Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2013)
ACTIVIST LERT Opportunity Village will include up to 30 dwellings, which could house about 45 people, including couples. Conestoga huts and tiny bungalows between 60 and 80 square feet will be the standard design, with a separate, central building with electrical hookups. Other struc- tures include a welcome kiosk to track who is in the vil- lage, showers and sanitation, a central kitchen, dining and a gathering area. To volunteer in village construc- tion, see building dates at opportunityvillageeugene.org. — Shannon Finnell POSSIBLE CHANGES COMING FOR BIKES, SKATEBOARDS Eugene’s bike traffi c may move a little differently soon. Changes that could be put into the city’s code include a larger zone excluding bikes and skateboards on sidewalks downtown, allowing skateboards to travel in bike lanes and quiet electric-assist bikes allowed on off-street paths, where they’re now banned. The city is seeking input from Eugeneans to establish whether residents want the chang- es, which could make sidewalks and streets safer and more accessible. The downtown ban on biking and skateboarding on the sidewalk could expand a block east and two blocks south, to span from 6th Avenue to 13th Avenue and High Street to Charnelton. The city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, Lee Shoemaker, says residents have complained to the city that the sidewalks on those streets have grown too crowded with foot traffi c to accommodate cyclists and skaters, some SLANT • The biggest, wildest weekend of the year is about to hit with the Eugene Celebration starting at 5 pm Friday, the big parade Saturday morning, all the activities and music downtown and more. Our Next Big Thing music contest finalists will perform for the judges at 1 pm Saturday at the Eugene Weekly/KRVM Broadway Stage. The Eugene Women’s Half Marathon will be Sunday, along with the ever- popular Pet Parade. Competing for our attention will be the premier Kaleidoscope Music Festival rocking the Emerald Meadows for three days starting Friday, now offering half- price tickets. Let’s do it all! We can sleep when we’re old! (If you are already old, it will be 66 degrees and mostly sunny at the coast this weekend, and we hear mosquitoes are now almost tolerable at mountain lakes.) • Is the Eugene Celebration too spendy for low-income folks? We hear that a lot with three-day wristbands at $18 ($16 in advance) and Sunday-only costing $8. The money goes to pay the musicians, construct the stages and fencing, security and police overtime, cleanup, insurance and all the other costs associated with a major community event. All things considered, it’s a bargain — cheaper than most concert tickets and about the price of a movie and popcorn. And for those who can’t afford even the Sunday ticket, there’s a lot of fun stuff going on outside the pay gates, such as the Pet Parade and Mayor’s Art Show. Saturday Market will be free as usual. And volunteering gets you in free. • We’re sorry to hear that former county commissioner Rob Handy is at RiverBend hospital recovering from an Aug. 16 fall through the roof of his two-story barn. With broken ribs and a serious head injury, Handy was in the ICU, but according to his Caring Bridge site he has now been moved to a regular room. Friends have already patched the hole in the barn roof, but if you want to offer help or wish him well, go to caringbridge.org/visit/robhandy. • We’re still waiting for Lane County to release the investigation into fired county administrator Liane Richardson, but we’re not holding our breath — the county’s of whom travel at unsafe speeds. “This is pretty typical,” he says. “In most cities in Oregon, you’ll fi nd a downtown core zone where no biking or skateboarding is allowed.” “We typically don’t encourage sidewalk bike riding,” Shoemaker says, even in places with lower foot traffi c, be- cause a lot of drivers don’t expect faster-moving people like cyclists and skaters and end up hitting them in cross- walks and driveways. The city is also contemplating treating skateboards, roller skates and other wheeled modes of travel the same as bikes under the law, like Portland, to keep both pedes- trians and skaters safer. Some city of Eugene Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee members are skeptical of the change, saying that predicting the movements of skate- boards in the bike lanes could be diffi cult, and therefore an unsafe place for skaters. Hilly areas where skateboards could have trouble stop- ping could be skate-on-the-street exclusion zones to pre- vent accidents, Shoemaker says. Skaters would have to fol- low the same rules as cyclists, such as using lights at night and hand signals. Skateboards in bike lanes would allow for a downtown route from UO to the under-construction skate park at Washington-Jefferson Park. A third change up for consideration is the allowance of electric-assist bicycles — the quieter kind, and no gas- powered bikes — on off-street paths. Shoemaker says that would allow better access for the elderly and disabled peo- ple, some of whom need a little extra help biking up hills. Shoemaker asks that Eugeneans send input and feed- back his way at Lee.Shoemaker@ci.eugene.or.us or call him at 682-5471. — Shannon Finnell still not that great on releasing public information. The county did tell us a little about how Richardson will be replaced. We’re told that the County Commission has asked human resources to give them a recommended process and timeline with a plan to discuss the hire after Labor Day. Spokesperson Anne Marie Levis says she believes the hire will be an open one, as opposed to a search from within (the way Richardson was hired), but nothing is firm. We want this hire to be as open and public as possible. Hopefully the conservative majority learned its lesson after appointing Richardson to the “permanent” position without a search, a decision that ended up costly for taxpayers and a blow to county government credibility. • The intransigence of Republicans in Congress on the federal budget led to sequestration, aka mandatory across- the-board cuts of 10 percent, but we haven’t heard much about how our federal courts have been affected by the cuts. We get a glimpse in a four-page letter sent to Congress Aug. 13, signed by Oregon District Court Chief Judge Ann Aiken and 86 other presiding judges. See our news briefs this week. We often hear this session of Congress described as “do-nothing” or the “least productive in history,” but it has accomplished something: damaged our nation’s economy, education system, social safety net and infrastructure, including our judicial system. Gerrymandering, voter suppression and excessive money have loaded Congress with politicians who have no sense of government’s role in building and maintaining a civilized, just and prosperous society. lighten up BY RAFAEL ALDAVE Phil Knight funds some fine athletic facilities on the UO campus. I just wish he would stop using Donald Trump as a design consultant. • Occupy Medical will not be downtown during the Eugene Celebration Sunday, Aug. 25, but instead the mobile clinic will roll out to Cottage Grove to offer free medical care, foot care, nutrition guidance and even haircuts, with no appointment needed. Prescriptions will be written as needed, but the clinic does not dispense drugs. The clinic with two volunteer doctors and their trained assistants will be available from noon to 4 pm Sunday in the parking lot at South Lane Mental Health, 1245 Birch Ave. Call 316-5743 or 942-3939. Occupy Medical will be back on the downtown Park Blocks the following Sunday. • Political entries in the Eugene Celebration Parade Saturday, Aug. 24, include the Peace Train, which will be entry #29 and will gather at 8:30 am at the Civic Stadium Parking lot, off Amazon Drive. Contact Michael Carrigan at calcpeace@gmail.com or call 485-1755. Opportunity Village Eugene and Community Supported Shelters will be entry #53, marching with a Conestoga hut “float,” and will meet at 8:30 am at 19th and High Street. Contact Cary at cdthompson58@gmail.com. The NAACP entry #57 will meet at 8:30 am at the South Eugene High School parking lot along 19th Avenue. Contact Eric Richardson at president@naacplanecounty. org. BRO, ACLU and PFLAG will march for marriage equality as entry #78 and will also gather at SEHS. Contact Jay at tojmoseley@gmail.com. • A local group involved in the national coast-to- coast Climate March next year, and associated activities, is gathering from 10 to 11:30 am Saturday, Aug. 24, at the EWEB Fountain, 500 E. 4th Ave. See climatemarch.org or email johnca@ourpla.net. • Mayor Kitty Piercy’s next one-on-one public session will be from 5 to 6 pm Tuesday, Aug. 27, at Albertsons, 4740 Royal Ave. Ward 6 Councilor Greg Evans will join the mayor. Piercy holds the meeting in a different neighborhood each month in an ongoing effort to make participation in civic matters more accessible for interested residents. Call the city manager’s office at 682-5010. • The Eugene hearings official takes public testimony on Laurel Ridge PUD 5 pm Wednesday, Aug. 28, at downtown library’s Bascom-Tykeson Room. Speak your mind about the possible land use change and proposed 608 new dwellings on a 126-acre parcel east of the Ribbon Trail. More information at wkly.ws/1ja. • The film Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse will be shown at 8 pm Thursday, Aug. 29, at Wandering Goat, 268 Madison St., as a benefit for White Bird Clinic. Suggested donation is $5 but nobody will be turned away. LANE COUNTY AREA SPRAY SCHEDULE • Giustina Land & Timber Co., 345-2301, plans to hire Western Helicopter Services Inc, (503) 538-9469, to aerial spray 125 acres near Crow, Norris and Coyote Creeks with Get Wise, Aminopyralid, Glyphosate, Imazapyr, Metsulfuron Methyl and/or Sulfometuron Methyl. See ODF notification 2013-781-00697 for more information. • Weyerhaeuser Co., (541) 744-4600, plans to spray eight acres near Norris Creek with Polaris AC, Polaris SP, Forestry Garlon XRT, Accord XRT II, Sulfomet XP, Metcel VMF, Sulfomet Extra, Transline and/or Opensight with additives Induce, MSO and/or nonionic surfactant. See ODF, 935-2283, notification 2013-781- 00706 for more information.. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.for- estlanddwellers.org CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS In a story last week about genetically modified crop initiatives in Lane County, we reported the initiative covered four subjects, but organizers say it’s all one issue. The county clerk identified four subjects, which is why the initiative was rejected. SLANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW W STAFF. HEARD ANY GOOD RUMORS LATELY? CONTACT TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 22, 2013 9
