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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 2015)
The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts Shedd Theatricals 2015 proudly presents Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn’s madcap 1928 musical comedy • As we go to press this week, we don’t know who Gov. Kate Brown will appoint by Aug. 1 to be Lane County’s first female district attorney. We do know that an election for the tough job will be held in May 2016 and the incumbent, either Patty Perlow or Kamala Shugar, will have a whopping advantage. Hopefully, the unfair political attacks against Perlow for her very subordinate role in the taping of a Catholic confessional decades ago was not a factor in the governor’s choice. Assistant District Attorney Perlow should have the opportunity to run this top cop shop in our county without the direction (or lack of it) from her boss. • Envision Eugene is the five-year public engagement process that has cost the city untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in staff time and consultant fees, all leading to predictable results: Infill a little, expand a little. The convoluted process — in lieu of visionary leadership to keep sprawl in check — will now ding taxpayers another $750,000 to figure out a residential expansion strategy. Do we not have a well-funded city Planning Division? What does it do? “The Planning Division strives to promote a livable, sustainable, beautiful and prosperous Eugene by facilitating a long-range vision for the community that is implemented through adopted plans, policies, codes and partnerships.” Great. Sounds like we’ve got it covered. That $750,000 in petty cash can go a long way to support already stretched public services. WTF? • Eric Richardson, president of the Eugene-Springfield NAACP, and Ed Coleman, retired UO English professor, spoke to another full house of the City Club of Eugene July 24, leaving us with that sinking sense that racism is worse, rather than better in America after the election of our first African-American president. Richardson, who just returned from the national NAACP meeting in Philadelphia, spoke with new energy about continuing his fight for equal rights in this community and state. Coleman, a revered civil rights leader in Eugene for most of his life, spoke from the perspective of an advocate who is not about to give up. The audience was roughly 98 percent white. A ti ndi o C ir d! one Op en s July 31, Aug 1, 2, 7, 8 & 9 tom orr ow ! 868 High Street, Eugene, OR Tickets $20-$36 (discounts available) 541.434.7000 theshedd.org/Whoopee What’s up with the knitted monster feet along Franklin Boulevard next to campus? No sidewalk there so guerilla knitters are likely adding their public art late at night when traffic is light and nobody is around. The practice is not unheard of worldwide. “Yarnstorming” or “yarnbombing” has been defined in the British press as “putting knitting on something unexpected and running away giggling wildly.” (Try to read that with a British accent to get the full effect.) We need more such delightful frivolity. Photo credit Kyle Lynch-Klarup • We write about climate chaos just about every week because it’s literally a matter of life and death for billions of people — and our local and statewide actions do make a difference. We also write about it because The Register-Guard seems to only cover this huge issue in its letters and opinion columns. Search the daily’s website for “climate change” and you won’t find much. By contrast, some days the R-G front-page headlines are all about murder, burglary and sex crimes. How many stories do we need about bodies in freezers, or the Terry Bean sex abuse case? Local broadcast news is worse. “If it bleeds, it leads,” as they say in the cynical media. The problem, of course, is that crime and mayhem are not what define Eugene and Lane County. Someone visiting our community and picking up the daily might think we are the crime capital of the Northwest and we don’t care about our fragile environment. This focus might sell newspapers and build TV ratings, but it’s bad for business and distracts from the positive elements of our amazing and diverse communities. The Mildred Baker Fund for the Arts sub-fund of the Western Oregon Arts Foundation at the Oregon Community Foundation Whoopee! Is presented by arrangement with, and the music and dialogue furnished by Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc, 560 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Oregon Festival Of American Music 2015 FINE AND DANDY In The Age Of Jazz 1921-34 SL ANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF. HE ARD ANY GOOD RUMORS L ATELY? CONTAC T TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM Shop Space Available contact Eli Howell 541-600-0081 August 7-16 541.434.7000 theshedd.org The Shedd Institute Eugene, ORegon 120 Cleveland St. Unit 6 eugeneweekly.com • July 30, 2015 9
