Eugene weekly., August 02, 2012, Page 8, Image 8

biz beat
Cornucopia’s Maize Lounge at 13th and Oak closed
down without notice this past weekend and all future
music gigs were canceled. Moving trucks were seen
outside Monday morning, hauling off furniture and
equipment for storage in a rented warehouse. Maize
offered food, a full bar and a stage for live music. We
hear a big hike coming in lease payments was behind
the decision; Cornucopia’s other two restaurants are
doing fine. Alison Albrecht and Nils Stark are owners of
the business, but not the old building, which used to be
a Cadillac dealership. The District was a previous night
spot. The thriving barcade on that corner and all the
student housing being built nearby is likely to make it
an even hotter location.
The restaurant delivery services of Pony Express
just got a major upgrade. The delivery drivers will now
be capable of bringing beer and wine right to your
home. The maximum amount of beer and spirits Pony
Express can deliver by law is two six-packs of beer, two
bottles of wine, or one six-pack of beer and one bottle
of wine per residence, per day. Pony Express can take
orders for beer and wine delivery daily, until 7 pm,
although drivers are permitted to deliver as late as 9
pm. Those ordering beer or wine must present an
acceptable photo ID at the door and sign documentation
stating that they are of legal age to consume alcohol in
the state of Oregon. Contact is 485-2090, or go to
ponyexpressdelivery.com
New start-up business in town is called Action
Sports High Performance Stunt Shows, offering
affordable live entertainment including choreographed
bicycle stunts with an upbeat, family-friendly music
soundtrack. Currently booking private parties, company
picnics, sales events and more. Contact is Cash
Reynolds, 246-5471. Facebook page and website are
under construction.
Ox & Fin, a reinvention of Osteria Sfizio, opened
July 27 and will be serving lunch and dinner Monday
through Sunday in the space previously occupied by
Sfizio at Oakway Center. Owners are Chef Andrew
Stone, Rick Montoya and Curtis Large.
The Solarize Eugene project has helped 50 EWEB
households install or prepare to install solar electric
systems over the past three months. The new systems
are expected to generate more than 125 kilowatts of
electricity. The project is a collaboration involving the
nonprofit The Resource Innovation Group, an EWEB
Greenpower grant, local solar contractors and others.
For more information, email sarah@trig-cli.org or call
654-4052.
NEWS BRIEFS
NOTI SCHOOL
GETS A CHANCE
O&C LAND USE
VS. LAND ABUSE
The “little blue school” has been empty for 10 years. The
community of Noti, 16 miles west of Eugene in the foothills
of the Coast Range, saw the historic building close down in
June 2002 due to budget shortfalls. But this year, it’s opening
back up, according to Leontine Winters Krohn, president of
the Noti Community Center. The school’s inaugural fundraiser
is a production of Cinderella by Ballet Fantastique
accompanied by live ’60s music from singing duo Shelley
and Cal and their band at 2:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 4.
“Our community has been given an incredible opportunity
to use the Noti school property, or lose it,” Winters Krohn says.
It an effort to get the historic school building up and
running, the group is in the process of obtaining nonprofit
status to convert it into the Noti Community Center.
“The school board has given us the month of August to
make a sweat-equity down payment on the property,” Winters
Krohn says. She says sweat equity means that any effort they
put into anything they do in the next month counts toward the
down payment. This is a unique arrangement that took many
school board meetings to set up, and draws from a community
that might be low in money but rich in talent.
The community center involves the small communities of
Noti, Walton and parts of Veneta and Elmira, but “we don’t
have a tax district,” Winters Krohn says, and with no tax base,
the Noti Community Center will rely on individual community
supporters, unlike other cities, such as Eugene, which have
municipally funded community centers.
In addition to this weekend’s fundraiser, there are other
August events to help with the sweat equity; Aug. 6 kicks off
a three-week-long mashup of free workshops offered to
youths between the ages of 11 and 17. Classes include dance
taught by Alana Fisher of Ballet Fantastique, forestry, music,
theater, writing and art, all taught by talented volunteers from
around the community.
At the end of the month, the center will throw what
organizers hope is the first annual Noti Summer Jam, Aug.
24-25 — a weekend showcasing community talent.
Tickets for the Ballet Fantastique performance are $15,
$10 for youth and are available at the schoolhouse and at the
door, 22713 Noti Loop Road. For more info go to the
Facebook page at wkly.ws/1bz — Stacey M. Hollis and
Camilla Mortensen
Clearcuts, thinning, retention, regeneration … forestry
jargon aplenty was flying on July 29 when nearly 30
people gathered to tour the Long Tom forest 20 miles west
of Eugene, and to see some of these forest management
terms actually applied within the same landscape.
The forest is primarily managed by the BLM and
private industry. Much like a checkerboard, square plots of
land alternate between BLM and industry, with the former
still covered by treetops and the latter looking instead a bit
like a scorched earth war-zone. Below the forestland is the
Long Tom River, a tributary of the Willamette River.
“Industrial logging out here is completely
unsustainable,” said Roy Keene, who describes himself as
a public interest forester who has studied forest landscapes
for decades. As leader of the tour, he mentioned among
many problems with industry “management” (he said he
hesitated to call it forestry since there were hardly any
trees left) is a total disregard of the soil by spraying
pesticides and contributing to erosion of the hillsides.
The event grew out of a discussion series called
Conversations on the Forest put on by Keene, Lane
County Commissioner Rob Handy and Kevin Matthews of
Friends of Eugene, held at Cozmic every month at the
beginning of this year. Handy was also on hand as a host
during the tour.
“Change comes from the bottom up,” Handy said. “I
just really appreciate everyone being here.”
During the tour there was talk of revising Oregon’s
Forest Practices Act, amending the O&C Lands Act of
1937 and disapproval of Rep. Peter DeFazio’s proposed
O&C trust plan.
At later stops on the tour, Keene pointed out good and
bad examples of thinning on public land and cautioned
against brushing off the thinning technique as benign.
There was also anger expressed over the use of BLM roads
by private logging operations, an expensive part of the
equation that taxpayers often unknowingly pay for, tour
leaders said.
The Conversations on the Forest group plans to start
meeting again this fall at Cozmic to continue discussing
the need for changes in forest management. For more
information go to wkly.ws/196 — Ted Shorack
slant
• Who will replace Andrea Ortiz on the ballot for the Eugene City Council in November? She
announced this week that she will not seek re-election, citing a timing conflict with her new
evening job. Ward 7 includes the Whiteaker neighborhood, northern downtown and a
patchwork of city land north out River Road. The ward is nearly 12 percent Latino, about the
same as Chris Pryor’s Ward 8 to the west. It’s important to have someone who understands
the critical environmental, land use and social issues of the ward. Michael Carrigan’s name has
been mentioned. Candidates have until Aug. 20 to file for the November ballot.
• If there was ever a lesson in “get it in writing,” this Capstone housing project tax exemption
is the CliffsNotes. From lot ownership issues to appeals about questionable paperwork to the
company’s refusal to release its environmental assessment to the public, problems could have
been prevented by requiring best practices in writing. On July 25, the Downtown Neighborhood
Association “overwhelmingly approved” motions supporting Olive Plaza residents and
Commmunity Advisory Team’s four demands (see eugenecat.org). Now we hear that
Capstone’s talk about using local contractors will be null and void after demolition, and that
Nashville-based Construction Enterprises, Inc., will be the project’s general contractor.
• In the best tradition of the rivalry, President Ed Ray of OSU put in a few gentle jabs at the
UO when he spoke to the City Club of Eugene July 27. He said OSU is building an academic
learning center for all students, not just athletes. He added that he thinks athletes should be
more, rather than less, integrated into the student body. That reminds us, of course, of the UO
glass “jock-box,” surrounded by a moat and almost entirely limited to tutoring for athletes.
Ray, chairman of the NCAA executive committee that hammered Penn State recently, was
quoted by USA Today, “Do we have the balance right? Is the athletics culture too big relative
to the rest of our institution’s culture and values goal?” Good question for City Club and for
new UO President Michael Gottfredson.
• With both pride and sadness we note that Svitlana Kravchenko will be posthumously
honored this month by the American Bar Association with the 2012 Award for Distinguished
Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy. A professor in the UO School of Law, she and
her husband, John Bonine, also a UO law school professor, worked fiercely for human rights
through international environmental law. She died suddenly last spring in Eugene.
• When the economy crashes, among the first groups to suffer are the animals. The same
thing happens, apparently, when politics go awry — and in Lane County, we’ve got both. We
hear county departments and the airport have engaged the controversial federal agency
Wildlife Services to trap and kill wild animals that could otherwise be hazed away. Pets aren’t
faring any better. The county and city budget cuts to animal services are leaving people
confused, and animal rescues are reporting increased numbers of dumped animals because
people don’t know who to call, and if they do call Greenhill or the 1st Avenue Shelter, we hear,
there are not enough employees and volunteers to take care of the animals they already have.
Care about animals, the homeless and others affected by all this? Get involved in politics
— there’s an election coming up — and volunteer. Whether you like the Greenhill transition or
not, the beasties need love and care.
• Looks like U.S. Women’s Soccer goalkeeper (and Seattle Sounders player) Hope Solo
agrees with us that NBC’s coverage of soccer at the Olympic games amounts to little more
than a pizzling pile of ethnocentrism. Following the U.S. team’s 3-0 win over Colombia — in
which lead scorer Abby Wambach was sucker punched, receiving a rather photogenic black
eye — Solo made headlines with tweets criticizing former U.S. player Brandi Chastain’s
commentating abilities. Despite a barrage of media coverage, much of which has been
negative, Solo has stuck behind her words against the ex-player-turned-commentator in a
display of true badassery. She’ll stand strong, as will the U.S. team, as they head to the
quarterfinal. For further biased coverage of the games, or if you simply feel like forgetting that
other countries birth successful athletes, tune your TV set to NBC daily.
• Our annual Next Big Thing local music single contest is wrapping up and online voting will
end Thursday, Aug. 2. The contest has grown from last year with 39 artists participating with
71 original songs in numerous genres. Check out the local talent and vote at nextbigthingeugene.
com
• EW film critic Molly Templeton is getting some love on Jezebel for her response to the New
York Times Book Review’s How-To Issue, where the only stories from women were about
cooking and raising kids. See more at wkly.ws/1c2
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 AUGUST 2, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM