Eugene weekly., August 20, 2015, Page 7, Image 7

• The Eugene Celebration may be in some sort of
permanent holding pattern, but nothing holds a good
SLUG queen down. The old queens and guest judges
of the Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous
Gastropod crowned Markalo Parkalo (aka Mark
Roberts) Aug. 14. Roberts is a mediator and board
president of the Lane Independent Living Alliance. We
applaud his focus on single-payer health care for all
Oregon. Long may the SLUG queen rain.
• As we go to press with our story on Housing First,
we are chagrined to hear that the homeless protest
camp known as Occupy the Right to Sleep (OURS)
keeps facing eviction from the Oregon Department
of Transportation and losing its Bucks port-a-potty.
How is it OK for construction companies to park their
potties on the street but not OK for the unsheltered to
have a clean bathroom?
• Here’s one more layer on the presidential-
nomination parfait. If Hillary Clinton falters because
of her emails or the Clinton Foundation or something
else, Joe Biden’s team is considering a run for only
one term, borrowing from President James Polk,
who pushed the country to the Pacific. Ralph Nader
recently suggested that California Gov. Jerry Brown
is still watching what happens; a one-term promise
also would serve him well. And we continue to love
“the Bern,” Bernie Sanders, who is speaking to huge
numbers, mostly unreported by the mainstream
media.
• We keep harping on this, but it is so important:
Endless stories and editorials in the mainstream
media tell how Oregon needs to recruit tech and other
kinds of entrepreneurs to keep the engine firing.
Seldom does anyone mention the most important
recruiting tool — high-quality public education to
bring smart people who care about kids, their own and
others. Let’s hear that story.
• 2016 election rumors are rumbling that State
Treasurer Ted Wheeler is considering challenging
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, who was one of the
American officials recently invited to the Vatican to
talk with the pope’s climate team. We need to know
more about Wheeler’s motives or, better yet, the
motives of those encouraging him to run.
• The September/October issue of Sierra, the
magazine of enviro group Sierra Club, is out, and it has a
nice feature on the top eco-conscious schools. Number
one is UC Irvine with waste diversion, good mass transit
and a goal of carbon neutrality by 2025. The University
of Washington and Lewis and Clark College represent
the Pacific Northwest in the top 10 as numbers eight
and nine. Portland State is number 20. The Beavers kick
some Duck butt coming in at number 40 and Southern
Oregon University is number 84. The University of
Oregon isn’t on the list of 153 self-reporting schools
Sierra lists. Ouch. President Michael Schill has his job
cut out for him restoring the UO’s dignity on a number of
levels. Let’s get our green credentials back, UO!
How did Amy
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Amy maximizes her time by depositing
checks with her phone between classes.
After a hike, she locates the nearest ATM
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SELCO’s Mobile Banking gives Amy the
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focusing on what matters most.
How will you end up at SELCO?
Visit us to see what SELCO can do for you.
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Membership requirements apply. See SELCO for details.
Banking | Mortgages | Insurance | Retirement | Business Lending
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 20, 2015
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