Articles

If the Oregon Department of Revenue (DOR) wins its appeal before the Oregon Supreme Court, Lane County could get $7.2 million from communications giant Comcast in taxes. If the state loses, then Lane County Tax Assessor Mike Cowles says at least the county won’t owe any money, thanks to a bill that was passed in the 2011 Legislature after the Comcast dispute began in 2009. Ten Oregon counties are affected by the dispute: Lane, Multnomah, Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Linn, Marion, Polk, Washington and Yamhill.

A week before the school year ended, students at Edison Elementary held a protest after being cut off from bento boxes. For most of the year, Ume Grill’s Helen Nahoopii had been delivering the single-portion lunches packed in boxes to kids at Roosevelt Middle School and Edison Elementary after their parents ordered the boxes online. She says the district ordered her to stop because providing the food violates the district’s contract with food service giant Sodexo. 

After an opening win against the Bend Timbers at home, the EMFC Azul head onto the road for a collection of games head coach Jürgen Ruckaberle isn’t taking lightly. The team faced Bend on Tuesday, June 11. Azul won 2-1, and a few changes were in store. Italian midfielder Eleonora Petralia made her debut in return from injury, as did UO’s Achijah Berry. 

• Envision Eugene, the community process that gathered public input on how Eugene should grow over the next 20 years, won a planning award from the Oregon chapter of the American Planning Association May 30. That’s great but we’ve been skeptical about this process that has gobbled up thousands of hours and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the past, citizen-involved plans have gathered dust on shelves while developers do whatever they want.

• Activist and author Paul Cienfuegos will be leading a workshop from 6 to 9 pm Thursday, June 13, at LCC’s main campus Building 17, Room 308. Focus will be on the Food Bill of Rights ordinance in both Benton and Lane counties. Suggested donation of $10 to $20. Go to CommunityRightsLaneCounty.org for more information. Cienfuegos will also be conducting a similar workshop in Florence from 5:30 to 8:30 pm Friday, June 14, at the Florence Public Library. Email shenderson88@hotmail.com.

It’s reported that the UO police want to carry .45 cal. semi-automatic handguns with 13-round magazines to “respond quickly in emergencies and to solve crimes that are a high priority on campus, such as speeding and bicycle and laptop theft.” Is this wise? What if a speeder or bicycle thief has an assault rifle? Shouldn’t campus police be carrying AR-15s with 30-round magazines? And what if the partying at the new Capstone student complex spills into the street? Shouldn’t there be at least one Army surplus tank available? 

I’m a 27-year-old bisexual chick who just moved in with my girlfriend of 10 months. I love her very much, and this is a great relationship — hot sex, laughs, good conversation. Here’s the thing: I like to smoke pot, and pot makes her very uncomfortable. We’ve talked about it a lot — you know how dykes are — and I’ve been up front with her from the beginning. I’m responsible and successful, and I don’t smoke that often. But I don’t like feeling guilty. I’m afraid we’re reaching an impasse on this issue.