 26, 2012
HAPPY HOUR NINKASI BREWERY
DINNER HUMBLE BEAGLE
SHOW & SNACKS MAC’S
WINE TASTING SWEET CHEEK’S WINERY
FINE DINING RED AGAVE
PERFORMANCE LORD LEEBRICK THEATRE
FOR FULL SCHEDULE AND TICKETS VISIT
BESTOFEUGENE.COM
Call 541-684-6988 to schedule an audition.
These auditions are open to the public and are intended for
actors who have NOT recently worked at Lord Leebrick.
Roles are available for women and men ages 16 - 70.
For more information, please call or visit our website at www.lordleebrick.org
8 JUNE 21, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM