NEWS
Bloxi is a new Eugene-based web business startup that appears to be
quickly growing an international audience. “Bloxi is a quiz site where
anyone can create, take or share quizzes,” says Bailey Koharchick,
director of marketing. Find it on bloxi.com or call the company at 505-
8044.
The tax preparation season begins Feb. 1 and AARP tax aide volunteers
in conjunction with the IRS will be helping people prepare basic tax returns
for free around Eugene, Springfield, Junction City, Cottage Grove, Oakridge
and Veneta. Hours vary and some sites such as Campbell Community
Center and ShelterCare require appointments. Walk-in sign-ups are
welcome at the Eugene Public Library, Goodwill Industries on Seneca and
the LCC main campus Building 10.
Expedia CruiseShipCenters of Eugene has reopened at 1647 Coburg
Road next to Walgreens. The travel agency franchise specializes in a wide
range of travel services through Expedia. Owner is Matt Velure who can be
reached at 653-9220 between 10 am and 4:30 pm.
The Lane County Children’s Photo Contest will happen in February and
March as a benefit for Parenting Now!, a local nonprofit. Local professional
photographers will take traditional or storytelling photos of a child or
siblings up to age 12. The photographers are donating their time and
discounting their sitting fees to $49. They include Amanda Reed, Bruce
Berg, Tiffany & David Barfield and Sheri Hubbs. More information at
parentingnow.org.
We hear Café Yumm! opened more restaurants around the Northwest
in 2014, including Salem, Lake Oswego, Vancouver, Washington and the
PDX airport. A second Bend store is on the way.
POLLUTION UPDATE
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a warning
letter to Goshen Forest Products last month for Clean Water Act violations
of Oregon’s industrial stormwater discharge permit. The permit requires
Goshen Forest Products to sample stormwater discharges four times a
year (with samples spaced out in time to better reflect actual conditions
over the course of the rainy season) and to submit sample results to DEQ
once a year. Goshen Forest Products failed to perform sampling at least 14
days apart during 2013-14. DEQ also sent Siuslaw Marina a warning letter
last month for failure to collect monitoring data and submit results to DEQ
for its sewerage system from 2010 through 2013.
Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION FAIR OFFERS
SCHOOL OPTIONS FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS
It’s National School Choice Week, a time for parents, students and teachers around the country to celebrate
and recognize the diversity of school options available to kids. Sometimes all those options can be overwhelm-
ing — Eugene School District 4J alone has five alternative elementary schools.
Fortunately, the Jan. 31 Alternative Education Fair at
the Eugene Public Library is here to help. The fair is a
one-stop shopping opportunity for parents and students
to chat with more than a dozen representatives from lo-
cal charter schools, private schools and homeschooling
advocates.
According to a 2014 survey by the Center for Edu-
cation Reform, the number of charter schools in the U.S.
has grown steadily since 2000, with an average growth
rate of 340 schools per year.
— LAURA PHILIPS, EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
“There seems to be a feeling among parents in 4J
that public schools are under stress with chronic finan-
cial shortages and mandates from the feds that are pushing all kinds of testing on kids,” says Rebecca Daniels,
executive director of Network Charter School. “As a longtime parent who’s had kids in both alternative schools
and 4J neighborhood schools, I certainly feel that among the parents I know, there are people interested in look-
ing at what the alternatives are.”
Parents can even find alternatives within traditional public school districts, like 4J, which will table at the fair.
“We’re not the only choice in this area,” says Kerry Delf, communications coordinator for 4J. “You can choose
to attend a school in 4J, or you can look at a charter school or private school.”
Delf says it’s important to distinguish between alternative public schools and public charter schools. “We
have different processes,” she says, adding that the deadline for 4J’s school choice lottery is Feb. 27. “A lot of
times parents will assume a charter school is in 4J, but we have separate systems for enrollment. If you’re inter-
ested in those schools, talk to those schools.”
She says schools such as Corridor Alternative Elementary, a school that specializes in the performing arts,
fieldtrips and enrichment programs while still operating within the 4J district, are opportunities for kids to experi-
ence alternative learning styles.
Laura Philips with the Eugene Public Library says the fair provides that very opportunity. “It’s been going
on for more than a decade,” she says. “It’s a really lively event, and it’s fun because it brings together all these
different people who are interested in education. We usually have a few hundred people visiting.”
Other schools tabling include the Eugene Sudbury School, which helped organize the event, High School
Connections at LCC, Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School and West Lane Technical Learning Center.
The library will also showcase its free, online homework center for students.
The Alternative Education Fair is 1 to 4 pm Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Eugene Public Library. — Amy Schneider
‘It’s a really lively event, and
it’s fun because it brings
together all these different
people who are interested in
education. ’
• The Eugene City Council is expected to take
the next step this week in expanding our urban
growth boundary to provide more space for
industrial land. It appears the controversial 300-
acre expansion for housing is not needed, thanks
to a math error being discovered. Puzzling. But the
plan to expand 924 acres to create industrial land near the airport is also flawed. Strong
arguments against UGB industrial expansion can be found in the Envision Eugene online survey
done in December and January. Survey responses raise issues of paving over “some of the best
soils in the nation,” adding air pollution to an area “already identified as an environmental justice
community” and “our economy should not be based on continued growth.” The survey itself was
blasted for being biased — the question on industrial land was all about land for jobs, a park and
school; no mention was made of destroying prime farmland or Eugene’s existing vacant industrial
land. One critic raised an interesting point: “I’m not sure that it’s even possible to have this
expansion get through both 1000 Friends and DLCD” (Oregon Department of Land Conservation
and Development). Will the city’s ill-advised expansion plans withstand dragged-out and
expensive legal challenges? Download the survey results at wkly.ws/1wx.
• If you’ve been following The Register-Guard, The Oregonian and the Chronicle of Higher
Education about “Docugate,” you must be wondering, as we are, how the University of Oregon
continues to clumsily portray itself as a keeper of dark secrets. Granted, the press filter is tricky,
but the UO prides itself on public relations, which is supposed to filter the filter. The university
should be the bastion of open-minded inquiry. Government agencies and universities should
conduct themselves in such a way that they have no fear that something should be exposed
— like the memo calling to dissolve faculty power EW wrote about thanks to UO Matters, which
put it out for all to see. Public records are for the public and archivists should not be punished for
doing what archivists do — making archives open to the public. The next chapter will appear in
The New York Times. Josh Hunt from the Times has been in Eugene this month digging through
redacted documents, interviewing the players and weaving his story on the UO in Eugene.
8
• What’s with all this early polling and chatter about candidates for mayor of Eugene when
Kitty Piercy holds that office until 2016? Probably the same bottom line that’s under the
horserace for presidential candidates. Money, raising lots of it. That’s ironic in Eugene where the
mayor earns only about $20,000 a year, can work full-time as Piercy has done and shares
power strangely in this city manager form of government. Nearly two years out, we predict and
hope that more well-qualified candidates for mayor will step up, no matter the money.
WTF?
WE’VE NOTICED THIS
COLORFUL, CHICKEN-
LADEN BUS CRUISING
AROUND THE WHITEAKER
NEIGHBORHOOD LATELY,
AND IT’S SPARKED OUR
IMAGINATION — IS ON-
THE-GO FARMING A NEW
TREND? HOW MANY EGGS
PER GALLON DOES IT GET?
• As we go to press, rumours are flying that Bill Harbaugh of UO Matters and the UO have
reached a settlement over the 22,000 documents. Harbaugh gave us this statement: “ My
• Vandalism plagues the Nobel Peace Laureate Park in Alton Baker Park near the Peter
DeFazio Bridge. The plaque that honors Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama has been
repeatedly damaged by some local wingnut or group (yes, we have hateful bigots among us) and
has been removed. A temporary plaque is taking its place. Does this mean victory for the late-
night vandals? Not in Eugene. Our best response to hate actions at the park is positive actions at
the park. There is more work to be done there, more money to be raised. The Nobel Peace
Laureate Park’s volunteer board is planning a kiosk with signage explaining the purpose of the
park, more landscaping and new donor pavers. The project, unique in the nation, honors the 24
Americans who have so far won the Nobel Peace Prize. The park serves to remind us of the peace-
making efforts that have gone before us. The vandalism reminds us that the work must continue.
understanding is that there will be a press release presumably from Tobin Klinger [UO’s senior
public affairs director]. All I can say at this time is that the archives should contain legal opinions
about university governance and other matters and so far Interim President Coltrane has refused
to waive that privilege. I’m not sure if the documents really are privileged but in any case it certainly
would be helpful for trust and transparency if he would agree to show them to the faculty.”
• We’ve been following the EPUD soap opera for years and in our Nov. 20 Slant we urged
the board to rehire General Manager Scott Coe. We’re happy to see Coe back at work and we
expect to see a little less drama from the new board going forward. Petty politics have been a
distraction for this otherwise excellent and progressive public utility that serves 20,000 meters
outside our urban utility districts.
January 29, 2015 • eugeneweekly.com