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
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